Reid Sexton September 13, 2011 VICTORIAN landlords could be forced to pay tenants up to $1800 for urgent repairs under laws introduced this month.
Consumer Affairs Minister Michael O'Brien also yesterday announced rules that will compel real estate agents to report suspected unregistered rooming houses.
The laws are part of a crackdown on unscrupulous slum-lords, after a sharp rise in the number of illegal boarding houses in Melbourne in recent years.
Advertisement: Story continues below Under the changes, tenants will be entitled to up to $1800 compensation from landlords to help them carry out vital maintenance, an increase from $1000.
The government has also set up new guidelines regarding the database that notes dodgy tenants.
The announcement follows a fire at an illegal Footscray boarding house last week that forced seven people to evacuate, with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade slamming the building as a fire trap
