Processing an Electronic Verification of Rent (EVoR) business application 101-25081408

EVoR is a secure online service which enables approved community housing providers or supported accommodation providers to update tenant (customer) rent amounts directly with Services Australia. It is accessed in Business Hub.

For housing providers to be able to use EVoR, customers must:

• have already provided Services Australia with verification of the rent they pay, and
• be receiving Rent Assistance

Housing providers can then use EVoR to update and verify any subsequent changes to the tenants’ rent amount. This triggers a re-assessment of the customer’s eligibility and entitlement for Rent Assistance. A letter is issued to the customer each time rent is updated using EVoR which shows their rent details and Rent Assistance entitlement.

Housing providers can use it to update rent amounts for one customer (single update) or multiple customers (bulk update) at a time.

Using EVoR to update rent amounts when they change means the customer will:

• get the right amount of Rent Assistance paid to them
• not have to provide a rent certificate to Services Australia each time their rent changes

A housing provider cannot use EVoR to:

• start Rent Assistance, the customer must provide verification to do this first
• notify or update a customer’s address
• update a relationship status
• update a sharer status
• notify of the purchase or sale of real estate

Each housing provider must apply to access the EVoR service. Only approve a business if it meets the eligibility requirements as per the EVoR Policy and Terms.

A housing provider must provide affordable rental accommodation to customers and be either:

• a not-for-profit Community or Indigenous Housing Organisation, or
• providing supported accommodation to customers

Before the agency can enter into a contract with a business, it should be confirmed that the business is a legal entity. A legal entity has legal capacity to enter into agreements or contracts, assume obligations, incur and pay debts, sue and be sued in its own right and to be held responsible for its actions.

Some businesses require follow up to ensure the agency is entering into a valid contract, see Legal entities information.

Businesses need to apply and be approved by Services Australia to access and use EVoR. They must submit an application with the following forms and documentation by email/fax to National Business Gateway Business Applications:

• Electronic Verification of Rent Business Application (SA436) form, an authorised officer of the business must sign the application form in writing. Digital or electronic signatures are not accepted
• User details, for initial personnel registration and allocation of roles in Business Hub
• any supporting documentation required, such as a copy of their consent record or licence registration

The agency will assess the business application under the requirements in the EVoR Policy and Terms to determine if it can be approved to use EVoR. A business may be approved with additional conditions.

For each business application assessed, a EVoR BAAW must be completed by the assessor and scanned to the business record.

The BAAW supports correct decision making by the business application assessor and is one of the most critical stages of the business application assessment process. Completing a BAAW ensures:

• all eligibility criteria for EVoR are considered
• applicants are strongly vetted, to verify that statements made on the business application related to the business’s eligibility are correct
• an opportunity for the agency to discover important information related to the business’s eligibility that may not be contained on the business application
• referrals to the EVoR Program team take place as appropriate
• there is a permanent record of the assessor’s decision making process on the business record

After completing the BAAW, the assessor can make a decision to approve or reject the business application.

An authorised officer is a person with the legal authority to act on behalf of the business and enter into a contract with the agency.

All persons nominated in the application as an authorised officer and any person signing the SA436 application form must verify their identities using Provider Digital Access (PRODA), a secure access to government online service.

Once registered in PRODA, authorised officers need to provide the agency with their unique PRODA Registration Authority Number (RA number) as part of the application process.

Note: access to EVoR cannot be provided without an RA number.

When a business is approved to use EVoR it is a system requirement that one of the following service reasons must exist on the Org Service Agreement Summary (OSAS) screen:

• General Community Housing (GCH)
• Indigenous Community Housing (DIH)
• Supported Accommodation (RVF)

One may already exist on the record if the business is currently approved for Centrepay under one of these service reasons.

If none of these service reasons exist then one must be added to the record when processing the EVoR application. This is required even if the business is not applying for Centrepay or is currently approved for Centrepay under other service reasons. Businesses do not need to have an approved Centrepay contract to apply and be approved to use EVoR.

Businesses access EVoR through Business Hub.

Authorised officers of a business need to do the following as part of their application before access is able to be provided to EVoR:

• create a PRODA account (if they do not already have one), and
• provide their Registration Authorisation (RA) number to Services Australia

Using Business Hub Access Management in Process Direct

Processing staff will:

• add the appropriate Provider Roles to the business’ CRN
• link authorised officers to the business CRN
• add the appropriate User Roles to each person nominated in the application. The RA number and details must be checked and verified during this update

Once access has been added for Business Hub, authorised officers will be responsible for:

• relevant staff within the business registering for a PRODA account
• self-managing additional staff access using Business Hub Manage Personnel

The Business Hub user guide for EVoR provides instructions to assist businesses access EVoR and use the service.

In accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, it is mandatory for a business to obtain informed consent from the customer before making rent updates using EVoR. Implied consent cannot be relied upon for EVoR.

Customer consent for EVoR is voluntary and can be withdrawn at any time by the customer. Businesses can obtain customer consent in writing, verbally or electronically.

When obtaining consent, businesses must use the standard consent wording available in the EVoR procedural guide and demonstrate they can meet all our consent requirements. A copy of the consent record must be provided by the business when it lodges a business application for the agency's review. If a business wishes to collect consent using an online workflow or application, screenshots of the proposed consent process must be provided for review before being approved to use EVoR.

Rent updates via EVoR must be made between 15 and 50 days before the rent changes. If the housing provider does not make rent updates in this timeframe, EVoR cannot be used and customers must provide rent verification to the agency themselves.

EVoR is a free service and there are no costs to customers or businesses to use EVoR to update rent amounts.

Customers must:

• provide verification of the rent they pay to start Rent Assistance entitlements. Once this is done, housing providers can use EVoR to update changes in rent amounts
• provide verification of how much rent they pay if their housing provider is unable to make the update in EVoR for any reason. This could be because of a system or administrative issue, or a customer has a Restricted Access record
• ensure that the rent details are correct at all times. Customers can update their rent amount by:
• contacting their housing provider, or
• providing verification to the agency of their new rent details
• advise Services Australia of any other changes in circumstance within 14 days. This includes change of address, relationship status or sharing arrangements

All businesses with a new Australian Business Number (ABN) and/or Australian Company Number (ACN) must complete and submit a new business application. This is because a change in ABN/ACN can mean there is a change of the legal entity and to the contract with the agency.

In some instances, where the only change is the ABN/ACN and all other details (such as the owner, the address and contact details) of the business remain the same, a decision may be made to retain the same Customer Reference Number (CRN).

Assessments to retain the same CRN are completed by the Third Party Programs (TPP) team. See Updating or adding business details for Deduction and Confirmation programmes to confirm the required actions.

The TrEVoR service can be used when State and Territory Housing Authorities transfer the tenancy management of government housing properties to a (non-government) community housing provider. See Housing Transition Commencement of Rent (TrEVoR).