Rent bidding

Rent bidding is when a tenant or a real estate agent negotiates the price of a rental property, rather than renting at a fixed price.

Rent bidding can include any of the following:

• a prospective tenant offering more rent than was advertised without being prompted
• an agent requesting that prospective tenants offer more rent than was advertised
• an agent encouraging or seeking competitive bids from applicants
• advertising a property with a rent range, for example $250 to $300 or offers above $250
• advertising a property with no rental price
• holding a rent auction.

What the laws say

Rent bidding is now illegal in the Northern Territory (NT). A landlord may only offer a tenancy with rent set at a fixed amount.

A landlord cannot:

• require the tenant to pay or
• accept payment from the tenant that is higher than the rent fixed at the time the tenancy was offered.

A landlord can ask a tenant to pay a higher amount of rent, only if additional benefits or services are provided that were not included in the initial offer.

Additional benefits can include offering gardening services or exclusive use of a part of the premises not included in the initial offer.

If a landlord withdraws the property from the market, it cannot be re-advertised at a higher rent within 1 month of that withdrawal.

Misleading and deceptive conduct

Misleading and deceptive conduct may include:

• listing a property at an unrealistically low price, and asking applicants to offer more money
• telling a prospective tenant that another applicant had offered a higher rent when this is untrue.

If you have concerns about conduct that you think may be misleading or deceptive you can call NT Consumer Affairs on 1800 019 319.

Whether conduct is misleading or deceptive depends on the circumstances of each case.

Read more about misleading and deceptive conduct.

What you can do

You should know your rights when renting a property.

You should also make sure you do all of the following:

• decide how much you are prepared to pay
• set yourself a maximum limit and stick to it
• be careful about high pressure sales tactics.

NT Consumer Affairs offers advice to renters and landlords about any rental issues you may be experiencing.