Commissioner’s Determinations Update December 2024
At We Love Rentals, we deeply believe in knowing your rights. In 2025, updates to the Commissioner’s determinations in Western Australia (WA) will bring important changes that directly affect renters, landlords, and consumer rights in the state. As the rental market continues to evolve, these changes are expected to tackle issues such as rent control, dispute resolution processes, and the transparency of fees and charges.
Commissioner Determinations Update
As the Commissioner, I can now make decisions about a tenant’s request to keep a pet or make a minor modification to a rental home. As this new rent reform has been in effect for 4-months, now is a good time for me to share some of the key findings with you. I hope that this helps you understand how Consumer Protection is applying the new laws in practice.
Making decisions on tenant’s requests
There is a fundamental shift with this reform, because the onus is now on the landlord to take action within set timeframes. If a tenant wants to request to keep a pet or make a minor modification during their tenancy, they must use the approved form, and send this to the landlord:
The landlord has 14 days after receiving a request to respond to the tenant in writing with their decision. This response must include minimum information, depending on the decision being made by the landlord. To assist landlords and agents on pet requests, the minimum information for a landlord’s response is outlined in my Commissioner Determination Guidelines.
The easiest way for a landlord to ensure they meet the minimum requirements is to complete the landlord’s section of the pet request or minor modification request form and return this to the tenant.
Failure to respond to the tenant within the 14 days will mean the tenant’s request is automatically approved by the landlord.
Additionally, a tenant’s request will automatically be approved by the landlord where a landlord fails to apply to the Commissioner within 14 days after receiving the request, if the landlord is refusing for a reason that does require Commissioner approval.
With Christmas approaching, and property managers taking leave, I urge you to make sure your agency has a plan for making timely decisions on tenant requests to avoid them being automatically approved without an opportunity to present your landlord’s views.
Key points:
- There is no cost to make an application to the Commissioner for Consumer Protection.
- A landlord can apply using the electronic form on the Consumer Protection website.
- Consumer Protection will assist anyone who needs help with the online system.
- I assess each decision on a case-by-case basis depending on the circumstances and evidence.
- If I make a decision that a tenant or landlord is dissatisfied with, they can appeal to the Magistrates Court within seven days after receiving the decision.
- Where a tenant receives a response with a refusal or condition that does not require Commissioner approval, and the tenant believes the condition or grounds for refusal is unreasonable, they can apply to the Commissioner to challenge the landlord’s decision.
Pets
The intention of this reform is to allow tenants to keep pets in their rental property, unless the landlord can prove, with strong evidence, that one of the grounds for refusal applies. ‘Yes’ is the starting point. So far, I am pleased to report that most landlords are keeping to the spirit of the legislation.
Key findings to date:
Most applications are for dogs, and almost all are lodged by property managers.
About two thirds of the applications have been to refuse the tenants request to keep a pet. The most common grounds for refusal are undue hardship and damage that is likely to be more than the bond to repair. To date, no landlord has been able to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate these grounds apply.
About one-third of applications are for conditions that I need to approve, mostly in relation to pet bonds and where the pet may be kept; e.g. the aquarium must be kept on the tiles, the pet must be kept in non-carpeted areas or outside.
Commissioner’s guidance:
I require a landlord to consider the following questions prior to submitting an application:
- What particular damage is the landlord concerned about? It is not sufficient simply to state that the pet may cause damage to the premises.
- Why is damage likely to be caused?
- What is the anticipated cost to repair or replace the thing the landlord is concerned about?
- What is the extent of the likely damage against the estimated cost? e.g. if the landlord is concerned about damage to skirting boards, they may provide evidence of the cost to replace all the skirting boards. In this case, I will consider the likelihood that all skirting boards will be damaged, and whether a damaged area could be repaired, rather than replaced.
- Can the risk be reduced by imposing conditions? Conditions imposed must be about mitigating risks related to the unsuitability of the property, damage, health and safety, landlord hardship or the number of pets at the property.
