A review has found that additional regulation of property managers is not justified, says Associate Minister of Justice Nathan Guy. The review, by the Ministry of Justice, arose out of comments to the Select Committee that considered the Real Estate Agents Bill about the exclusion of residential letting services, and property management services generally, from the scope of the Bill.
Mr Guy said the general principle which was applied was that an occupation should only be regulated when it was necessary to reduce the risk of significant harm, and the industry or market was unable to
regulate itself adequately.
“Like other service providers, property managers are already subject to a wide range of obligations under the general law, including contract law and the Fair Trading Act, which can be enforced through Disputes Tribunals and the courts.
“When property owners have problems with property managers, the loss is usually less than $15,000, which is the new limit proposed for Disputes Tribunals. That means consumers will be able to seek redress for most problems through the Tribunals.”
Mr Guy said the review had identified a lack of consumer awareness about what to expect from property management services and what to do when things went wrong. “The Ministry of Justice has been directed to consult with departments about options for raising consumer awareness. “I am also pleased to see that the industry is taking steps to improve the quality of property management services. Many property managers belong to organisations that encourage best practice to ensure a good standard of service is provided.”
Occupational regulation of property managers would likely have meant additional compliance costs which could have led to job losses. The additional costs would probably have been passed on to owners and tenants through rent increases. Mr Guy said that letting services in respect of commercial property
would continue to be restricted to lawyers, conveyancing practitioners, and real estate agents. “The Government has no plans to change that. We did not receive enough information about the commercial sector to justify changing the status quo at this time, but we will keep this under review,” he said.
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To often we hear “But the old landlord said..” or “but XX said”….
the importance of taking dairy notes is crucial. You need to be able to say “actually in the conversation of the 10th of October we agreed that X”.
Good dairy notes give you the edge. They are needed for Tribunal Hearings, insurance conversations, discussions with tradesmen and an assorted variety of other exciting and mundane things.
Every time you send a text message, have a phone or face to face conversation with a tenant, send them a letter - make a note - date and time and save it. Its that simple.
A little bit extra work at the time can save a huge amount of time later.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Systems
We’ve seen a few properties we manage put on the market this year. This almost always, to put it mildly, freaks out the tenants.
The Residential Tenancies Act (also known as “God”, “the Bible” and ”That Damned Inconvenient Piece of Legislation”) requires that tenants be informed when a property is put on the market. So, we need to be told by the owner so that we can then pass it on to the tenant. It keeps things a lot mellower if the proper process is followed and tenants feel “in the loop”… being surprised by a real estate agent putting up a sign is probably the worst way to find out.
Fixed term is easy. They can’t move, they can’t be kicked out, their rent can’t be changed, and while the new owner may (heaven forbid 
) use a different management company, their experience as a tenant is likely to be pretty stable. Unless the new management company are scum of the earth… but of course, I couldn’t possibly comment.
The only fiddly thing with fixed term is that you can’t sell the property with vacant possession unless we speak very nicely to the tenants and they are willing to end their lease. They are entirely within their rights to say no. Consider bribery :).
Periodic is rather trickier; if the tenant is in a periodic lease, they may opt to give notice and find another place to live on their own terms, rather than live with the possibility that they’ll be asked to leave at a time that may not work out well for them, have the rent put up, or just have things change at all. We have seen this occur several times, and then the owner is left with a place that’s rather difficult to rent.
Save a house that’s actually on fire, very little is more off-putting to a potential tenant than the idea of moving into a place that’s on the market. Someone recently turned down a house they adored for the sole reason that it was for sale. They were looking for a family home, and wanted to settle - the chance of being uprooted by a sale with vacant possession basically gave them the willies.
So! If you’re thinking about selling an investment property and you have tenants in a periodic lease, think hard, and consider finding out what your tenants will do before going ahead.
Rachel Borthwick
Lambton Property Management
Rachel's blog
I have, as of late, become addicted to infomercials - all those perfect people, with their amazing results in such a short time, with their perfect teeth and outfits that look like they came from the 80’s - its like watching some old Pleasantville style TV show where they try to sell you stuff. Currently on TV is one for something that closley resembles Natural Glow but isn’t.
Anyway… just like Plasantville, all these people must live in one place. A great place where everyone has several science degrees and where ground breaking bleeding edge research is done - as everyone knows the latest in depth scientific facts about the products - a place where the sun always shines, where the grass is very green, where dentistry is free (I did mention the teeth earlier?).
I find infomercials just fascinating. I am really not sure why, but I do. Admittedly I have never brought something from an infomercial, but I just seem to be hooked - What I find truly amazing is that more and more infomercials have small parts redone to target NZ - surely there can not be that many people awake at this time of night eagerly clucthing their credit cards, waiting to buy their ‘not’ Natural Glow or the Pilates Hoop?
