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Landlords have been advised to act now to get rid of antisocial tenants before changes to the rental law go into effect next year.
Tenant groups have not noticed an increase in evictions, but are seeing more people receiving rent increases before the end of the Covid-19 six-month rent freeze.
The residential leasing amendment bill passed last month will end “no cause” evictions under which a landlord can end a periodic tenancy for any reason with a 90 day notice, or 42 days if they are selling the property.
Hamish McNeilly / Stuff
Landlords will be less willing to accept tenants they consider risky, says Kathryn Seque.
Starting in February, landlords will have to give a reason to end the lease, including the sale of the property, repeated rent arrears, or a new “antisocial” behavior clause that will be ruled by the Leasing Court.
Otago Real Estate Investor Association president Kathryn Seque advised members to act now if they wanted to evict a difficult tenant.
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“So while you can, we’ve been advising landlords that if you have disruptive antisocial tenants where there has been threatening behavior or disruptive behavior, then it might be a good idea to move them now rather than having to disrupt the entire neighborhood for up to 12 months trying to get rid of them next year. “
The bill allowed for the termination of a lease on antisocial grounds only if three separate occasions occurred within a 90-day period.
“There are a lot of cases where the tenants are scared, like the tenants next door, the owners of the house next door, they are actually scared to give evidence because of the rowdy tenants or the threatening behavior that has happened,” Seque said.
Stuff
Starting September 27, owners will be limited to one rent increase per year.
He said he dealt with the problem among his tenants at least once a year.
“I had a block of properties last year that had two long-term tenant lots that moved out due to the threatening behavior of a tenant lot that I couldn’t get rid of.”
Since the original law was written in 1986, a change had been necessary, he said. However, landlords would now be less willing to accept tenants that they consider riskier.
“I have a member who has owned a rental property for 32 years, and the day [Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill] came through royal assent, phoned him with a real estate agent. “
ALDEN WILLIAMS / STUFF / Stuff
Otago landlords have been advised to act now to get rid of antisocial tenants.
Ben Schmidt, coordinator of the Manawatū Tenants Union, said it has always been the tenant’s responsibility to “respect the quiet enjoyment of their neighbors,” and that will continue.
“What these changes will do is mean that if a landlord wants to terminate a tenancy for antisocial behavior, then they really need to have a reason for that, they need to have evidence to back it up, and those tenants should be entitled to a fair trial in court. , in the same way that you would expect in a work relationship and many other situations.
“In a way, it gives more clarity on when the court will terminate a lease, in the case of antisocial behavior, which was previously much more loosely defined in the law,” Schmidt said.
The organization had not seen an increase in tenants who needed help because their leases had ended.
“What we’ve been seeing is a very significant increase in tenants coming to us and receiving rent increase notices that they just can’t afford and are not fair, talking about rent increases of $ 120, $ 140, even $ 200 per week in some cases.
“And that’s a huge concern for us, especially now that we are facing the rent freeze that expires at the end of this month and winter energy payments are also running out shortly.”
Beginning September 27, coinciding with the end of the six-month Covid-19 rental freeze, landlords will be limited to one rent increase per year.
“Many tenants will not be able to keep a roof over their head or will really have a hard time doing so, and we urgently need the government to do more about it by implementing rent control and obtaining benefits through other measures,” he said. said.
David Unwin / Things
There has been an increase in the number of tenants receiving rent increase notices, says Ben Schmidt.
Scott Figenshow, CEO of Community Housing Aotearoa, which represents the community housing industry, said the need for housing was greater than ever because people couldn’t afford housing, not because of changes in rental laws.
“People who work in jobs with lower wages, people who have temporary employment contracts that earn closer to the minimum wage, are the most vulnerable to having their hours reduced as we go through the Covid situation,” Figenshow said.
“So people are losing their rental accommodation and cannot find new accommodation because they simply cannot pay the rent.”
The Healthy Homes standards and changes to the residential leasing law were designed to improve the quality of rental housing, not the affordability or availability of housing.
He said he disagreed with the Property Investor Federation’s approach and strongly supported the changes.
“Yes, of course, we need to have responsible private landlords as part of our housing system, and they must deliver a good quality rental product, and they have had decades and decades of tax-free capital appreciation, and it’s a lot. that they have reinvested in their own properties to keep them at a good level, ”he said.
