The Residential Tenancies Act (1987) is State Government law that sets out the rights and responsibilities of tenants and property owners/agents (landlords) in Western Australia. The Act commenced on October 1, 1989.
The Residential Tenancies Act (The Act) sets out:
The Residential Tenancies Act also defines how many of the key terms in the Act are to be interpreted and sets out what a residential tenancy agreement is.
A residential tenancy agreement is defined as:
" Any agreement, whether express or implied (written or verbal) , under which any person (generally the owner or his/her agent) for valuable consideration (this generally means, but is not limited to, rent) grants to another person (the tenant) a right to occupy, whether exclusively or otherwise, any residential premises, or part of residential premises, for the purpose of residence ".
People with a residential tenancy agreement renting private residences, public housing (Homeswest), community housing or living in caravan parks throughout Western Australia are covered by the Act.
Those not covered by the Act include: students living in educational institutional or college housing, hospital or nursing home residents, boarders and lodgers, people living in holiday accommodation or accommodation for holiday purposes, and aged people's housing (s. 5).
As at July 1996, only caravan park tenants who rent both the caravan and the site are definitely covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. People who use their own caravan and rent only the site, may be covered by the Act. There have been varying decisions in the courts on this issue.
You are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act if you are staying in a caravan park on holidays.
New legislation has been drafted which will ensure that all caravan park residents (except those on holiday) are covered by the Act. It will be called The Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act (1995) . No firm date has been set for when this Act will come into effect.
You can try and resolve a dispute with the owner/agent by yourself. If you can't come to an agreement, or if the owner/agent refuses to do something they are required to do under the Residential Tenancies Act (1987), you can apply for a Performance Order from the Local Court. Alternatively, a government authority might have powers to order the owner to do certain things which would fix the problem. For example, Western Power can order the owner to fix electrical problems.
See chapters 3.8 When the Owner is in Breach of the Agreement , 3.11 Writing a Letter to the Owner/Agent and 6.2 Going to Court and other sections for further information.
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