Landlord e-newsletter No.1 - March 2007
Kia ora and welcome to the first email newsletter for landlords. This newsletter provides information about current hot topics, new resources and tools to help you and other landlords in the New Zealand rental market.
For information and advice on a specific renting issue, call us on 0800 TENANCY (0800 83 62 62) 8 am to 4.30 pm weekdays. To subscribe to the newsletter, please go to the subscription page »
Landlord education seminars help new landlords get it right
The Department of Building and Housing is running education seminars to help new landlords get to grips with running their rental property effectively.
The seminars are designed for landlords who have little or no experience in the New Zealand rental market.
There is no charge for the seminar, but places are limited and you must register to attend. Call 0800 TENANCY (0800 83 62 62) or email seminars@dbh.govt.nz to register.
For more information about when and where the seminars are being run see the Events and contacts page.
The landlord seminars are being run in conjunction with ANZ, Westpac and the New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation.
Ending a fixed-term tenancy early
When you first arrange a fixed-term tenancy, you should outline to your tenants what would be required if you or they want to end the tenancy earlier. Record the fact that you explained this to the tenants at the time.
When you’re negotiating to end a fixed-term tenancy early, you should take steps to record the terms of any agreement you make with your tenants. Then you and the tenants should sign the agreement. This can help avoid disputes about recovering and dividing up bond money, especially if there are repairs to be made or damage to the property.
If you make a formal application to the Tenancy Tribunal to end a fixed-term tenancy early, you need to show:
- you would experience severe hardship if the term of the tenancy isn’t reduced
- that this hardship is greater than the hardship the tenant would experience if the term were reduced
- the hardship you would experience is because of an unforeseen change in your circumstances.
Examples of circumstances that justify terminating a tenancy early are usually related to serious health or employment changes, such as terminal illness or your job being relocated.
For more information about fixed-term tenancies or for advice about a specific renting issue, call us on 0800 TENANCY (0800 83 62 62).
New email notifications help you keep track of your Tenancy Tribunal applications
It is now possible to receive an email to notify you when the Department of Building and Housing has processed a Tenancy Tribunal application from you. You’ll also receive an email if your application is sent to the Swift telephone mediation service to be resolved.
This new service will help you keep track of your application, and be assured that it has been received by the Department when you send it in. The email you receive will contain your application number.
To receive email notifications, please provide an accurate, clearly written email address when you make a Tenancy Tribunal application.
If you have provided your email address and do not receive an email notification within 48 hours of making an application, please phone 0800 TENANCY (0800 83 62 62).
Liability for rental property damage
The rules for liability for damage caused by tenants are likely to change.
Last year, the Government announced a package of reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act. These changes are intended to ensure you and your tenants are treated fairly and equally, and to fix up some of the more outdated aspects of the legislation.
The latest proposed changes include limiting the liability of tenants for damage that they did not cause and could not reasonably have prevented. But landlords shouldn’t miss out, and will still be able to recover compensation for damage to their property.
What’s proposed?
The Government proposes amending the legislation so that:
- tenant liability can be limited to four times the weekly rent, if they can show:
- that the damage was caused by a careless act or omission and not a reckless or intentional act or omission, or
- that none of the tenants personally caused, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent, the damage
- where a co-tenant can show that they did not personally cause, or fail to take reasonable steps to prevent, damage, that tenant’s joint and several liability will be limited to four times the weekly rent.
What does this mean for tenants and landlords?
People that cause substantial damage through reckless or intentional acts, and those tenants that sit by and let it happen, will retain responsibility for the damage. But tenants will no longer have substantial liability for damage that they didn’t cause and couldn’t have prevented.
Tenants won’t be able to hide behind flimsy excuses to avoid liability for damage, as they’ll have to prove grounds for limiting their liability. This recognises the fact a tenant is more likely than a landlord to be able to prove who caused damage and how. It will be in a tenant’s interest to help their landlord identify the person responsible for the damage.
For example:
While Janine is away on business, Grant, one of her flatmates, decides to hold a foam party, during which the place is severely trashed, causing substantial damage. Janine was away so couldn't have prevented the damage. In this case, she is not liable for full damages, and her liability is limited to 4 weeks’ rent. Grant, however, is fully liable for the damage above 4 weeks’ rent.
In this case, the overall liability of the flatmates to the landlord is unchanged, but the apportioning of liability above 4 weeks’ rent is fairer.
What about insurance excesses?
The majority of landlords manage the risk of substantial damage through insurance. It’s likely that in most cases 4 weeks’ rent will be sufficient to cover damage that doesn’t warrant an insurance claim. This means that landlords will be able to continue to recover minor damage costs from bond money, rather than making an insurance claim.
For more information, see the Department of Building and Housing’s website at www.dbh.govt.nz/rta-review
For practical, reliable information about building, buying or renovating and maintaining a property, visit www.consumerbuild.org.nz. ConsumerBuild provides advice on what you need to consider before signing up to buy, guides you through the building process, and provides the information you need to make informed decisions about maintaining and improving your property.
ConsumerBuild is a partnership between the Department of Building and Housing and Consumers’ Institute.
EECA offers energy efficiency subsidy to Property Investors’ Federation members
The Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) is offering the New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF) members a 55 percent subsidy on a full house retrofit of insulation and other energy efficiency measures for any of their rental properties. For more information, download the Eco Insulation brochure [PDF 104KB, 2 pages].
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