新冠肺炎疫情期間 施老師給物管經理的建議

新冠肺炎疫情於澳洲擴散，在這個全國都面臨的災難中，我們小區及大樓的物管經理也不可能幸免，以下是我給同學們的建議 (包含4月9日紅字更新):

4月9日昆州副州長Jackie Trad 與住房部長 Mick de Brenni 宣佈昆州政府將保護租客，給房東的唯一補償就是三個月的免土地稅，跟三個月的遲付土地稅！百分之七十以上的房東都只有一套投資房，我實在不曉得這些普通的小房東會有付土地稅？這個土地稅減免只有對大房東大地主才有幫助吧？州政府在想什麼？一個房東要個人持有的投資房產公告地價超過$60萬才需付土地稅，很多投資者連投資房總價都沒有$60萬，本來就沒繳土地稅，減免也沒幫助！

我必須要說我在整個疫情期間都很支持政府幫忙講解宣導政策，也沒有搞甚麼政黨政治，該給工黨州政府鼓掌時我也沒吝嗇過，但是等待那麼久，就看到工黨內的極左派領袖 Jack Trad出來收買租客人心，為十月份州大選做準備！我真是太高估昆州工黨的底線了！

1. 保持溝通

在人心慌慌的時期，我們小區經理應該要扮演著安撫居民人心的角色，保持與全體租客、住戶、業主們的溝通是我們最重要的工作。我們小區經理應該擔當起「第四級政府」的責任，負責宣導聯邦、州、市政府的政策，管理我們負責的公共區域，幫助我們的住戶。

Email、電子報、信箱投信、佈告欄公告等等都是我們與住戶與業主們溝通的渠道。擬稿時保持專業、客觀、關心的語氣，加強報告的頻率，讓大家知道我們很主動。

冷靜思考、友善應對、展現同理心，是我們溝通的原則。大家知道我們做了甚麼，未來會怎麼做，讓大家放心說小區有我們在不用驚慌。

無論我們心中多麼慌張無助，要記得我們的業主比我們更慘，我們必須要展現我們的專業，站在業主這邊好好的與租客溝通談判！我們這時候溝通協調能力就非常重要了！

​2. 保持距離

無論是聯盟黨的聯邦總理還是工黨的昆州州長，一再強調 Social Distancing 人與人之間的互動距離要保持 1.5米。

在保護住戶的同時，我們也要保護自己。通知租客建議以郵件電話溝通，減少直接到辦公室或櫃檯與我們接觸。可以在辦公室外張貼公告，以下是例子：

Our Social Distancing Measures for the Prevention of Coronavirus

Our office will now be open by appointments only. Please email us (insert email address) or call us on (insert mobile number) where possible and we will attend to your concerns asap. We remain contactable during normal business hours and will also attend to emergencies after business hours.   
If you have to see us in person, please maintain the Government's recommended 1.5m distance with our staff. Based on the size of our office and the '4 square metre per person rule', we will only allow for one visitor at a time in our office area.
​Thank you for your cooperation to keep our community safe and healthy. 

昆州住房部長已經宣布疫情期間我們應該停止定期的檢查，有緊急維修時，戴上一次性手套與口罩保護自己。由於小區經理接觸人多，這也同樣是對租客的保護。上門維修前，對於防護物品的佩戴應事前與住戶溝通，避免誤會。以下是範本：

Until further notice, we are delaying non-essential routine inspections as a safety precaution, please continue to take good care of your unit and report any urgent repair and maintenance requests via email.
​For the protection of both you and our staff/contractors, we will be wearing personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. Appropriate notices will be given prior to our visit so you can choose to be present or absent during our visit.  

