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RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT 1987 - SECT 45

RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT 1987 - SECT 45

45 .         Securing premises

        (1)         It is a term of every residential tenancy agreement —

            (a)         that the lessor must provide and maintain such means to ensure that the residential premises are reasonably secure as are prescribed; and

            (b)         that any lock or other means of securing the residential premises must not be altered, removed or added by a lessor or tenant without the consent of the other given at, or immediately before, the time that the alteration, removal or addition is carried out; and

            (c)         that, except as provided in subsection (2), the lessor or the tenant must not unreasonably withhold the consent referred to in paragraph (b).

        (2)         It is a term of every residential tenancy agreement —

            (a)         that a tenant may alter or add any lock or other means of securing the residential premises —

                  (i)         after the termination of a person’s interest in a residential tenancy agreement under section 60(1)(bc); or

                  (ii)         in any event, if it is necessary to prevent the commission of family violence that the tenant suspects, on reasonable grounds, is likely to be committed against the tenant or a dependant of the tenant;

                and

            (b)         that the tenant must give to the lessor a copy of the key to any lock or other means of securing the residential premises altered or added under paragraph (a) as soon as practicable, and in any event within 7 days, after the lock or other means of securing the residential premises has been altered or added; and

            (c)         that the lessor must not give a copy of a key referred to in paragraph (b) —

                  (i)         to a person whose interest in the residential tenancy agreement has been terminated under section 60(1)(bc); or

                  (ii)         in any event, to a person who the tenant has instructed the lessor in writing not to give the copy of the key.

        (3)         A tenant who breaches a term referred to in subsection (2)(b) without reasonable excuse, in addition to any civil liability that the tenant might incur, commits an offence.

        Penalty for this subsection: a fine of $5 000.

        (4)         Subsection (2)(b) does not apply if the lessor is a person reasonably suspected of being likely to commit the family violence referred to in subsection (2)(a)(ii).

        [Section 45 inserted: No. 60 of 2011 s. 41; application modified: Residential Tenancies Regulations 1989 r. 7A; amended: No. 3 of 2019 s. 10.]