Doesnt lodge bond

[di1957]

Hi i am new to this site, But would like some feed back on a situation I have found myself in. I rented a house for 2 years and the landlord never
lodged the bond with the bond centre. I have spoken with the bond centre and they have told me this is against the law and landlords must lodge the bond, I take my now ex landlord to a mediation meeting yesterday and recovered a portion of my bond. What I really would like to see is this person disciplined for not lodging the bond he owns 23 house that he rents out and never has he lodged the bond for anyone. I know he has ripped me off and dont want him to get away with ripping anyone else off. Could someone please let meknow what I can do about this.

cheers di1957

[Keithw]

How exactly has he ripped you off ?

While not lodging the bond is not a lawful act, have you actually lost anything from it ?
If you have been to mediation & got part of it back, that means you must have owed him for something else.

The Tenancy Tribunal generally wants to see that you have suffered in some way because the bond was not lodged.
Sour grapes at having to pay for something you are supposed to, and the number of other properties the person owns are not reasons for a tribunal case. How do you know he even takes bonds at the other 22 places ?

BTW Welcome to Property Talk

[NZGEMS]

HI di1957
While it is against the law not to lodge a bond it is very common unfortunatley and I am sure the majority of the time all is well as it is returned to the tenant when they vacate leaving the place in a clean and tidy condition and with their rent up to date.

personally if it is law I think it should be done, I don't think you have a case to take your landlord anywhere, you can still recover all the bond and costs i believe if you are owed it by taking him to the tribunal, but did you ask for it? what was his reason for not giving it all back to you? I don't know your situataion and you didnt give us much background but trust me a direct approach is the best way first, maybe you did do that, however you shouldn't have to go to the tribunal, I have many rental houses, a tenant has never taken me to the tribunal but if they did I would wonder why they didn't speak to me first. and YES all my bonds get lodged. It is a pain as I am an honest land lord and I beleive this was bought about by ones who were less than honourable. still those are the rules we have. and the majority of the less than honourable ones still dont lodge them anyway.

In the future you could always look at telling the bond centre you have moved into a place and paid a bond that way they may be able to contact the landlord if it is not paid in, but Keithw is right how do you know he didnt pay the others in and also even if he took a bond from the people. No one is being ripped off if they get their bond back, if anyone is being ripped off it is us landlords having to pay our bonds into this centre where arthur doesnt seem to know what marther is doing.

You are best to ask the bond centre how to deal with this I feel, not sure how interested they are in listening, I don't have alot of time for them as I purcahsed a couple of properties in December and sent in bond forms, admitedaly without the bond numbers as i wasnt given them on settlement, they said there weren't bonds for them, but when i contacted the rental company they infact had proof there were bonds so they ended up dealing with it. but what I am getting at is they don't seem to know what they are doing to tell me there are no bonds. they had the tenants names and the addresses.

[di1957]

Hi there I know he doesnt lodge the bonds as he admitted that in the meeting, so I will say no I dont agree with keithw, this is not a case of sour grapes and I tried to talk to the landlord, I wanted him to come and inspect the house and property with me when I moved out, he wouldnt do that. Then two months later after not returning my phone calls I asked for a mediation meeting the landlord said in the meeting that he does not have to lodge the bond never has and never will, I more or less let him keep the bond as I had had enough of him talking over the top of me and accusing me of leaving the house in a dirty condition beeing he said there were dirty window sills. The house was empty after I moved out for 4 weeks. I tried to tell him that bust would gather on the window sills in that mount of time I got told that I didnt know what the hell I was talking about So I thouhgt it best to say fine I will pay for that. And end the meeting. Yes if keithw would like to phone the bond centre they will confirm what they told me, that the landlord has 23 days to lodge the bond, if he doesnt do so he could be liable to a fine of $750.00 and a conviction.

[Keys]

Bonds do not belong to the LL. They belong to the tenant and any claim made upon the bond by the LL must have the tenants agreement or the claim agreed to by the TT.

Bonds must be forwarded to the bond centre no later than 23 working days following receipt of them. (note, not lodged)

Any LL who doesn't do this is in breach and subject to exemplory damages of up to $750 (this money going to the tenant) (((just read the above post ... no conviction will be dished out))).

Non lodgement of bonds does not fall within the 12 month time limit for making claims.