3月24日晚上莫里森總理宣佈停止的商業活動中包括了房地產拍賣與開放參觀 Open Inspection。我在此補充說明 Private Inspection 私下參觀還是被允許的，所以無論是房地產仲介帶潛在買家或物管經理帶潛在租客看房都還是可以，只是不能開放讓沒有預約的客戶在同一個時間進到房屋裡參觀。我們還是依照過去的做法提前24小時以上給RTA Form 9。原本只要不是在周日跟公共假期、晚上六點後、早上八點前，租客沒有權利拒絕我們帶人看房。但是昆州住房部長如今給予了租客拒絕 Non-Essential 非必要理由進入的權利，包括定期的檢查都可以拒絕，尤其是租客或家人屬於怕感染肺炎的高危人群時。

州政府表示，可以透過視頻、照片、或協調預約私下參觀，但需要遵照昆士蘭衛生部的規定，保持人與人的距離與清潔消毒。州政府表示租客沒有義務配合我們做視頻參觀，但是需要跟我們溝通協調找出個可行的方案。

如有爭議可以找RTA協調。但是我建議，可以寫類似以下的信搭配RTA Form 9讓租客心裡比較能接受一點，也確保大家的安全及避免病毒的傳播。(已更新)

Dear Tenants,
Enclosed with this letter/email is RTA Form 9 - Entry Notice for entering into your unit. Currently private inspections are still permitted by the State Government while observing Queensland Health public health directions. Please inform us if you or a member of your household has a higher risk profile if exposed to COVID-19, for example over the age of 65 or has respiratory illness. 

We understand that you may be concerned about people entering into your rental unit during times of the Global COVID 19 Coronavirus outbreaks, please be rest assured that we are applying the following precautions and risks minimisation strategies to prevent the spread of virus and infections to our community.  It is our policy that we will confirm with anyone entering into private properties about their travel history and any contact history with confirmed cases, check if they have any known symptoms. We will keep the number of people entering private properties to a minimum and observe social distancing measures. You can choose not to be present during our visit. We will ask the people entering your unit to wear facial masks and avoid touching any surfaces. We have prepared hand sanitisers for visitors and will wipe clean your door handles upon leaving. 

We thank you for your cooperation and please contact us if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Onsite manager

3. 保持衛生  ​

在經理辦公室內外可以放免洗洗手液 Hand Sanitizer，購買消毒用品 Commercial Grade Disinfectant對櫃檯、門把、電梯按鈕、扶手、信箱等定期消毒，並讓業主與住戶們知道你做了這些消毒工作，這些消毒用品都可以向業委會請款，不然也可以當作開銷抵稅。如果業委會願意，可以在公共區域、電梯內都安裝免洗洗手液的架子，讓住戶使用。

所有化學物品的存放應該要遵守 ABMA Building Management Code，避免讓人打翻或直接接觸。

以下是聯邦政府衛生部設計的海報，也可以印出來貼在公共區域，點圖可下載高清PDF版。

​4. 關閉公共設施

我有詢問了澳洲衛生部關於公共設施的開放，回覆是澳洲政府已經下令限制人群聚集及接觸的場所，包括健身房與室內運動設施、影視廳等等。這包括了商業及社區公共設施。如果住在公寓大樓，衛生局建議住戶迅速穿越公共區域減少逗留。

一般大樓或小區的公共設施還有網球場、游泳池、spa按摩池、Saunas 桑拿房、BBQ、共用客廳等等。政府的限令沒有特別講明，但是我們可以合理的認為，室內游泳池、spa按摩池、Saunas 桑拿房都可以被歸納為 Indoor Sporting Venues 室內運動設施。

根據總理宣佈的最新禁令，游泳池、社區與休閒中心都不應該開放了。

非必要的聚會場所，應該還是盡可能保持每4平方米一個使用者的使用人數。根據疫情控制與防範中心的研究，目前沒有證據顯示新冠肺炎病毒能夠在泳池與熱水池內傳染他人。在正常的過濾與消毒過程中，應該能夠殺死或清除病菌。當然，需要自我隔離的人也不該使用任何公共設施。

