MANDATORY CODE FOR RENT RELIEF

The National Cabinet has agreed that states and territories will implement a mandatory Code of Conduct in the commercial property sector.

Summary of the Code is as follows.

To be eligible to negotiate under the code either party must:

• be a business that is in a position of financial distress;
• have a turnover of $50 million or less;
• be eligible to receive support under the JobKeeper program (meaning the business has experienced at least a 30 per cent drop in revenue due to Covid-19 restrictions).

Under the Code landlords must not terminate the lease or draw on a tenant’s security. Likewise, tenants must honour the lease agreement.

With regard to rent reduction, landlords will be required to reduce rent in proportion to the trading reduction suffered by the tenant. This will be achieved by a combination of waivers and deferrals of rent.

Waivers of rent must account for 50 per cent at least of the reduction in the rental provided to the tenant during that period while deferrals must be covered over the balance of the lease term and for no less of a period than 12 months. For example, if the lease term goes for three years the cost can be amortised over the three year period. However, if the lease only has another six months left to run then the tenant would still have a minimum of 12 months after the pandemic period to cover the deferrals of the rental payments.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

From all at Integrity Finance, we hope you and your families are doing well in these crazy times.

Unfortunately we probably all know someone, or potentially it may be yourself, that has had their employment situation altered due to the Coronavirus and general slowdown/shutdown in the economy. Whilst the Government has tried to assist with their JobSeeker or JobKeeper stimulus package, sometimes this is slow to apply for or it may not apply to you. We understand this can potentially put some pressure on being able to continue making your home loan repayments and we wanted to let you know that we are here to help where we can.

Mortgage Repayment Pause

Many banks have introduced a ‘Mortgage Repayment Pause’ which can allow you to ease the cash flow burden by not having to make a repayment for at least 3 months (with the potential to extend this further).

We do note that this is not free money and the interest that is accrued each day is added to your home loan (so your loan actually increases rather than decreases) but if this means it can allow you to keep living and take the stress away from having to make a repayment then it may be something to consider. We can discuss the pro’s and con’s of this with you.

It is not something to be embarrassed about, as we mentioned earlier, the Coronavirus has affected so many people in so many ways so please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss what options your lender has offered.

How else can we help?

Another way we can potentially help is by having your current interest rate reviewed to see if the rate can be decreased, resulting in a lower repayment moving forward. We would love to assist you in seeing if we can achieve a lower rate with your existing lender, so if you wish for us to take a look at this please send gie us a call.

Again, please do not hesitate to contact us as we are here to help. Even if we do not have all of the answers immediately we should be able to point you in the right direction.

Kind regards

Tom Bailey & Nicholas Berry

Integrity Finance (Aust) Pty Ltd

Click here to learn more about Nic & Tom, or  just give them a call on (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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Nicholas Berry Credit Representative Number 472439 and Thomas Bailey Credit Representative Number 472440 are Credit Representatives of Integrity Finance (Aust) Pty Ltd – Australian Credit Licence 392184.

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. These articles are not owned by Integrity One Planning Services. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has stepped in to try and stop real estate agents advising tenants struggling to pay rent to withdraw money from their superannuation, warning that those who do so could face hefty fines and jail time for unlicensed financial advice against people’s best interests.

The letter states in part –

“Financial advice must only be provided by qualified and licensed financial advisers,
or financial counsellors, not by real estate agents who neither hold the requisite
licence, nor are an authorised representative of an Australian Financial Services
Licensee.

The Corporations Act imposes significant penalties for a contravention of section
911A. For individuals this can be a maximum of 5 years imprisonment, and/or a fine of
up to $126,000 (600 penalty units), and for corporations a fine of up to $1,260 million
dollars (6000 penalty units).

Tenants facing financial difficulty need sound financial guidance and potentially
debt counselling. Specifically pointing them to and recommending them to consider
the specific possibility of accessing superannuation is, again, likely to amount to a
breach of the Act.”

ASIC has written to real estate institutes, calling on them to pass on the letter to all members “as a matter of priority”.

A ful copy of the letter can be found here

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

There has been a lot to take in over the last few weeks with almost daily announcements on a range of things including help for business, the unemployed, those about to be unemployed, mortgage holders, renters, childcare, healthcare, superannuation, and on & on.

We are hearing from clients who are being pressured into raiding their superannuation accounts to pay for rent & utilities, mortgage holders uncertain on the impact of putting repayments on hold, people at a loss on how to navigate Centrelink to access much-needed help, & much much more.

Don’t go it alone – a problem shared is a problem halved. We are here to help.

Give us a call on 03 9723 0522.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

The Government has introduced JobKeeper Payment designed to help businesses affected by the Coronavirus to cover the costs of their employees’ wages, so that more employees can retain their job and continue to earn an income. Employers (including non-for-profits) will be eligible for the subsidy if:

• their business has a turnover of less than $1 billion and their turnover will be reduced by more than 30 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); or
• their business has a turnover of $1 billion or more and their turnover will be reduced by more than 50 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); and
• the business is not subject to the Major Bank Levy.

Eligible employers will receive the payment for each eligible employee that was on their books on 1 March 2020 and continues to be engaged by that employer – including full-time, part-time, long-term casuals and stood down employees. Casual employees eligible for the JobKeeper Payment are those employees who have been with their employer on a regular basis for at least the previous 12 months as at 1 March 2020.

How to Apply

Businesses with Employees

Employers can register their interest in applying for the JobKeeper Payment with ATO from 30 March 2020.Subsequently, eligible employers will be able to apply for the scheme by means of an online application. Eligible employers will need to identify eligible employees for JobKeeper Payments and must provide monthly updates to the ATO.

Businesses without Employees

Businesses without employees, such as the self-employed, will need to provide an ABN for their business, nominate an individual to receive the payment and provide that individual’s Tax File Number and provide a declaration as to recent business activity. People who are self-employed will need to provide a monthly update to the ATO to declare their continued eligibility for the payments. Payment will be made monthly to the individual’s bank account.

Payment

Where employers participate in the scheme, their employees will receive this payment as follows.

• If an employee ordinarily receives $1,500 or more in income per fortnight before tax, they will continue to receive their regular income according to their prevailing workplace arrangements. The JobKeeper Payment will assist their employer to continue operating by subsidising all or part of the income of their employee(s).
• If an employee ordinarily receives less than $1,500 in income per fortnight before tax, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.
• If an employee has been stood down, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.
• If an employee was employed on 1 March 2020, subsequently ceased employment with their employer, and then has been re-engaged by the same eligible employer, the employee will receive, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

It will be up to the employer if they want to pay superannuation on any additional wage paid because of the JobKeeper Payment.

The subsidy will start on 30 March 2020, with the first payments to be received by employers in the first week of May.

Businesses will be able to register their interest in participating in the Payment from 30 March 2020 on the ATO website

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Unfortunately, scammers are taking advantage of the spread of coronavirus to exploit and play on the fears of consumers across Australia.

There has been a significant increase in email & telephone scams. Unfortunately many of them are very well done and often look very very similar to the emails and websites of official government and trusted organisations.

If you receive unsolicited calls, txts, emails etc, take care to validate their authenticity through alternative means before taking in action, especially if they ask you to login or provide information about yourself. The best approach is to assume all unsolicited communications are suspect until you validates then through a different channel.

The ACCC’s scam watch site is a good source of information and techniques on how to protect yourself against these scams.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.