A Legana tenant had his rent increase three times by direct debit during the continuing moratorium on rental increases in Tasmania, sparking fears others could also be unwittingly paying more.
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Stuart McKleaine, who lives on the West Tamar Highway, signed a new lease in February with Harcourts which included a $20-per-week increase from July.
But when the moratorium came into place, it banned any increases from April 23, including those pre-arranged as part of lease extensions. The moratorium was extended from September, and then again from December.
Mr McKleaine assumed the matter would have been taken care of by the real estate agent and no increase would occur, but in July, he noticed $20 extra taken from his direct debit account.
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He contacted Harcourts which eventually agreed to fix the error.
Then on October 4, he noticed that the $20 additional direct debit had started again. This time, the Residential Tenancy Commissioner was contacted to rectify the issue.
The Tenants' Union of Tasmania outlined its concern that it might not have been an isolated incident, and requested confirmation that no other tenants were affected.
In emails, seen by The Examiner, the RTC confirmed it had raised the matter with Harcourts who responded "that this was an oversight and they are auditing their portfolio to ensure the dates entered for upcoming rent increases do not fall during the emergency period".
At the time, Mr McKleaine doubted whether the internal audit would be enough to solve the problem.
He was right.
On December 14, Mr McKleaine noticed the $20 extra was being taken out of his account for a third time.
The matter has again been raised with the RTC.
Mr McKleaine said he initially had to remind Harcourts that the moratorium covered pre-arranged rent increases before he was offered a credit, and ultimately a reimbursement.
He said it was concerning that tenants were having to raise this with the real estate agent themselves, and feared that others in his situation might not have noticed the increase.
"I shouldn't have to phone them up over and over and tell them that they're raising the rent," Mr McKleaine said.
"I worry that other tenants either won't notice, or they will be too scared to say anything and risk getting a black mark against their name."
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Harcourts Launceston put the situation down to a "system glitch", in which the software the company uses for tenancies does not have an option to put in place a blanket stop to rental increases. It meant the rental increases had to be stopped manually.
A manager said it "wasn't intentional at all", but the system does not notify the property manager if the rent increases. The property manager encouraged others to check if rent had increased during the moratorium.
The moratorium lasts until January 31, but could be extended again depending on the economic and employment situation for Tasmania.
Tenants' Union of Tasmania principal solicitor Ben Bartl said it was unacceptable that the problem had continued to occur.
"We are very concerned that some real estate agencies continue to flout the law in raising the rent on residential tenants," he said.
"From March 2020 until the beginning of February 2021 nobody's rent is allowed to be increased.
"If your rent has increased in the last nine months we strongly recommend that you contact your real estate agency or landlord and ask to be reimbursed."
The moratorium also covers evictions.
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