小區或大樓經理如要關閉公共設施，應該向Body Corporate Committee提出建議，表示你要把時間精力用在無法關閉的公共區域清潔消毒上，也避免了病毒的傳染。若是有Committee還在雞雞歪歪，請他們給你書面保證負全部法律、刑罰、賠償責任再說。

​寫給Body Corporate的 Email 範本：

Dear Committees,
Based on the latest guidance from the Australian Government in regards to closure of facilities and social distancing, it is compulsory that we close down our indoor sporting and entertainment venues: gym, swimming pool, sauna, steam room and spa.
We would also recommend the temporary closure of any non-essential gathering areas. 
The booking of tennis courts, media room and residents lounge will be limited to people from the same apartment and guests are not permitted. Total number of people using the space should not exceed 4 sqm per person. 
Given how rapidly the virus is spreading, we need to take a proactive approach in closing down the above facilities with your approval. We will focus on disinfecting and sanitising essential common areas. Pools and Gardens will still be maintained as per usual standards. 

​Yours faithfully,

Onsite Manager

寫給住戶的Email 範本：

Dear Residents of (Complex Name),
Based on the latest guidance from the Australian Government in regards to facilities closure and social distancing, the Body Corporate has made the difficult decision to temporarily close the following common facilities until further notice from 5:00pm on 25th of March 2020: 

• - Gym
• - Pool
• - Theatre

Please ensure that you meet the requirements of social distancing at the lobby and the lounge area to allow for at least 1.5m between you and others. There should not be gatherings of more than XX number of people in the ______ room based on 4 sqm per person rule. 
We have increased the number of times we clean the essential common areas. Together we will reduce the risks of Coronavirus in our community. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation at this difficult time.

Yours faithfully,

Onsite Manager

5. 報告疫情

對於所有新搬入的租客住戶，我們應該確認其旅遊史與症狀，可以把以下條款列為管理政策通知住戶：

• All residents have an obligation to notify the onsite manager and Body Corporate in the event they're suffering from or recently experienced any recognised symptoms of COVID19  Novel Coronavirus.
• If a resident has recently returned from overseas, they will be expected to place themselves in 14 days self-isolation and any violations will be subject to the potential for serious fines by Qld State Government. Onsite Manager will remind the resident their obligations under law and continued breach despite such notification, the Onsite Manager will report to the local Health Department and/or the police (as assessed in consultation with the Body Corporate). 

遇到有症狀的住戶建議其盡快就醫，如果小區內有確診案例，需要通報業委會。通報時既要保障住戶隱私又要降低他人與被感染者的接觸風險。

6. 租客困境

遇到困難的租客可能來向我們哭訴說自己失業了有多慘多慘，我們能夠表示同情，但請記得我們是要保護誰的利益 - 房東。我們若只去可憐租客，很快就輪到別人可憐我們。

已經有很多學生問起租客已經失業付不起租金怎麼辦？租客要求房東降租怎麼辦？

我們作為物業管理經理，我們要一方面安撫租客表示會向房東傳達租客的困境，一方面要對租客說履行租約付租金是租客的責任。在國家首長內閣開會後，昆州的住宅租賃法律改變前，租客不付租金七天後我們照樣要給RTA 11號表格違約通知，不做就是失職。

我們應該要寫信提醒房東們，應該確保自己有買房東保險 Landlord Protection Insurance，而且要在沒有欠租的情況下買才有用。如果租客申請Tenant Hardship租客困境，保險公司還是能賠償約四週租金。目前房東如果遇到財務困難，可以向銀行申請六個月暫緩還款，但利息還是會累計，並非六個月不用還。我們要盡可能保護我們房東的利益，不能讓沒有失業沒受太大影響的租客耍賴欠租。

我們團隊寫給房東們的信如下：

Dear Owners of (Complex Name),

With the increased threat of COVID-19 and its spread in the community, we as the Onsite Managers are continuing to work in your best interest, however we would like to alert you to what may happen in the future should the economic condition worsen. 
 
