Landlords in Canberra could seen be forced to supply references to prospective tenants, if one local politician gets his way.
ACT Labor backbencher, Michael Pettersson will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, calling for the Territory Government to address the ‘imbalance’ between tenants and landlords.
“Landlords know everything about a tenant; they know their income, employment, rental history and personal references.”
“Tenants don’t know anything about their landlord and importantly they don’t know anything about their treatment of previous tenants. It’s unfair.”
The move is inspired by comedian Tom Cashman who last month posted a video to Tik Tok after unsuccessfully trying to obtain a reference for the landlord of a rental he’d applied for.
Watch the video:
@tom.cashman Everyone start asking for Landlord References #renting #landlords #sydney #australia #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #fy ♬ original sound – cashman.tom
Mr Pettersson’s proposal would give prospective tenants the right to receive references from a landlords’ previous tenants.
“This is a simple change that will help address the power imbalance that exists between landlords and tenants.”
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