WA Tenant Blacklists: When Can a Landlord List a Tenant?
When can a WA tenant be put on a rental blacklist? Learn the tenancy database rules, 14-day notice, three-year limit and how incorrect listings are removed.
A tenant leaves your property owing rent and with damage to the house.
Can you put them on a rental blacklist?
Possibly.
A tenant repeatedly pays late and has been difficult to deal with.
Can you list them?
Not simply for that reason.
A prospective tenant applies for your property and a tenancy database search produces a match.
Can you quietly reject the application without mentioning it?
Again, no.
Residential tenancy databases — often referred to as tenant blacklists — can be useful risk-management tools for WA landlords.
But they are regulated.
A landlord cannot add somebody simply because they were an unpleasant tenant, complained frequently, received a breach notice or left on bad terms.
There are specific conditions governing:
- who can be listed;
- when they can be listed;
- what information can be recorded;
- what the tenant must be told;
- how long a listing can remain; and
- when it must be changed or removed.
For landlords, knowing those rules is just as important as running the database search in the first place.
Important: This article provides general information about residential tenancies in Western Australia and is not legal advice. Always check current WA Consumer Protection requirements for your particular circumstances.
What is a tenancy database?
A tenancy database is a commercial database containing information about certain tenants and previous tenancy problems.
Landlords and property managers may use these databases when assessing rental applications.
You may also hear them described as:
- tenant databases;
- residential tenancy databases;
- tenancy blacklists; or
- bad-tenant databases.
But these aren’t supposed to be informal landlord complaint registers.
WA law limits the circumstances in which someone’s personal information can be entered.
When can a WA tenant be listed?
Consumer Protection says a person can only be listed where all of the initial conditions are satisfied:
- the person was named as a tenant in a residential tenancy agreement;
- that tenancy agreement has ended; and
- the tenant breached the agreement.
Then at least one further threshold must apply:
- because of the breach, the tenant still owes more than the amount of the security bond; or
- a court made an order terminating the residential tenancy agreement because of the breach.
That is a much narrower test than:
“They were a bad tenant.”
Can you list a tenant while they still live in the property?
No, not under the ordinary listing criteria.
Consumer Protection specifically requires the residential tenancy agreement to have ended before the tenant can be listed.
That means a tenancy database isn’t an enforcement tool to threaten a current tenant with.
For example:
“Pay the rent by Friday or I’ll blacklist you.”
is not how the statutory process works.
Current rent arrears should instead be dealt with through the appropriate rent-arrears and Form 21 process.
Is owing any amount of money enough?
No.
Where the proposed listing is based on money still owed after the tenancy, the amount must be more than the security bond amount.
Imagine the security bond was $2,400.
After finalising the tenancy, the tenant legitimately owes $700.
That debt may still be recoverable.
But the existence of the $700 debt alone does not satisfy the tenancy-database monetary threshold described by Consumer Protection.
If the tenant still owes $3,500 after the tenancy has ended and the debt results from a breach, the situation is different because the amount exceeds the security bond.
This distinction is easy to miss.
Debt recovery and database listing are related, but they are not the same process.
What if the court terminated the tenancy?
A court termination order arising from the tenant’s breach provides the other principal pathway to a lawful listing.
In that situation, the amount of money owed is not the only issue.
Consumer Protection says a tenant can be listed where a court made an order terminating the residential tenancy agreement because of the breach.
Again, keep the evidence.
Court orders, rent ledgers, inspection photographs, invoices and correspondence may become important if the tenant later challenges the listing.
For practical record-keeping, see LandlordLogic’s tenancy breach evidence and timeline guide.
What information can be put on the database?
A tenancy database entry cannot be vague or misleading.
Consumer Protection says information recorded must be:
- accurate;
- complete;
- unambiguous;
- limited to the relevant breach; and
- clear about the nature of that breach.
Consider the difference between:
“Terrible tenant. Avoid.”
and an accurate factual record concerning a qualifying breach and resulting debt.
A tenancy database is not a review website.
Keep emotion and personal commentary out of it.
Does the tenant have to be warned before being listed?