With the current employment uncertainty for many households, especially for casual staff, the continual payment of rent is especially important for our investor owners. We are working closely with our dedicated team of property managers to support tenants while adhering to the RTA guidelines. Whilst there are concerns that there could be increased rent arrears with tenants due to isolation and unemployment, we urge our owners to check if they have purchased landlord insurance or check if it has expired, it is something crucial to have and please contact us if you require any assistance with purchasing insurance. Attached is the brochure for the recommended XXX Insurance.
 
These are challenging times and we will keep you informed as things change, especially after the Qld State Government announces changes to tenancy legislation.

​Hope all our owners and family stay safe and healthy.
 
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours faithfully,

Onsite Manager

 給房東的信 4月9日更新版: 

Dear Landlord,

I am writing to provide you with the latest update regarding the Queensland Labor Palaszczuk State Government announcement on 9th of April 2020 by Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Housing Minister Mick de Brenni, which will impact your investment property and our work as property managers. Be rest assured that we are standing on your side and will do our very best to collect as much rent as possible for you in this difficult time. If the tenants are not paying rent, we are not getting paid for our service either, so we will always have your best interest at heart even if this means more negotiation work with your tenants. 

Neither property owners, tenants or property managers are to blame for the effects of COVID-19, but we need to work through this together to get out to the other side of this pandemic. 

The State Government has put a freeze on evictions due to rent arrears for Queensland tenants experiencing financial distress due to the impacts of COVID-19, and this freeze will apply from 29th March 2020 and extend for six months. The State Government has asked landlords to consider requests for reducing rent if the tenant is experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. 

While we will try and confirm the genuineness of the tenant's situation, the Labor State Government is prohibiting us from asking for information about their finances (checking their bank statements and income), we will take reasonable steps such as calling their employers to confirm they have lost their employment or been stood down like when we were screening their rental application.  

We will confront on your behalf, any tenants not in financial hardship but trying to bargain for reduced rent, we have already been doing so for the last few weeks. 

If the tenant is in true hardship, we will start the negotiation process to try and reach an agreement under your instructions. As landlords, the only assistance by the Labor State Government is 3 months free land tax and 3 months deferment of land tax - which will be no help at all for at least 70% of the ordinary mum and dad investors. If we do approach you with tenant hardship, you will be able to apply to the bank to freeze your mortgage repayments for up to six months, with interest capitalised, to assist with your cash flow. It is important now to hold on to your property with this relief measure by the bank, trying to offload your investment now would be a terrible timing, rather than losing capital value through distressed sales, the bank can lend us 6 months worth of interest to get us over this difficult time. 

Please note, it would be in your best interest to negotiate with the tenant through us and get the highest possible rent the tenant can afford. Remember, having a tenant paying some rent is better than a vacant property with no rent. We will have to work extra hard to find tenants for vacant properties and the chances of tenants moving around will be minimal. So we need to negotiate with the tenant and we will be on your side. 

If we can not reach agreement, the State Government has made it a mandatory requirement for us to go through conciliation through the RTA. Only the RTA can ask the tenant to provide information about their personal finance to assist to resolve the dispute. The tenant should keeping paying at least 30% of their income as rent while waiting for conciliation. The Qld Government is still developing principles to guide negotiation and conciliation. 

We will not sign the new RTA Form 18d General Tenancy COVID-19 Variation agreement with the tenant unless we go through conciliation or with your instruction, especially when we do not believe the tenant is in genuine hardship. Signing the agreement will mean that the rent is reduced for the agreed period and that loss of rent is not claimable under insurance and we can not ask the tenant to pay it back after the crisis is over. The loss of rent prior to conciliation and signing of variation may be claimable if you have landlord insurance or through their bond and we can go through civil proceeding for amount exceeding their bond. 

The tenants have a right to a six month extension of the lease according to the State Government if their lease expires within the 6 months freeze on evictions. We will not be charging you a lease renewal fee during this difficult time even if we have to do all these extra work of negotiation, as we want to stand by you when you need us most. 

