Bad tenants owe up to $200,000 in rent
10 January 2006
By EMMA BAILEY
South Canterbury bad tenants owe up to $200,000 in rent arrears according to South Canterbury Property Investors Association (SCPIA) president Owen Smith.
The figure is based on the SCPIA bad tenants list which currently has 320 tenants listed, however bad tenants only made up 5 per cent of the renting public he said.
Nationally a bad tenants list launched by MREINZ last August has received publicity for the large number of tenants on the list, while Timaru has had one for the past ten years.
"It was a sensitive issue in the beginning so we sought legal advice to check it (the bad tenants list) was okay.
"Landlords love the list. A lot of them have joined the association solely for the list," Mr Smith said.
Tenants names were put on the list by landlord for overdue rent and damage to the property. If the tenants could be contacted they were informed they were being added to the database and could contest what was being recorded Mr Smith said.
"As soon as payment is made or the disagreement resolved the tenants name comes off the list. Some areas have a good tenants list and I think that is quite a good idea."
Harcourts rental property manager Aureen Morris said she checked the SCPIA's bad tenant list and the MREINZ bad tenants list constantly.
"Everytime the lists are updated we check.
"We became part of the MREINZ list as soon as it came out last August and as soon as we have a bad tenant we put them on the lists."
Mrs Morris defined a bad tenant as someone who caused 'malicious damage' to a rental property or was in rent arrears.
She said properties were monitored constantly and if they became aware of any damage an inspection would be arranged, as well as conducting drive-bys, and rent arrears were checked for weekly.
Ray White rental property manager Judith Lindqvist said the South Canterbury bad tenants list was one of the tools she relied on when tenanting properties.
"We do use the South Canterbury investors list but it is gut feelings we go on normally.
"We follow up on references and ring the people to see if they are who they say they are."
Properties needed to be kept upto a reasonable standard of cleanliness but everyone's interpretation of that differed she said.
"As longs as a thorough inspection is done at the start of the tenancy you can avoid problems later on."
Nationally upto 400,000 New Zealanders could find their names on the national rental database of good and bad tenants.
Property managers were entering thousands of tenants' names on the database, which was open only to institute members.
Tenants' names, dates of birth and other identifying information and rental history were among the details listed.
A similar system in Australia has caused an outcry from tenants.
The Tenants Union in Victoria said some tenants were blacklisted for having a dispute with a landlord who had unrealistic expectations about how clean a property should be when the tenants moved out.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/timaruh...0a6010,00.html
10 January 2006
By EMMA BAILEY
South Canterbury bad tenants owe up to $200,000 in rent arrears according to South Canterbury Property Investors Association (SCPIA) president Owen Smith.
The figure is based on the SCPIA bad tenants list which currently has 320 tenants listed, however bad tenants only made up 5 per cent of the renting public he said.
Nationally a bad tenants list launched by MREINZ last August has received publicity for the large number of tenants on the list, while Timaru has had one for the past ten years.
"It was a sensitive issue in the beginning so we sought legal advice to check it (the bad tenants list) was okay.
"Landlords love the list. A lot of them have joined the association solely for the list," Mr Smith said.
Tenants names were put on the list by landlord for overdue rent and damage to the property. If the tenants could be contacted they were informed they were being added to the database and could contest what was being recorded Mr Smith said.
"As soon as payment is made or the disagreement resolved the tenants name comes off the list. Some areas have a good tenants list and I think that is quite a good idea."
Harcourts rental property manager Aureen Morris said she checked the SCPIA's bad tenant list and the MREINZ bad tenants list constantly.
"Everytime the lists are updated we check.
"We became part of the MREINZ list as soon as it came out last August and as soon as we have a bad tenant we put them on the lists."
Mrs Morris defined a bad tenant as someone who caused 'malicious damage' to a rental property or was in rent arrears.
She said properties were monitored constantly and if they became aware of any damage an inspection would be arranged, as well as conducting drive-bys, and rent arrears were checked for weekly.
Ray White rental property manager Judith Lindqvist said the South Canterbury bad tenants list was one of the tools she relied on when tenanting properties.
"We do use the South Canterbury investors list but it is gut feelings we go on normally.
"We follow up on references and ring the people to see if they are who they say they are."
Properties needed to be kept upto a reasonable standard of cleanliness but everyone's interpretation of that differed she said.
"As longs as a thorough inspection is done at the start of the tenancy you can avoid problems later on."
Nationally upto 400,000 New Zealanders could find their names on the national rental database of good and bad tenants.
Property managers were entering thousands of tenants' names on the database, which was open only to institute members.
Tenants' names, dates of birth and other identifying information and rental history were among the details listed.
A similar system in Australia has caused an outcry from tenants.
The Tenants Union in Victoria said some tenants were blacklisted for having a dispute with a landlord who had unrealistic expectations about how clean a property should be when the tenants moved out.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/timaruh...0a6010,00.html
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