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5 months ago
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Thousands of tenants have demanded rental laws be changed after their real estate agents tried signing them up to fee-charging rent payment apps.
More than 7,000 renters have signed an online petition to stop real estate agencies from forcing them to pay rent through third-party apps which often carry a surcharge.
Apps like Ailo and OurTenant have been slowly forced onto tenants as the preferred way for them to pay rent but both carry surcharges for direct debit.
Ailo was founded by Ray White's grandson, Ben White, who has denied that his app forces renters to pay out hundreds of dollars in extra fees per year.
Mr White told 9News 40 per cent of renters using his app do so without paying additional fees but Sarah, a renter who uses the platform, said avoiding fees is burdensome and unnecessarily tedious.
More than 7,000 renters have signed a petition to stop real estate agencies insisting they use apps like Ailo (pictured) to pay rent
Sarah, who rents through Ray White in NSW, pays $900 per month for rent and direct debit on the app charges her fees of an additional $9 per month or $54 from a credit card
Sarah, who rents through Ray White, was told by her real estate agent that she needed to start paying her rent through the Ailo app in July 2023.
She said it was 'ridiculous' that no other options were given to her at the time and that trying to avoid paying extra fees is 'unnecessarily difficult and time consuming'.
'As a renter you always feel powerless, even without a housing crisis to make matters infinitely worse,' she said.
NSW rental laws require tenants be provided with at least one fee-free option of paying rent, which Ailo does by way of one-off bank transfers which take days to process.
'[It] takes two days to process the payment, and I am required to leave the rent money in my bank account for the two days waiting for the app to process the payment,' Sarah continued.
'This is yet another way to try and wring more money out of you in the form of fees to actually pay your rent.'
By contrast,, direct debit via the app incurs a 0.25 per cent surcharge from a bank account or 1.5 per cent from a Visa or Mastercard.
Sarah's rent is $900 per month which would mean that she would be paying an extra $9 a month if debited from her bank account or an extra $54 if she used her credit card.
A spokesperson for Ray White denied forcing renters to adopt the Ailo app and said that Ailo was independent of the real estate agency.
They added that there are multiple ways to pay on the app and that its help section explains each one clearly.
'There are sections in the Help section of the platform that sets out all the different payment options and how renters can pay with fee free methods, or other methods if they choose to use them,' the spokesperson said.
'As far as we are aware, Ailo has the widest number of payment choices for renters, and offers the most number of ways for renters to pay rent without attracting a fee.'
Warren, from Queensland, was told by his real estate agent that he had to start using OurTenant to pay his rent but he refused and complained to the Office of Fair Trading
NSW Tenants' Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross said the rental crisis made tenants less likely to stand up for themselves against their agents
Warren, from Queensland, rents through LJ Hooker and recalled that in 2021 his real estate agency sent him an email which said that the only way he could pay rent going forward would be by using the OurTenant app.
OurTenant offers a fee-free direct debit option but payments via credit card incur a 1.95 per cent fee.
Queensland rental laws require both the tenant and real estate agent to agree before any changes are made regarding payment options, which Warren told his agent.
His agent insisted the change be made but Warren instead visited the Queensland Office of Fair Trading which confirmed he did not have to use the app.
A spokesperson for LJ Hooker said all of their offices are independently owned and operated and that it was up to the owner to decide which payment option was best.
'Our offices use various technologies to effectively manage rental properties,' they said.
'We understand that these solutions offer tenants multiple payment methods, including a fee-free method to pay rent, in accordance with the differing laws in each state and territory.'
NSW Tenants' Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross said that protections for renters were not strong enough and too ambiguous for most people to properly understand.
Situations like Sarah's and Warren's were made worse by the rental crisis which has made renters less likely to stand up for themselves, he added.
Mr Ross said the way to fix the problem is by changing the law to make it clearer for renters to know when they are being pushed around.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ray White, LJ Hooker, Ailo and OurTenant for comment.
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