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Thoughts and Opinions
Today was a motivating day. I had a coffee with someone who is becoming a very good friend of mine (that itself was nice, but the coffee was not the point of this blog). She has been through all sorts of hard times lately - marriage break up, intense IRD audit, the works. Now most people would be glum or at least a little down beat (and don’t get me wrong shes had her bad days), however she is not. She is making the best of the situation - getting going with new business ideas and a fresh burst of direction in her life. Its really motivating to see. I left our coffee date feeling motivated and upbeat - its great. I really get a good feeling when i spend time with someone who has made the best of a bad situation and is succeeding.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Thoughts and Opinions
Michaela
We hired Michaela in January of this year as our receptionist. Initially she was quiet but as she keeps settling in she is becoming as loud and ‘well humoured’ as everyone else (In our office the term ‘well humoured’ means hassling me back and sometimes winning). Michaela’s phone manner is great and she is dealing with more and more of the tricky phone calls we get from tenants. She is a great member of our team and we really appreciate her.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Our Staff, Shayne's blog
I was reading the blog of a good friend one - ok one of my very bestest buds, even though she thinks Northern England is great… no one is perfect :)…. ANYWAY back to the topic…. She has written a simply fantastic blog on the 50 reasons to be sensible which I though I would share.
“… the Dom Post came out yesterday with their ‘50 tips to ride out a recession and still have a life’. Now here, interestingly enough - discussing interest rates with your bank was all the way down at 46 while watching what you spend came in at number 11 - both of which are going to have a bigger impact on cash flow than anything else such as;
You can read the rest of this if you go to her blog www.avalonsguide.com/anab
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Other Blogs, Shayne's blog, Thoughts and Opinions
While I sit here tonight, enjoying a glass of wine, I find myself thinking over the events of the day. We had a tenant come in today, who had rented a fully furnished place. Unbeknown to us, the owner had in the last month removed the TV, and changed the fridge to a smaller one. While I knew I was really annoyed, I was not even close to being as annoyed as the tenant was.
By the end of the hour and a half long three way conversation between the tenant, myself and the owner, we had a resolution sorted. The owner would ensure that these items were replaced within two days, the tenant would get reduced rent for a month and we would not sack the owner (I know our sacking them sounds harsh, but they had put us in what could have easily become an untenable position if the tenant had not been prepared to be accommodating). The entire situation basically occurred because we were not consulted and were kept out of the loop and while yes the owner does actually own those things, if the place is rented with them there, you cant simply just remove them.
This made me think about whats fair. Its not fair in my opinion, when you have some paying $580 per week for a furnished apartment to turn up and take things out. Its just not fair.
When it comes to the tenancy tribunal, the adjudicators look heavily at whats fair. This is a crucial thing to bear in mind. Be careful and fair, or if it gets to the tribunal even if you are in the right you may lose. I know that for a while another government department used the “Its our job to be fair”, but tenancy adjudicators really have that sown up. They look at what is fair - based on the tenancy act. They will often decide in the ‘merits’ of fairness that they will decide which aspects of the act to enforce and at what speed.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Various Things
The Department of Building and Housing has written an interesting article (no I am being serious). Its helpful and slightly on the side of the landlord. http://www.dbh.govt.nz/landlord-enewsletter-article-9-1
One of the ongoing debates with tenants is the issue of mould. Unless we are convinced something related to the property has caused the mould we tend to be quite aggressive about getting them to clean it off (or getting it cleaned and billing them).
“A tenant’s sense of clean and tidy conditions could be different from the landlord’s. Particular behaviors of the tenant may create excessive mould, damp or insect activity. ” Fantastic line. The article does go into things that as a landlord one should do to minimise the conditions that lead to mould, however it does admit that yes tenants can actually be responsible for it.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Thoughts and Opinions
Insurance is normally a hot topic around our office. We often encounter situations where our clients insurance companies are playing hard ball or doing their level best to be difficult (ok ok so sometimes we are really surprised and really happy when an insurance company is really helpful - and when it does happen I tell everyone).
Just having insurance is not good enough - you need to have the RIGHT level of insurance. No ifs, no buts, no maybes, you just have to. Questions I ask for our places (and sometimes get uptight and argumentative of when I dont get the answer I want) are:
1: Does it cover damage by the tenants or people known to them?
2: Does it cover gradual damage or a slow leak - increasingly hard to get as many companies use the soft option of saying “tenants just wont tell you” - the repsonse is “If its a slow leak they wont notice!”
3: Is there sufficent liability cover in there just in case you get sued? (Yes it does happen - not to anyone I know (touchwood) but it happens) - for example if your tenant falls through your deck, or off your deck, that sort of thing.
4: Are there any “if the property is tenanted” exclusions? I know this sounds stupid, but all to often I read through apparent landlord polices to see “Section1:C is not covered if the property is tenanted”.
Also I want to know, exactly what their complaints procedure is and what is their timeline for handling complaints? (Not that I start of expecting the worst when I make a claim or anything…. Though this does mean I am not normally disappointed).
Thats my immediate five second thought on insurance for the night.
Shayne Thurston
Lambton Property Management
Shayne's blog, Thoughts and Opinions