Yes.
Before listing a tenant, the landlord, agent or database operator must advise them about the proposed listing.
Consumer Protection says the tenant must be given details of the proposed entry — or reasonable steps must be taken to provide those details — and the tenant must receive at least 14 days to review the personal information and object.
The tenant can object to matters including the:
- accuracy;
- completeness; or
- clarity
of the proposed information.
The landlord or other listing party must consider the tenant’s objection.
That makes the sequence important:
Decide that the statutory criteria appear satisfied → prepare the proposed information → notify the former tenant → allow at least 14 days → consider any objection → then determine whether the listing should proceed.
Don’t list first and explain afterwards.
What if you don’t know where the former tenant lives?
Consumer Protection requires reasonable steps to notify them.
Where their new address is known, the information can be sent there.
Where it isn’t, Consumer Protection suggests sending it to the former rental property because the tenant may have arranged mail redirection.
Keep evidence of the steps you took.
If the tenant later says:
“Nobody ever told me.”
you want a record showing what was sent, where it was sent and when.
How long can a tenant stay on a blacklist?
Generally, no more than three years.
Consumer Protection says listings older than three years must be removed by the database operator.
That means a tenancy database is not supposed to become a permanent record following someone indefinitely.
There are also circumstances where a listing must be removed before three years have passed.
What if the tenant pays the debt?
This is another important rule.
Consumer Protection says a listing can become out-of-date where the tenant owed more than the security bond but repaid the debt within three months after the amount became due.
An out-of-date listing must be removed.
So don’t assume that because a listing was valid on day one it automatically remains valid for three years.
Circumstances can change.
What if the information is wrong?
Incorrect information must be corrected.
The same applies where information is:
- incomplete;
- ambiguous; or
- otherwise no longer appropriately recorded.
Consumer Protection says that when the landlord or agent who made the listing becomes aware that information needs to be changed or removed, they must notify the database operator within seven days.
The database operator then has 14 days to amend or remove it.
This creates an ongoing responsibility.
A landlord cannot submit information and then forget about it.
Can a tenant challenge a listing?
Yes.
A tenant can challenge information they believe is:
- incorrect;
- out of date;
- ambiguous; or
- unjust.
If the dispute cannot be resolved, Consumer Protection says the tenant can lodge a complaint or apply to the Magistrates Court.
The court can order information to be:
- removed completely;
- removed partly;
- changed; or
- prevented from being listed in the first place.
For landlords, this reinforces why database entries should be factual and evidence-based.
What about family and domestic violence?
There is an important protection here.
Consumer Protection says it is unjust to list a tenant where the reason for the listing arises from the tenant being subjected to family violence.
WA’s Safe Tenancy guidance also confirms that tenants’ names must not be added to a tenancy database because of a family and domestic violence issue.
These circumstances need to be handled under WA’s specific family and domestic violence tenancy protections.
Don’t apply the ordinary database process mechanically.
What if the applicant is already on a tenancy database?
This is where the rules affect landlords before a tenancy even begins.
Suppose you’re screening applications and your database search finds a listing against one applicant.
Consumer Protection says you must provide that prospective tenant with written notice within seven days after using the database.
The notice must tell them:
- the name of the database;
- that personal information about them appears on it;
- the name of each person who made the listing, if that information is identified; and
- how and in what circumstances the information can be removed or amended.
You cannot charge the applicant a fee for providing this notice.
Do you have to tell applicants that you’ll search a database?
Yes.
WA Consumer Protection’s rental-application guidance says landlords must tell prospective tenants in writing if they use a tenancy database.
If information about the applicant is found, the landlord must also tell them.
This is worth building directly into your tenant-application process rather than trying to remember it case by case.
Does a database listing automatically mean you should reject the applicant?
No database result should replace proper assessment.
A listing tells you that information has been recorded.
It does not tell you everything about:
- the circumstances;
- whether the information is disputed;
- whether the debt has subsequently been paid;
- whether the listing is current; or
- the applicant’s situation today.
It is one input into tenant selection.
And tenant selection itself remains subject to other laws.
