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Cake day: February 15th, 2025

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  • At least in Victoria, the laws are very clear on this. If third party payment systems want to try and skirt the law, the renter only needs to email the property manager for a way of payment without any additional fees. But hey, not the first time parasites Property Managers have treated renters like scum.

    Methods of payment

    The renter and rental provider should agree on how rent will be paid before they start the rental agreement.

    Rental providers, agents and third-parties (such as online rental platforms) must not charge a renter any fees to pay their rent. Usual bank fees may apply.

    The rental provider must:

    allow the rent to be paid via the Commonwealth ‘Centrepay’ bill paying service and another form of electronic funds transfer not require the renter to pay by cheque with a date in the future on it (a post-dated cheque). Neither the renter nor the rental provider can ask the other to pay them back the costs of:

    setting up accounts to make or receive rental payments (such as a bank account), or for expenses related to making or receiving payments (such as bank fees). Any changes to how rent is paid must be agreed between the renter and rental provider.

    Illegal fees and charges

    Rental provider

    Rental providers cannot charge fees or fines for:

    issuing a rent payment card establishing or using direct debit facilities processing rent payments late payment of rent. Rental providers cannot add clauses to rental agreements that say these kinds of fines or fees must be paid. This is illegal.







  • Without ongoing software support and access to cloud-based Google Home and Nest features, the dropped Nest Learning Thermostat models hardly qualify as “smart” thermostats in 2026. Here’s the quick list of core features these Nest Learning Thermostat versions lost, straight from Google’s official support document:

    • Checking the status of your thermostat in the Nest or Home app
    • Remotely controlling the device
    • Receiving notifications
    • Changing settings from your phone or tablet

    Without access to the Home and Nest apps, additional functionality became unavailable. Connections to third-party assistants and Nest Protect accessories were broken for good. Features like Home/Away Assist, multi-device Eco Mode, and emergency shut off no longer work. Just about everything that made a Nest Learning Thermostat a Nest Learning Thermostat is gone, and the first- and second-generation models now have a gutted feature set.

    The silver lining — if there is one — is that these Nest Learning Thermostat models weren’t completely bricked. You can still control them manually, including by setting the temperature, changing the cooling mode, or creating a custom schedule. The features and settings that don’t rely on Google Home and Nest servers to run still work, albeit only on the thermostat itself.