Property industry

Topics

Consumer Protection is advising tenants to be wary of products that are advertised as cheaper alternatives to rental bonds. These products are not legal in Western Australia. How ‘bond replacement’ products compare to bonds Bonds At the start of a lease, tenants may be asked to pay a bond, usually...
Bonds
This overview explains how personal information is collected, used and disclosed by the Bond Administrator and officers authorised under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 and the Residential Parks (Long-stay tenants) Act 2006 (the Acts). Personal information collected by the Bond Administrator...
Bonds
Information for real estate consumers Consumer Protection have developed a number of publications to assist consumers with real estate transactions. Home buyers Home Buyers Survival Guide Sale by offer and acceptance Buying vacant land Buying land or property off-the-plan Timber pest inspections...
Buying a property
The below information will assist if a landlord or park operator cannot contact the tenant, or the tenant has not provided instruction for the abandoned goods. Need to dispose of a previous tenant's belongings? Follow the information below and use this checklist to help you dispose of belongings a...
When a tenancy ends
Family and domestic violence and tenancy laws Quick close this page To close this window immediately, click on the orange exit button (right on a desktop computer or bottom for a mobile device) or press Ctrl +W if you are using a keyboard. For information about how to browse incognito, erase your...
Having problems with renting a home?
Residential illegal drug activity is cause for concern for tenants, owners, property managers and real estate agents alike due to potential health and safety risks to occupants. Of primary concern are houses — mostly rental properties — that have been used to manufacture, grow or smoke illegal...
Having problems with renting a home?
Patricia Blake January 2023 - Current Patricia Blake (known as Trish) became Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Executive Director for Consumer Protection in January 2023. Prior to becoming Commissioner Trish has been the Director of Retail and Services within Consumer Protection and worked...
About us
In Western Australia workers have been killed by lightning, the most recent in 2014 when a backpacker working on a farm at Bruce Rock died after she was struck by lightning. Workers are most at risk working out in the open, on the sea or other waterways or sheltering under trees or other structures...
Environmental factors
Consumer Protection sought community feedback about whether new laws should be introduced to regulate boarding and lodging in WA. Status: CLOSED , Friday 30 June 2017 Background Boarders and lodgers are currently not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act , although boarding premises...
Consultations
Refunds will be considered with reference to the particular circumstances, and the requirements of the Settlement Agents Act 1981 (“the SA Act”) and associated Regulations. Settlement Agent Licence applications and triennial certificate renewal applications Licence and triennial certificate fee...
Settlement agents and conveyancers

Pages

Publications

This guide is designed to provide information and practical suggestions that may be helpful to you and others at a time when you are grieving and having to navigate legal and other processes...
WorkSafe
Guide / handbook
30 Mar 2022
8 March 2022 The deadline for completing and delivering the audit reports for the year ending 31 December 2021 is fast approaching. Agents and auditors have until 31 March 2022 to submit their audits...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
08 Mar 2022
Employers (or persons conducting a business or undertaking) have a duty under OSH or WHS legislation to eliminate, or if that is not reasonable practicable, minimise the risks of COVID-19 at the...
WorkSafe
Information
18 Feb 2022
3 December 2021 Accessing a rental property during a tenancy Consumer Protection is aware of some recent cases where landlords and property managers have incorrectly tried to access a tenanted...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
03 Dec 2021
3 December 2021 Accessing a rental property during a tenancy Consumer Protection is aware of some recent cases where landlords and property managers have incorrectly tried to access a tenanted...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
03 Dec 2021
3 December 2021 Accessing a rental property during a tenancy Consumer Protection is aware of some recent cases where landlords and property managers have incorrectly tried to access a tenanted...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
29 Jun 2022
24 November 2021 Increasing the rent during a tenancy and time to replace smoke alarms In this bulletin: Increasing the rent during a tenancy Is it your smoke alarm’s 10-year anniversary? Increasing...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
25 Nov 2021
24 November 2021 Increasing the rent during a tenancy and time to replace smoke alarms In this bulletin: Increasing the rent during a tenancy Is it your smoke alarm’s 10-year anniversary? Increasing...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
25 Nov 2021
25 November 2021 Increasing the rent during a tenancy and time to replace smoke alarms In this bulletin: Increasing the rent during a tenancy Is it your smoke alarm's 10-year anniversary? Increasing...
Consumer Protection
Bulletin
25 Nov 2021
Employers have a duty of care under occupational safety and health laws (OSH) to ensure workers are not exposed to hazards in the workplace, as far as practicable. The workplace can be defined...
WorkSafe
Information
22 Nov 2021