Please do not engage in direct communication with your tenants, let us do the hard work for you. We will keep you informed and updated. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, as our lines may be busy dealing with tenants even beyond business hours. We will try our best to get back to you. 

Yours sincerely,

Onsite Manager

給要求降租租客的信 4月9日版：

Dear Tenants,

I am sorry to hear about your financial hardship and your inability to meet your rent obligations. I understand that the Queensland State Government has announced legislative changes on the 9th of April regarding the freeze on evictions, but as the Prime Minister has clearly said "There is a moratorium for evictions, but that doesn't mean there is a moratorium on rents, that means people are responsible on their rents."

I believe all parties have a responsibility to work together to  sustain tenancies to keep you in your home. However, you must also understand, your landlord has a mortgage to repay, and interest on top of interest will be charged if they apply to defer their mortgage repayment with the bank. Until we can reach a mutually acceptable agreement, your current rental arrears may still be accumulated as debts, and RTA advised that we can take it out of your bond and go through civil proceedings for amounts exceeding the bond. Therefore, it is in your best interest to be reasonable with the negotiation process. 

If you are willing to provide some evidence of your financial hardship, such as a letter from your employer, it would be a great start for me to present your case to the landlord for consideration. I understand that the State Government stated that you are only required to provide formal financial statements to RTA, but why wait until conciliation and build up your rent arrears? If you could at least give me some evidence, I can start the negotiation process for you as soon as possible, and you may have your rent reduction considered quicker. 

The Government requires us to be open in our communication, both you and the landlord are facing similar financial challenges, I am willing to help both side to come to a reasonable agreement, but we need to be open and honest about our circumstances and understand each other's difficulties. We need to know from you what income support payments you are receiving or applying, your prospect of finding alternative work when we present your case. 

Paying no rent at all will not be an option, and RTA clearly stated that you are required to be reasonable and pay rent during conciliation process. If you have lost part of your income, it is only reasonable that you at least pay in proportion of what you are earning now. Even if you have lost your job completely, make sure you have applied to Centrelink for the COVID-19 income support and you may be entitled to apply for the Qld State Government grant as well. These are all Federal and State income supports for you and you must pay rent with these incomes. 

I will go through the information you have provided, and present your case to the landlord for you. I will see what the landlord can do for you based on their own financial situation, then we will offer you a reduction of rent for a period of _____ months, and we hope you can have an improvement of your financial situation. If we are unable to reach an agreement, we will have to queue up for the RTA mandatory conciliation process. We will continue to issue you with notice to remedy breach and accumulate your rental arrears before the conciliation takes place. We will have no choice but to take legal action against you when this is all over to pursue the arrears in the interest of the landlord. 

I appreciate this is stressful times for all of us, please understand we are trying our best to help out all tenants with genuine hardships. Our staff are only human too, so no abusive or aggressive behaviours will be tolerated in our office.  We will treat you with respect and gather information to help you stay in your rental property without having to incur a huge debt through arrears and a bad rental and credit history. So let's work together in coming to an acceptable solution. 

Look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

​Onsite Manager

​

以上的信請注意，RTA的Conciliation 可能會回朔到從租客提出降租那天開始，所以以上勸租客要合理的內容只是希望他們不要太不講道理。

租客失業政府有給一定的補助，可以讓失業的租客先去Centrelink尋求幫助。我們在向房東傳達租客困境前，也要先確認這個租客真的失業遇上困難。

如果遇到佛心的慈悲房東願意降租，我不建議重簽租約，重簽降租租約表示我們也要退還多收的押金。$700以下週租最多只能收四週押金，多收了會被罰款 20個罰款單位的。我們可以跟租客講說，我們可以暫時改收每週多少的租金，差額先欠著，等之後過了難關再補繳，這樣就可以不改租約。畢竟我們的房東也有房貸利息要繳，銀行對房東頂多是暫緩利息支付而不是不用付了。

昆州政府已經出了 RTA Form 18d General Tenancy COVID-19 variation agreement，如果同意臨時降租，可以用這個表格，不影響押金金額。

以下是我建議給房東們的信 (3月29日舊版請不要再寄了)：

Dear Landlords,

In this uncertain and difficult time, we appreciate your continuous understanding and support for your role as your property manager. With the increasing rental reduction requests and arrears issues by tenants facing hardships whether due to unemployment or self-isolation, we are here to report to you our responses to the current situation.

