ONCE again Rent Freeze Order is extended until the end of this year, which ensures no rent increase for 2016. Consumers are at ease, as they don’t have to dig deep into their pockets to deal with rent increases.
This move by the Government will assist tenants to find affordable housing considering many Fijians are still struggling for decent and low-cost housing. Rent freeze will protect them from irrational increases in rent.
Although rental freeze has been a short- term solution to control and ensure fair treatment of tenants, the Consumer Council of Fiji is positive that amendments to the rent order 2015 will assist the Fiji Commerce Commission (FCC) to investigate cases where landlords increase rent to some consumers.
From January 1, it is now mandatory that tenants are provided tenancy agreement and receipts when residential premises are given out for rent. The existing rent freeze order has been amended to require landlords to issue proper agreements and accurate receipts to tenants. Consumers are reminded to have the agreements executed by both parties for enforcement purposes.
The amendments to the rent freeze order clearly states that “any person or class of persons (including the State) shall keep to the satisfaction of the commission such letting agreements and receipts as are customary and proper in respect of letting or continued letting of premises under any residential tenancy, including ground rent”.
Landlords can no longer rent out premises without appropriate tenancy agreements and accept bonds and rent without issuing valid receipts. It is also compulsory for all landlords to provide duly executed tenancy agreements and copies of receipts for disputes filed at the FCC. FCC will be in a better position to check the documents (tenancy agreements and receipts) to establish any increase in rent by the landlord.
In the past, the council received complaints against some residential landlords who disregarded rent freeze order and used various tactics to increase rents. Some landlords used renovation as an excuse to evict the sitting tenants, so that rent could be increased for new tenants who rent the premises not knowing that the rental amount has increased.
Any rent increase by the landlord without FCC’s intervention and approval would be deemed illegal. The landlords are required to lodge their submissions to FCC for any increase in the rental amount based on the criteria imposed by FCC. FCC, as per the Commerce Commission Decree 2010 can impose penalties including on-spot fines of about $2000 against those who breach the law.
The council maintains that rent freeze is a short-term solution. However, it is imperative that the laws governing residential tenancy in Fiji are reviewed to ensure better protection for both tenants and landlords. The current tenancy laws are obsolete and this archaic nature of the laws fails to address contemporary tenancy issues.
Over the years, the landlord and tenancy grievances have ranked in the top three complaints handled by the council. This is evidently because of the absence of relevant tenancy laws that would provide appropriate levels of protection to both tenants and landlords.
Tenants are urged to read and understand the tenancy agreements. They must seek clarification from the landlord on any issue or clause that they do not agree on. The tenants should also have the agreement amended if needed and only sign when all terms and conditions are mutually agreed between the two parties. Consumers should also be mindful of unfair contract terms and conditions in their tenancy agreements and should not sign if they do not understand or agree the terms.
Both tenants and landlords are urged to refer to the self-regulating guideline for landlords and tenants from FCC’s website to better understand their rights and responsibilities.
The guideline can be downloaded from this link: http://www.commcomm.gov.fj/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Second-Draft-Landlord-and-Tenancy-Guideline.pdf
The council would like to remind tenants that they will be required to pay only $10 for stamp duty per tenancy agreement if their monthly rental is below $700. Tenants intending to occupy premises with rental value ranging from $700 to $1500 will be required to pay $20 as stamp duty. Furthermore, rental rate above $1500 will be required to pay $500 for stamp duty.
Tenants are encouraged to approach Consumer Council of Fiji or FCC to lodge their complaints if they are subjected to an unlawful rental increase or stamp duty charges.
The landlords and the tenants can also obtain a template of a tenancy agreement from the council’s website: www.consumersfiji.org
