A renter with their beloved pet cat.
Agents shouldn't be allowed to discriminate against renters with pets.
For many pet owners, their pet is part of the family. And there are also health and social benefits to pet ownership. Yet for renters with pets, finding a new place can be even harder and more desperate.
Better Renting is calling for a standard application form for all tenancies that excludes questions regarding pet ownership. This will make it harder for agents to discriminate against renters because they own pets, making life better for renters and reducing abandonments of companion pets by desperate renters.
Dear Gordon Ramsay MLA, Attorney-General,
Renters with pets face unfair disadvantages when it comes to finding a place to rent. Existing laws provide adequate options for landlords if they do need to seek compensation for damaged caused by a pet. The ACT Government should institute a standard application form for all residential tenancies which excludes questions regarding pet ownership, so that renters with pets are no longer the victims of discrimination.