Be careful about discrimination when selecting tenants
A landlord can choose among applicants, but that discretion is not unlimited.
WA’s current landlord guide states that the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 prohibits discrimination against prospective tenants on specified grounds including:
- age;
- sex;
- race;
- impairment;
- marital status;
- pregnancy;
- family responsibility or family status;
- religious or political conviction;
- sexual orientation; and
- gender history.
Other protected grounds also apply under WA law.
Consumer Protection’s tenant guidance likewise reminds applicants that landlords must treat rental applicants fairly and cannot discriminate on protected grounds.
The practical approach is to assess applications using consistent, tenancy-relevant criteria.
What about rent bidding?
Tenant selection also intersects with WA’s rent-bidding prohibition.
A rental must be advertised at a fixed amount.
A landlord cannot encourage or pressure an applicant to offer more than the advertised rent.
A prospective tenant can voluntarily offer more, but the landlord cannot suggest that doing so will strengthen their application.
So this is not acceptable:
“Your database check isn’t great, but if you offer another $50 a week we might reconsider.”
Keep rent setting, applicant assessment and tenancy-database compliance within their proper boundaries.
A practical database process for self-managing landlords
If you’re screening a prospective tenant:
1. Tell applicants in writing that you use a tenancy database.
2. Search consistently rather than selectively.
Use the same screening process for applicants in comparable circumstances.
3. If you find a listing, record the search.
Keep the date and database used.
4. Notify the applicant in writing within seven days.
Provide the information Consumer Protection requires.
5. Consider the application on its actual merits.
Don’t treat the word “listed” as the entire tenant-selection process.
If you’re considering listing a former tenant:
1. Confirm the tenancy has ended.
2. Identify the breach.
3. Confirm the listing threshold is actually satisfied.
Is the outstanding amount greater than the security bond, or did a court terminate the tenancy because of the breach?
4. Assemble your evidence.
Keep the lease, ledger, PCRs, photographs, invoices, correspondence and court orders where relevant.
5. Prepare factual information only.
No insults, speculation or emotional commentary.
6. Give the former tenant the proposed information.
7. Allow at least 14 days for review and objection.
8. Consider any objection.
9. List only information that remains accurate, complete, unambiguous and lawful.
10. Update it later if circumstances change.
A valid listing today may require amendment or removal later.
Common landlord mistakes with tenant blacklists
Threatening a current tenant with blacklisting.
The ordinary listing criteria require the tenancy to have ended.
Listing someone simply because money is owed.
For the debt-based pathway, the qualifying amount must exceed the security bond and arise from the relevant breach.
Listing first and notifying later.
The tenant must receive the proposed information and at least 14 days to respond before listing.
Writing an emotional description.
Database information needs to be accurate, complete and unambiguous.
Ignoring a repaid debt.
Some listings become out-of-date and must be removed.
Assuming a listing lasts forever.
The general maximum is three years.
Finding an applicant on a database and saying nothing.
There is a seven-day written-notification requirement.
Using the database as your entire tenant-selection system.
It is one risk indicator, not a substitute for consistent application assessment.
A tenancy database should be evidence, not revenge
There is a useful principle behind all of these rules.
A tenancy database can help future landlords identify serious tenancy problems.
But it can also significantly affect someone’s ability to find a home.
That is why WA law sets thresholds around what can be recorded and gives tenants an opportunity to challenge information.
For landlords, the safest approach is not complicated:
Document the tenancy properly.
Use the correct breach and termination processes.
Calculate genuine losses accurately.
Keep your evidence.
Follow the notification deadlines.
Record facts rather than opinions.
If the circumstances genuinely satisfy the database rules, that evidence will support the listing.
If they don’t, a tenancy database should not be used as punishment for a tenancy that ended badly.
For current official guidance, see WA Consumer Protection — Add or remove a tenant from a database and WA Consumer Protection — Rent bidding, applications and option fees.
Managing your own WA rental? Explore LandlordLogic’s practical guides and free resources for tenant screening, rent arrears, notices, evidence, inspections and end-of-tenancy administration — so important decisions are based on records and the correct process.