Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Damn the Man!

I have been following the events in Queensland with great interest. Last year, the Newman Government announced its decision to cut funding to the Tenants’ Union of Queensland (TUQ) and the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services (TAAS). The Federal Government stepped in and provided interim emergency funding but that grant is due to end June of this year.

Despite widespread public concern, Premier Newman has confirmed that funding will not be reinstated by his government. His plan is to divert funding from the 22 tenant advice services to the provision of public housing in Queensland. He says, ‘We stand by our decision to redirect funds to putting a roof over the heads of Queensland's most vulnerable people. That is our priority’. By posing such a choice, the Premier would have us believe the closure of a service that helps vulnerable people will actually help them. But it seems most people are wise to this political parlour trick. As TUQ says, this is just a ‘false dichotomy’. In my view, justifying a funding cut by using the plight of homeless people is unethical if not downright bloody scandalous.

Tenancy services have hit back saying the provision of advice and advocacy services help keep vulnerable persons off the streets. A campaigner says, ‘These services reduce homelessness and help to keep people housed, retain people's self-sufficiency in the private rental market and keep them off the social housing wait list’.

Ms Miller, the Shadow Housing Minister, supports the campaign to reinstate funding. This is what she has to say - ‘Without TAAS providers in Queensland we will see an increase in disputes and court proceedings between tenants and landlords and an ultimately an increase in homelessness in Queensland’.

At the Commonwealth level, the Gillard Labor Government is baffled by Newman Government’s decision. The Housing Minister, Mr Butler says, ‘The most effective way to reduce homelessness is to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place and services such as these help to do exactly that...we want a prevention based approach but the Newman Government seems intent on playing politics instead of policy’.

I would agree with these sentiments. The causal link seems pretty obvious to me. But Premier Campbell Newman has taken the view, ‘There is no evidence to suggest TAAS is preventing homelessness. In fact, between 2009 and 2012, the number of households on the waiting list considered to be homeless or at risk of homelessness increased by 80%.’

I would suggest that he is taking a very general statistic and using it out of context. There is no doubt homelessness is a very complex issue. If he wants to use statistics as a weapon, he should rely on specific statistics tied to the provision of tenant services. That raises another issue. Prior to the funding cuts, did the tenant advice and advocacy services have enough funding to produce detailed statistics about their operations? As a side note, if these services are constrained by confidentiality agreements, the public has a right to know. It is in the public interest to have access to all the necessary information to form a political view on this issue.
 
And just because there is no or limited evidence doesn’t mean something isn’t true. If I tell my boyfriend I have a headache, he can’t exactly prove it. Academics don't pay a lot of attention to tenancy laws. Just because it has been overlooked doesn’t mean the law adequately deals with drop kick landlords.

Premier Newman seems to have taken a bit of a legal approach with his reference to evidence. He has opened the door so let’s see how this plays out. If this was being determined in a court of law, a judge could hear evidence from both sides. One thing a judge can hear is expert evidence. There is no doubt the indomitable Penny Carr from TUQ would be considered an expert witness. She is able to provide a very specific and credible example of how tenant services help people at risk of becoming homeless.
 
She says, ‘[One woman with a disability] was told by the real estate agent that she was in rent arrears. There were some circumstances that were beyond her control. She was being taken to the tribunal for a warrant of possession. She was advised how to respond and how she might save herself from being evicted so she went to the tribunal well armed and well organised and managed not to get evicted and the rent arrears were rectified and she was able to stay in that property until the end of the fixed term agreement’. So not only do we have evidence, but damn good logic.

Still on shaky ground, Premier Newman tries to justify his decision on the ground there is a duplication of services. He says, ‘The services provided by TAAS are already available through government agencies like the RTA and through government programs like RentConnect’. There is a pretty big difference between advice and information. Who will go into bat for tenants when the shit hits the fan? TUQ observes ‘They will lose access to face to face services in their communities, they will have no one to review their documents, help them prepare for tribunal hearings or advocate for them to their lessor or agent. The RTA does none of these things and nor can they as they must remain impartial’.

