Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2018 (ACT)

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2018 (ACT) was the subject of a legal case that involved applications for the registration of standard guarantee contracts. The applicants sought to register standard guarantee contracts under the old Act, but the applications were either pending or refused at the time of the Act's commencement. The dispute centred on whether these applications could be processed under the new Act and if the previously registered standard guarantee contracts would remain valid.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether applications for the registration of standard guarantee contracts made under the old Act but not decided by the commissioner before the Act's commencement could be processed under the new Act. A secondary issue was the fate of standard guarantee contracts that had been registered under the old Act before the new Act's commencement.

The court determined that applications for the registration of standard guarantee contracts made under the old Act but not decided by the commissioner before the new Act's commencement were considered not to have been made under the new Act. Furthermore, the court held that any standard guarantee contracts registered under the old Act before the new Act's commencement would cease to be registered on the new Act's commencement, unless they were consistent with the new Act's requirements. The court emphasised that any commercial guarantees consistent with the registered standard guarantee contract under the old Act would remain valid.

This decision clarified the transitional provisions concerning the registration of standard guarantee contracts and the validity of those registered under the old Act before the new Act's commencement. The court's ruling ensured that the new Act's provisions would apply from its commencement date, and that any inconsistencies with the new Act would result in the nullification of certain terms in commercial guarantees.