With the Tenants Union of NSW calling to ban ‘no pets’ clause in tenancy agreements recently, we thought we’d take a look at what restrictions, if any, landlords stipulate on rental agreements.

Under existing tenancy agreements, clause 43 allows NSW landlords to prohibit a tenant from keeping “animals on the residential premises without obtaining the landlord’s consent”.

In our experience, most landlords and investment property owners are simply after a tenant who will pay the rent on time and look after the property. However, the property itself may have certain rules and regulations that all residents, (including tenants), have to abide by. For instance, some strata corporations have a no pets rule while some apartments don’t allow washing to be hung over the balcony. Tenants should always be given a copy of the owner’s corporation rules at the start of their tenancy so they are aware of any restrictions.

Landlords do have the right to choose the most suitable tenant provided no unfair discrimination occurs and there are anti-discrimination laws in NSW that landlords and property agents must abide by.

These state that landlords or agents, must not discriminate against anyone, or harass them, because of their:

• race (colour, nationality or descent)
• sex (male or female)
• pregnancy
• marital status (e.g. singles or unmarried mothers)
• disability (physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability)
• homosexuality (gay men and lesbians)
• age (both young or old)
• transgender (transsexual).

It is also against the law to discriminate against a person because of the race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, disability, homosexuality, age or transgender of their relatives, friends or associates. As long as you are not discriminating on one of the above listed grounds you may rent to whoever you like.

According to the Government of NSW Fairtrading website, as long as you are not discriminating on one of the above listed grounds you may rent to whoever you like. If you do not want smokers in your premises or tenants with pets, or if you reject an application because of a poor tenancy history or do not think the tenant can pay the rent there is no law to stop you from declining an application for that reason.

At Professionals, we do not discriminate and we always provide a fair and equal service to all our clients – landlords and tenants alike.

To find out more about our letting services, or if you are looking for a property to rent, please contact us on (02) 4956 9777 and our team will be happy to help.

Links to call for no pets: http://www.domain.com.au/news/prohibition-against-antipet-landlords-long-overdue-tunsw-20160129-gmguol/

Links to Fairtrading website: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Tenants_and_home_owners/Being_a_landlord/Starting_a_tenancy/Discrimination_in_the_rental_market.page?