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One landlord says he has received hateful messages after establishing an online training program for tenants, described by critics as “a new circle of tenure hell.”
The Choice Tenant program launched Saturday and is designed to help ensure that renters understand what it takes to care for a home and “be a tenant the owner wants to choose and keep,” its website says.
The program includes an hour of video modules and two questionnaires, covering topics such as ventilation, garbage disposal, and living with neighbors.
After completing the two-hour, $ 129 course, those who pass will receive a Choice Tenant certificate valid for one year.
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Co-creator Amy Cook said she was unprepared for the online backlash that followed the launch.
“We have been getting hate mail and we weren’t expecting it at all. This was done with love [intentions],” she said.
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The Choice Tenant program aims to “help ensure that tenants understand what it takes to care for a home.”
Cook said she had been an owner since 2004 and had seen first-hand that some renters did not understand the basics of renting a property.
“Not all tenants, but there are many who do not know how to take care of a house. I had an older tenant who didn’t understand that ventilating the house would make heating easier because the air would be dry, ”he said.
“We just thought we could set up a simple course, that people could take online without being judged by a tutor, and that it was relatively inexpensive, to learn those basics.”
The program could also provide a kind of referral for first-time renters, he said.
Choice Tenant came under fire after a screenshot of a Facebook post announcing its launch was shared on Reddit, where it was described as “a new circle of tenant hell.”
“Even if this was okay, I highly doubt that the people who need to know these things are the type to attend,” said one person.
SCREENSHOT
Choice Tenant launched Saturday and a similar program for homeowners is in the works, says co-creator Amy Cook.
Several others asked when Choice Landlord would launch, “with amazing lessons like how to arrange a plumber promptly, how to do an inspection without intruding or bothering about your tenant’s lifestyle choices.”
“And the classic of how not to think that you are entitled to every penny of a tenant’s salary increase.”
Cook said a similar program for landlords was in the works and the Choice Tenant was launched first only due to changes in regulations and requirements for rental properties.
“There have been a lot of rule changes for owners lately and every time we thought we were close to launch, something else changed.
“We also expect to see more changes after the elections, and we did not want to launch a program that would soon become outdated.
Other criticisms focused on the certificate’s one-year validity, but Cook said there were similar reasons for the time limit.
“It is valid for one year because it makes us nervous to put content that is no longer updated.
“We don’t want people to pass a course that says they can smoke indoors with the owner’s permission and then change the law so that all rental properties have to be smoke-free a year later.
“This way we can run update programs to cover that kind of thing.”
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The Choice Tenant site encourages landlords to ask prospective tenants for a copy of their certificate, saying that when tenants are “able to fulfill their responsibilities and communicate professionally, rent is less likely to be lost, tenant turnover it is lower and maintenance costs are reduced since it can be addressed faster ”.
Cook said Choice Tenant was working with government departments, including a home broker at the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), to help “streamline” the process of getting Work and Income to cover the cost of the program for its clients.
Currently, the decision is up to individual case managers, he said.
Karen Hocking, MSD’s general manager for housing, said the ministry worked with various providers to help people find long-term housing, but did not have a formal working relationship with Choice Tenant.
“We are here to help and we encourage people to talk to us about their housing situation to make sure they receive all the support they need.”
Steve Watson, a spokesman for the Leasing Services division of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said he had not promised to consult with Choice Tenant or its founders.
Watson said landlords should ask prospective tenants to complete a pre-lease application form that gathers important details about a prospective tenant, including their rental history and references.
The application form also gives homeowners permission to do a credit check.
“While there is nothing in the Residential Leases Act that prohibits tenants from providing training course certificates or being requested by landlords, key money and rental fees are illegal,” he said.
The “key money” is money, in addition to the rent and the deposit, a landlord asks the tenant to pay the concession or make changes to a lease. “
