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Landlords are Good<\/strong>, and voluntary real estate industry standards<\/a>, rigorous government scrutiny<\/a>, and a large and well-organised public and social housing sector ensure that the accommodation they provide is reasonably priced and of excellent quality. This is why renters–a group which in Victoria constitutes approximately one-quarter of all households–are in general extremely appreciative of landlords, while on the other hand regard squatters as being the degenerate scum<\/a> they undoubtedly are.<\/p>\n Despite this, some people think that landlords are Bad<\/strong>. One in particular, Frank Cassar, is alleged to be Melbourne’s worst<\/em>. Contrary perhaps to expectations, I’m happy to argue that he is in fact Australia’s best<\/em>.<\/p>\n How is this possible?<\/p>\n To begin with, Frank Cassar is a very hard worker. After all, how else could he afford to obtain such a large number of rental properties? Given that work, like landlords, is Good, and someone who works harder than others deserves to be rewarded more than most, Frank obviously deserves everything he has acquired. Secondly, that his many years of back-breaking toil has resulted in his now being in a position to generously offer housing to those in need, and that this should have generated vitriolic atacks against him, is appalling.<\/p>\n Why aren’t those granted the privilege of temporarily occupying Frank’s numerous properties grateful?<\/p>\n A scurrilous campaign is currently being conducted against Cassar’s good name. Possibly the worst aspect of this campaign is that it allows Cassar’s many critics to alert potential tenants to the fact that Frank has faced persecution by the state (or what law-talking guys and hostile forces at Fairfax have declared to be legitimate court cases resulting in thousands of dollars in fines being imposed upon the little Aussie battler); worse, it allows those who care to monitor Frank’s financial manoeuvrings to do so by way of various social networking sites and sites such as Gumtree.<\/p>\n I say: leave Frank alone!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n See also<\/em> : City Is Ours (Melbourne)<\/a>.<\/p>\n WRITTEN ADJOURNMENT RESPONSES The Government is committed to improving protections for rooming house residents. The Government is taking action [on] a number of fronts to pursue these improvements.<\/p>\n As you have noted, the Government amended the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations 2001<\/em> last year to increase the scope of the regulations.<\/p>\n Prior to these changes, stakeholders, including the TUV and local government, expressed confusion with which rooming houses were required to register with local government and which weren\u2019t. The Government has responded to this request by amending the regulations and extending the protections of the regulations to smaller rooming houses. This will see provisions such as minimum room sizes, prevention of overcrowding, cleanliness, sanitation and other health standards now apply to these rooming houses. The changes were enthusiastically supported by a range of stakeholders. I am sure the House will agree that affording residents of smaller rooming houses the benefits of these additional provisions has been a beneficial change.<\/p>\n The responsibility to enforce the regulations rests with local government. Other protections for rooming house residents are contained in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997<\/em> and Building Code of Australia. Consumer Affairs Victoria has been working with local government to improve inspection and enforcement practices. In July 2008 enforcement activities resulted in the successful prosecution of Mr Frank Cassar for multiple offences under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997<\/em> relating to rooming houses. Mr Cassar was fined $16,000 for these offences…<\/p>\n The Moar You Know…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Landlords are Good, and voluntary real estate industry standards, rigorous government scrutiny, and a large and well-organised public and social housing sector ensure that the accommodation they provide is reasonably priced and of excellent quality. This is why renters–a group … Continue reading Rooming tenants crisis flares<\/a>, Cameron Houston, The Age<\/em>, August 23, 2008 | $16,000 fine for landlord<\/a>, Deborah Gough, The Age<\/em>, July 13, 2008 | Is this Melbourne’s worst landlord?<\/a>, Deborah Gough, The Age<\/em>, November 5, 2006.<\/ul>\n
Bonus Blather!<\/h2>\n
\nWednesday, 6, May 2009 COUNCIL 2227
\nRooming houses: registration
\nRaised with: Housing
\nRaised by: Ms Lovell
\nRaised on: 31 March 2009
\nREPLY:<\/p>\n