For applications to refuse the keeping of a pet, I will be looking for:
- Has the landlord provided evidence to demonstrate that their grounds for refusal apply? This includes quotes, receipts or invoices for the repair of any expected damage. Evidence from a third party, such as invoices, receipts, or quotes will be required to demonstrate the anticipated cost.
- A medical diagnosis confirming the type of pet requested by the tenant would cause a serious and harmful risk to a person’s health or safety.
- Photographs and information demonstrating that the premises can’t safely contain and accommodate the type of pet requested by the tenant.
For applications to impose conditions on the keeping of a pet, I will be looking for:
- Does the proposed condition address any of the grounds for refusal in section 50E(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (the Act).
- Is the proposed condition appropriate, reasonable and proportionate to the risk?
- Is the proposed condition covered under any other law, e.g. strata by-laws or the Cat or Dog Act? An application is not required where a condition is covered by another law. e.g. The Cat Act 2011 (WA) requires that cats over the age of six months are sterilised, unless an exemption under the Cat Act has been obtained. A landlord, worried about potential damage caused by a non-sterilised cat, applied to impose a condition requiring the cat to be de-sexed. However, no order was made because it is already a requirement of another law.
- Do the parties agree to the proposed condition?
Minor modifications
Allowing tenants to make small personalised changes to their rental property helps them make their rental feel like their home. Unless the landlord has strong evidence that one of the grounds for refusal applies, the tenants can make minor modifications. I am pleased to report that in most cases, landlords are approving their tenant’s requests, and only a small number of refusal applications have been received.
Key findings to date:
Only 13 per cent of total applications received relate to minor modifications.
I have received some applications for refusal; however, the actual change is a furniture and child safety modification, major modification, or security change to prevent family violence. There are different rules to follow depending on why the change is needed and the type of change requested.
A general trend I have observed is that the landlords are concerned about the rectification of damage at the end of the tenancy, particularly damage to walls after a picture hook, screw or wall anchoring device has been installed.
Commissioner’s guidance:
A landlord does not need to apply for Commissioner approval to refuse a tenant’s request if making the modification would disturb asbestos, as this would be contrary to a written law or by-law or the property is heritage listed.
I recommend the landlord check, before applying, that their reason for refusal or conditions is one that requires my approval (e.g. strata by-law). Additionally, landlords and tenants should make sure the requested modification is classed as a minor modification, and if not, follow the correct process.
Retaliatory Action
It is timely to remind landlords and their agents about their obligations regarding retaliatory action. Recent changes to the Act have strengthened protections for tenants against retaliatory action taken by landlords or their agents.
A landlord may be viewed as taking retaliatory action against a tenant if they refuse to renew a tenancy OR take steps to terminate the tenancy (‘retaliatory action’); and that action was wholly or partly motivated by the fact that the tenant requested to keep a pet or make a minor modification at the rental premises (‘taking steps to enforce their rights’).
If a tenant reasonably believes their landlord has taken retaliatory action, they can apply to Court for orders to set aside the landlord’s action, or order the landlord to pay compensation to the tenant.
In summary
I will begin making decisions about bond disputes next year, with a more streamlined process for all involved. If parties can’t reach an agreement about how the bond is to be released within 14 days, the Bond Administrator will automatically refer the application to the Commissioner for a decision.
Finally, I apologise for the delay in publishing decisions on the Consumer Protection website as previously advised. The site has recently undergone a significant refresh and this content can now be added. We will shortly have a body of de-identified decisions made public, providing clarity to all parties regarding how similar disputes may be resolved in the future.
Visit the Commissioner determinations page for more information.
For more information please contact Consumer Protection at 1300 30 40 54 or via email.
Brendan Leahy
I am the licensee of We Love Rentals and provide support to the team whenever needed. I began my real estate career over two decades years ago. While I loved seeing people achieve their dream of a new home for their family, I kept thinking that there had to be a better way of doing real estate – one with respect for the long term benefit of the client and one that focuses on customer satisfaction.
