The following information has been sourced from the Residential Tenancies Authority Queensland.
During a tenancy, the tenant has the right to enjoy the property as their own home. To help ensure tenancies run smoothly for everyone involved, it’s important for tenants and property agents/owners to understand their rights and responsibilities, particularly with regards to quiet enjoyment in a tenancy.
Quiet enjoyment means the tenant is entitled to reasonable peace, comfort and privacy and must be able to make full use of the property they have rented. Quiet enjoyment is enshrined in common law and is referred to by the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (the Act).
It is an offence under the Act for a property manager/owner to interfere with a tenant’s quiet enjoyment and doing so can incur fines through a prosecution process. The RTA recently prosecuted a property owner for interfering with his tenants’ quiet enjoyment of their rental property, resulting in a $3000 fine.
Residential Tenancies Authority Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Smith said the court’s decision will help deter people who are doing the wrong thing.
“Everyone has the right to enjoy the privacy, security and comfort of their home, and this court ruling sends a strong message that breaking Queensland’s tenancy laws has consequences,” said Ms Smith
The most common breaches of quiet enjoyment occur when the property manager/owner does not comply with the rules of entry, which are outlined on the RTA website.
Other scenarios which may be considered interference with a tenant’s quiet enjoyment include:
- Dictating how many visitors a tenant can have, or who can visit the property
- Conducting an open house (for either selling or renting) without the tenant’s consent
- Using advertising images of a tenant’s possessions without the tenant’s consent for the purposes of selling or renting a property
- Visiting the property without the appropriate entry notice or prior agreement
- Disruption of a tenant’s use of a property by shutting off the electricity or changing the locks.
183 Quiet enjoyment
(1) The lessor must take reasonable steps to ensure the tenant has quiet enjoyment of the premises.
(2) The lessor or lessor’s agent must not interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of the tenant in using the premises.
Maximum penalty for subsection (2)—20 penalty units
Sourced from the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) website www.rta.qld.gov.au September 2023
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