But the Premier’s team says, ‘The RTA already processes more than three times the number of tenant inquiries as all TAAS providers combined. The RTA will continue to provide renters with free information about their rights on issues like rent disputes, property repairs, entry and privacy and getting a bond refund. They also provide a free conciliation service to help tenants and landlords resolve disputes’.


And please tell me how conciliation is any good when dirt bag landlords break the law and do what they want. In no way shape or form, has the Premier’s team engaged with practical issues on the ground that work to prevent access to justice. Their treatment is just superficial. This is about people, not politics.

Premier Newman also thinks some community organisations provide tenancy advice and advocacy. But he is unable to provide information about the identity of these organisations and the nature of the services they provide.

From the start, the campaign to save tenant services has emphasised that the funding for tenant services comes from interest derived from bonds put up by tenants. As I understand it, less than 15% goes towards the funding of the tenant services in Queensland. This is a fairly minimal amount for what all the State and Territory governments (except the Newman Government, of course) agree is an important  government responsibility.
 
One bemused voter observes, ‘I don't understand how the funding that would have been put into TAAS is really going to make much of a dent in the amount of money needed to properly deal with the issue of adequate social housing’.

But Premier Newman has taken the position that what he is doing is legal and therefore defensible. It might be legal, but in my view, probably not moral. The Premier’s team says, ‘It is not correct to suggest that the interest earned on tenant bonds, some of which previously funded TAAS, is somehow tenants’ money...Under the Act, interest earned on tenant bonds is to be used for the provision of rental advisory services or on establishing schemes for supplying residential accommodation’. Just because one can do something, does not mean it’s necessarily right. If we do not question these things, women still might not have the right to vote, to an education, or to equal pay.
 
Generally, the acts of the Newman Government in cutting funding to tenant services has brought attention to the issue of interest derived from tenant bonds. Tenants definitely have an interest in how these funds are allocated by state and territory governments.
 
Is there an ulterior motive behind the axing of tenant services? The implementation of the three-strike policy in public housing may be a sign of more disturbing developments to come. And who exactly is going to question these policies and advocate for tenants?


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Sunday, 7 April 2013

Expose: Terrifying Home Invasion by Landlord

What do you do when your landlord breaks in? That’s the question Audrey had to ask herself last week when her landlord staged a terrifying home invasion. This story is very real. Do not think for one minute this didn’t happen. I have used fake names to protect the victims. Audrey is a 48 year-old woman from the western suburbs of Sydney. A writer herself, even she has struggled to put her shock and disbelief into words. What makes this story even more outrageous is that her special-needs son was home when the landlord attacked.

 
Audrey rented a first floor unit from one Robert Khourey two months ago. It all started when her ten year old son, Ben, fell down the stairs. No proper railing in place, there was just a plank of wood. When Audrey arrived home at midnight, after spending hours at the hospital Mr Khourey made them relocate with no notice whatsoever. Mr Khourey should have issued a no-ground eviction notice giving Audrey 90 days notice to vacate. But the law doesn’t matter to this landlord.

Then the harassment started. Mr Khourey objected to Audrey being friends with another tenant and did not like that she was friendly with the neighbours. Another tenant has alleged that Mr Khourey subjected her to unwanted sexual advances. Audrey says, ‘This guy just can't let go. He was using me as a way of trying to get to the other ex-tenant, when I wouldn't talk her into sleeping with him...’
Although Audrey has always paid rent on time and has never damaged the premises, he started finding fault with everything. He came to her home and said she had 12 hours to vacate the premises. He justified his action by citing the Innkeepers Act 1968 (NSW). Totally irrelevant, of course. Luckily Audrey knew her rights. She stood her ground and refused to leave. What an amazing lady.

