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Dear Landlord
A self-help tool for renters in Victoria
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Draft your rent reduction letter

You have selected:
    1
    2Contact details
    3Rental provider or agent's details
    4Circumstances
    5Rent, rent owing & income
    6Rent reduction details
    7Create your letter

    Your personal information

    Justice Connect will collect some personal information from you to generate your document. We will store this information securely.

    With your permission, we may use your email to contact you for feedback about your Dear Landlord experience. We may use de-identified and aggregate data from Dear Landlord to improve the tool & advocate for Victorian renters.

    Read our privacy policy to understand how we collect, use and store your personal information.

    Do you agree to the above privacy policy*
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    Your contact details

    To begin drafting your rent reduction request, enter a few details about you and your situation. These will be used in the letter.

    Before you begin, have the details of your rental provider or property manager handy (including their full name and email address).

    Hidden
    DD slash MM slash YYYY

    Your details

    Your address

    Do you have co-tenants on the lease?*
    Hidden
    Hidden
    Co-tenant Names*
    Use the buttons to add/remove your co-tenants

    Consent to be contacted for feedback

    Your rental provider or agent's details

    This will be used these in the letter

    Does your rental provider use an agent to manage the property?*

    If you’re not sure, check any emails or letters received from your rental provider or real estate agent. If it’s a real estate agency, you can search the company name on the internet to find their contact details.

    Your circumstances

    Now let's include more about your situation and why you're requesting the rent reduction. This will be included in the letter and will help your rental provider understand your situation.

    Select why you are requesting a rent reduction*
    Select as many that apply.
    Hidden
    If your circumstances are not listed, you can tell the rental provider more about your situation if you would like to.

    Do you have any supporting documents you would like to share with your rental provider?*
    For example, a letter from your employer ending your employment, payslips showing reduced income, JobSeeker application, or Centrelink income statement.
    Hidden
    Hidden
    You should attach these documents when sending you rent request letter to your landlord or property manager. If you select yes to this question, information will be added to your letter stating that supporting documents will be attached.

    Your income

    It’s important to know how much of your income you are spending on rent. Use the information below to calculate how much you want to request for your rent reduction.

    The 30% rule

    Did you know that if you are paying more than 30% of your income on rent, you are considered to be in ‘rental stress’? Financial experts recommend to spend no more than 35% of your gross (pre-tax) income on rent.

    If you are struggling with other debts or bills, talk to a financial counsellor. Call 1800 007 007 to speak to a financial Counsellor or find one in your local area.

    How to calculate a percentage of your income

    Choose a percentage you want to try. For example, you might want to see what 30% of your income is.

    Using a calculator, enter:
    Your income ($) x the percentage (%)

    When you enter your percentage, it should be a decimal. So if you choose 30% enter it as 0.3, or 25% is 0.25.

    This will give you the percentage if your income that you might want to offer as your rent reduction.

    e.g. If you wanted to find 30% of $1200/fortnight, enter 1200 x 0.3 = $360/fortnight

    On the next page, you will be asked to enter the dollar amount you are asking your rent to be reduced to.

    hide this

    If you are writing this letter on behalf of your co-tenants, enter your household's total rent.
    How often?*
    Hidden
    Hidden - Rent Filled out?
    How much $
    If you don't receive the same income amount each month, enter an estimated average. If you are writing this letter on behalf of your household, enter your household's average income
    How often?

    Your rent reduction offer

    Use the following questions to create the details of your rent reduction request which will be included in the letter.

    How often would you like to pay?*

    DD slash MM slash YYYY

    Consider when you were financially impacted by COVID-19 as a possible start date for the agreement. You can backdate when the agreement starts.

    DD slash MM slash YYYY

    Create your letter

    Thanks, {First Name:2}. You’re almost done. Let’s check that you’re happy with the details before you finish. Once you’re happy, we’ll generate the letter, ready for you to email to your rental provider.

    Summary of details

    • {First Name:2} {Last Name:3}
    • {Phone:71}
    • {Email:38}
    • {Street Address:5}
      {Suburb:88} {State:90} {Postcode:89}

    You are requesting a rent reduction because: {Select why you are behind in rent:11}

    {Other Reason:80} {Any other reason you want to enter:13}

    {Hidden - Support docs - Yes:101}{Hidden - Support docs - No:102}

    You are requesting to a reduced amount of {How much you want to pay:29} per {Question - Pay Frequency:93} starting from {When will you start paying this amount?:48} until {summary-end-date:103}.

    You are requesting this payment plan on behalf of {Hidden - Behalf of just you:78}{Hidden - Behalf of co-tenants:79}.

    {Question - Co-tenants names:117:}

    Generating the letter

    The letter does not send automatically so you’ll be able to read and edit the letter before you send it.

    You will also get some information on what happens after you send your letter to your rental provider or real estate agency.

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    COVID-19 financial support available for Victorians

    The Federal and Victorian Governments are offering a number of different types of COVID-19 financial support for Victorian individuals.

    For a rundown of the various kinds of support available during the pandemic, including the newly announced RENT RELIEF GRANT, see our What kind of COVID-19 financial support is available for Victorians?

    Last updated 10 September 2021

    What do the new rental laws mean?

    New renting laws came into effect on 29 March 2021. This means if you fall behind in rent due to COVID-19, your landlord – now referred to as a rental provider – can take steps to evict you.

    Under the new laws, there is no legal requirement for your rental provider to accept a rent reduction, unless you applied to Consumer Affairs Victoria or VCAT before 29 March 2021.

    If you have an existing rent reduction or rent deferral agreement or order made during COVID-19, use Dear Landlord to find out what this means for you.

    If you want to find out more information about the new laws, see our What do the new rental laws mean for Victorian renters?

    A guide to the eviction process

    Evictions follow a legal process. This is a step-by-step guide if you are behind in rent to help you understand your rights and how Dear Landlord can help you.

    How Dear Landlord can help

    If you are behind in rent, Dear Landlord can help you understand your options based on your circumstances, including drafting a payment plan request to your rental provider, drafting a VCAT review application, and finding further financial or legal help.