Pages

Announcements

A holiday safety consumer alert has been issued by Consumer Protection following the recent tragic death of a two-year-old girl who was strangled by a blind cord at her home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast last month. With children spending more time at home over the summer holiday season, the young child’s death is a grim reminder that parents and carers must be vigilant to the dangers in the...
Consumer Protection
Media release
15 Dec 2020
A property manager employed by a Mandurah real estate agency has been fined $6,000 and ordered to pay $400 costs by the Mandurah Magistrates Court for taking money from the agency’s trust account for her own purposes. Kylie Jo-Anne Thomas was convicted on 8 December 2020 of making unauthorised withdrawals from the trust account in breach of the Real Estate and Business Agents Act. In August and...
Consumer Protection
Media release
11 Dec 2020
An Ellenbrook real estate agency has been reprimanded and fined by the State Administrative Tribunal for employing an unregistered sales representative. HKY Real Estate Pty Ltd was fined $7,000 while the unregistered sales representative Shane David Penny was fined $1,500, in addition to costs of $500 each for breaching the Real Estate and Business Agents Act. Mr Penny held a certificate of...
Consumer Protection
Media release
08 Dec 2020
A Mount Lawley real estate agency, its supervising director and two staff members have been reprimanded by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) over the failure to lodge three tenancy bonds with the Bond Administrator as well as related irregularities found in the agency’s accounts. Beaufort Nominees Pty Ltd , trading as Michael Johnson & Co and Professionals Michael Johnson & Co at...
Consumer Protection
Media release
05 Nov 2020
The owner of a Wellard property has been fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $740 in costs for failing to lodge his tenants’ bond. At Rockingham Magistrates Court on 26 October 2020, Anthony Gerlando Scafidi pleaded guilty to breaching the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 following a prosecution by Consumer Protection. The law requires a security bond to be lodged with the Bond Administrator as soon as...
Consumer Protection
Media release
03 Nov 2020
COVID-19 rent grant updates See the latest announcement on the Residential Rent Relief Grant Scheme for current eligibility and application details. Next stage of grant helps tenants and landlords still affected by COVID-19 Tenants who received grant and are still in hardship can apply again Rent relief of up to $2,000 will be paid directly to landlords Western Australian tenants struggling...
Consumer Protection
Media release
25 Sep 2020
An East Victoria Park real estate agency that failed to lodge 19 tenancy bonds on time was fined $18,000 by the Perth Magistrates Court on 18 September 2020. Verse (Aust) Pty Ltd , trading as Verse Property , pleaded guilty to breaching the Residential Tenancies Act by failing to lodge with the Bond Administrator the 19 bonds from 16 properties it managed as soon as practicable, or in any event,...
Consumer Protection
Media release
23 Sep 2020
If you’ve got a spare room or investment property, you may be considering advertising the space for short-term renting to make some extra money. Or perhaps you’re a local travelling across WA, who’s on the look-out for somewhere to stay that’s different to what’s on offer from traditional accommodation providers. Whatever your motivation, it’s clear that Western Australia’s short-term rental...
Consumer Protection
Media release
17 Sep 2020
Key points Emergency period under Residential Tenancies (COVID-19 Response) Act 2020 extended to March 28, 2021 New Landlord Hotline phone advisory service available Rent relief grant and mandatory conciliation to continue The State Government will extend the moratorium on rent increases and other provisions until March 28, 2021 in an effort to preserve stability and certainty in the rental...
Consumer Protection
Media release
10 Sep 2020
As part of a new service delivery model announced by Building and Energy, most WA home owners who lodge a complaint against a building service provider will no longer have to provide an independent inspection report to prove the defects. WA’s current building complaints process usually requires home owners to arrange and pay for an independent building inspection report, costing up to $4,000,...
Building and Energy
Media release
25 Jun 2020

Pages

Subscribe to Topics
Subscribe to RSS - Property industry