The terrifying ordeal started the next morning when Mr Khourey broke into Audrey’s home. He picked up her belongings and started throwing them around the unit. He even threw her own ironing board at her. Mr Khourey finally left after Audrey managed to force him out. Audrey called the police straightaway for help. The attending police officers informed her the landlord’s behaviour merely constituted a ‘civil assault’. Furthermore she had no rights without a written lease and Mr Khourey could enter the premises at any time because he was the landlord.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. No matter which way you look at it, this was a criminal assault. A residential tenancy agreement does not need to be in writing. See section 13 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW). A tenant possesses the right to quiet enjoyment of the premises without interruption by the landlord. Moreover, on my reading, assault is not a permitted ground for access to leased premises.

The police did nothing to help Audrey. They facilitated the return of Mr Khourey a second time. Mr Khourey assaulted Audrey again in her own home while her disabled son watched on in fear for her safety. Increasingly erratic and delusional, Mr Khourey started calling her by her friend’s name. She says it was ‘bloody scary’. Desperate and alone, she called the police again for help. Police officers attended the scene. Mr Khourey stated he had had rights of entry under the innkeepers legislation. And they believed him. Yet again, they left Audrey and her disabled son to the mercy of a crazed landlord.


And then Mr Khourey returned again a third time. He started bashing the front door down. At this stage, both her and her son were in hysterics fearing for their lives. Audrey dragged a wardrobe over and pushed it over on its front to create a barricade. Taking shelter under a flight of stairs, Audrey managed to call 000. She says, ‘The third attack was the scariest as that wardrobe just wouldn't fit against the front door (I could not slide it across quickly enough - just like in a horror film) and he was crashing into the door and I was convinced we were dead. Ben was screaming and I was screaming too. The triple 000 operator stayed on the line with me but I was terrified and screaming and could not stop shaking for hours. It was only later I realised that both my wrist and my ankle were sprained’.

Fed up, the police finally charged Mr Khourey with assault. The police finally arrested Mr Khourey just after 4pm that Friday. The attacks had started from 6.30am in the morning. Audrey had called the police on all three occasions. She had made contact with the Consumer, Trader, and Tenancy Tribunal. They told Audrey to speak with the sergeant and demand that he watch video footage she managed take with her phone. Here is a video Audrey shot of Mr Khourey being arrested.


Mr Khourey spent a mere 24 hours in lock-up. Despite Audrey’s terrifying ordeal, the NSW Magistrates Court accepted his application for bail. What happened next, you ask? He returned to Audrey’s home. Yet again, Audrey called the police. And finally, he left her alone. But no remorse. This is what he has to say for himself on Facebook - ‘After 24 hours of entertaining the bullshit bureaucracy and its rogue minions it's good to be free and thundering. May Gods glory shine through people and purify the dark souls of those who hope against hope’. Clearly, this dude is a few cans short of a six-pack!

There is absolutely nothing in the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) that could have helped Audrey in this situation. I only found one provision remotely relevant. Section 92 says the tribunal can terminate an agreement when a tenant subjects a landlord to harassment, abuse, intimidation or threats. The bias is unbelievable. The Act does not address the safety of tenants in situations they are being abused by their landlord. There is simply no procedure for police to follow. The courts have considerable discretion making protection orders. But it is not really clear what a court can do to protect tenants when a landlord is abusing their tenants on premises in which they have a proprietary interest.

What else can we take away from terrifying tale? In my view, the response of the police just was not good enough. The police should have the appropriate knowledge to deal with such a situation in the most appropriate way. There needs to be adequate policy and procedures. Police officers need to be trained so that this situation cannot happen again. This kind of thing should not happen in a country like Australia.

This story will not end here. Court proceedings are on foot. I will update as developments occur. The public has a right to know about the dangers of renting from this landlord. So tenants be warned, think twice before renting from this man. Please note this photo was taken from a Facebook page available for public viewing.