The National Cabinet did not reach a decision last night about Rental Assistance for Tenant hardships, but the Prime Minister Scott Morrison is well aware of the impacts to landlords as well. The National Cabinet will meet again tonight and we hope to have to have more clarity and direction within this week when the Qld Premier makes her announcements. 

Until Queensland State Government changes legislation, we will follow all RTA guidelines and procedures for rent arrears and tenant hardships. We will issue breach notices and notices to leave with appropriate notice periods and continue to follow up with each tenants. We will attend tribunal hearings on your behalf should cases move to QCAT. However, this will be a long and difficult process to evict any tenants. 

We continued to remind all landlords to consider Landlord Protection Insurance if you have not already done so, this must be done before there is arrears for your rental property. We have some landlords willing to pass on a bit of interest savings from the recent rate cuts as rental reductions for tenants with difficulties. We are all in a difficult situation together, we just need to support one another to get through to the other side. 

We will be in contact with individual owners should there be a need to, please feel free to email us with your concerns and any questions. Our office is working hard in dealing with tenant hardships at the moment and will try and reply to you as soon as we can.

Your faithfully,

Onsite Manager

7. 小區經理生意有啥政府補助

澳洲聯邦政府與各州政府採取逐步封鎖的策略，就是不想讓經濟受到重擊造成社會太大動盪。聯盟黨政府目前的 $189 billion 經濟援助方案佔了澳洲GDP的9.7%，但是需要援助的地方實在太多，只能重點先照顧社會上最弱勢的族群及幫助企業不要關閉裁員避免失業率失控。

如果你們的生意有聘請員工支付薪水，為了幫助你們留住員工，聯邦總理 Scott Morrison 宣布會撥放 $20,000到$100,000的現金補貼小生意。你們的員工必須做Payroll，請速洽你們的會計師在三月底前把薪資都給做好，報稅時就能自動獲得補助。沒有聘請員工的生意就沒有補助，因為政府現在是要先保失業率。

另外，每季度預繳的稅金也可以緩繳，幫助你們的現金流。可以向會計師諮詢詳情。

政府還宣布與四大銀行合作可以給小生意12個月的$25萬元無息貸款，之後分十年還清。詳情請洽貸款給你們的銀行經理。借到了可以把$25萬元拿來沖抵目前的貸款，少繳利息，幫助現金流。

購買$15萬元以內的生財設備也可以直接報為當年開銷節稅，公司車還是只能買 $57000以內的車。

如果你的收入銳減20%以上，可以諮詢財務規劃師與會計師申請將Super退休金裡面的錢在七月一日前提領$10,000出來應急，七月一日以後還能再提領$10,000。記住不要去建議租客這麼做，給予財務建議是非法的。

如果有小生意業者每兩週的收入降低到不到 $1075，就可以申請聯邦政府每兩週 $550的新冠肺炎補助。

很遺憾我們昆州工黨政府讓我們等了那麼多天就給出了這樣的政策，接下來我會跟各方想辦法給州政府施壓調整規定，今年十月份我們有機會以我們的選票對州政府疫情期間的表現給一個公正的評價。

由於太多學生有問題，我最近無法一一給大家回答，我統一的回答會更新在我的網站。我目前只能夠在我的VIP群組平台裡多給一些時間回答近期捐款的學生問題，並把討論總結放到網站上。我會盡力幫助全體的同學們，也鼓勵同學們互相幫助討論，但我真的沒辦法回答幾百個私聊問題。多謝體諒！