Should the origional poster wish to make a claim for non lodgement of the bond then fill out a form, pay your $20 and go to the TT.

For any hearing on any matter at the TT it is up to the applicant to prove the claim on the balance of probabilities.

[NZGEMS]

that is correct di1957 the landlord is ment to lodge the bond, unfortunatley I think many dont, it is a pity your landlord didnt come when you moved out as it is your word against his, sounds like he is pretty picky, if the place was shut up and left clean dust shouldn't have settled anyway but as you say it is your word against his, if you have made the bond centre aware of his actions that is all you can do. it is 23 working days they have to lodge it but still as he admits he has no intention. I wonder how many work on that theory, perhaps we should all try it, at least I am honest and give it back when people leave. which reminds me I had a tenant leave in one of my queenstown properties and she never asked for her bond back, i had better track her down so i can send her the form to claim it back.

I hope you quizzed your next landlord about what they do with a bond, something to be said for going to agencies though at least all that stuff if taken care of.

[NZGEMS]

there you go keys was posting while i was typing something to think about if you wish.

[di1957]

Thanks keys and NZGEMs I will look into taking it to the TT.

[di1957]

How exactly has he ripped you off ?

While not lodging the bond is not a lawful act, have you actually lost anything from it ?
If you have been to mediation & got part of it back, that means you must have owed him for something else.

The Tenancy Tribunal generally wants to see that you have suffered in some way because the bond was not lodged.
Sour grapes at having to pay for something you are supposed to, and the number of other properties the person owns are not reasons for a tribunal case. How do you know he even takes bonds at the other 22 places ?

BTW Welcome to Property Talk

I think that puts you on the right track Landlords must lodge the bond and NO THIS IS NOT A CASE OF SOUR GRAPES THANKS

[spurner]

If you've already been to mediation then there was an application made for order of the Tenancy Tribunal - so why did you decide not to proceed to the hearing?

It seems like everything you know now you knew back then, and you still chose not to proceed to the hearing, so what's changed?

[Keithw]

Please let us know how you get on.

What is unlawful & what ends up with any sort of penalty are two different things.

After all, the speed limits are set & 50km/h or 80km/h but how many speeding cars actually end up paying a fine.
I think this is what your ex landlord (who doesn't sound very nice - but we have only heard your side) will be counting on.

As you have already been to a mediation, you have experienced some of the frustration involved in TT cases. Be prepared for a fight & a lot of unreasonable demands or accusations (and by the sound of your ex LL, maybe some complete fabrications that you may be required to disprove).
Only you can gauge if it is worth putting yourself through that stress.

[jadelotus]

non lodgement of bond

there are 2 issues here.
1. the non lodgement of the bond within 23 working days of receipt of the bond money from the tenant. as has been pointed out the landlord can be done for exemplary damage of $750 which goes to the tenant. a matter of tenant making an application with the TT.

2. how much of the "non-lodged" bond the tenant is entitled to receive back at the end of the tenancy depends on the state the property was returned to the landlord and what damages have been done. An exit inspection with both landlord and tenant present will resolve this with both parties agreeing to the amount of refunds. [hopefully amicably, otherwise, mediation then TT order.]

any landlord not lodging a bond is opening themself to exemplary damages and it is certainly not the way to do things. the TT is rather proactive in suggesting tenants apply for exemplary damages.

i recently settled on 2 properties taking over the tenants. when the vendor's solicitors sent in the settlement statement, I learnt that the bonds were never paid to the TT and was handed over to me. As no bonds were lodged, the TT has no knowledge of said ex LL and tenants hence unable to do a change of LL form. TT told me to tell tenants about non-lodgement and get them to apply for exemplary damages.

if this LL had say 23 properties and have not lodged 23 bonds and all his tenants find out about it he could be done for $17250 - ouch!!!

so in short, if you want to be a property investor/landlord do it by the book - even if you think the TT isn't always working in your interest or know what they are doing.

if you are a tenant and has paid a bond to your LL, then you should receive confirmation from the TT of your bond lodgement. if not, check back with LL and TT and if necessary take out order for your $750.

[dandan]

Hi jadelotus, Sometimes tenants especially students and young professionals can have delays in giving the landlord the bond, which he/she can pass on to tenancy services, sometimes it's because some of the tenants cant get their bond back from tenancy services from their last tenancy due to one of their previous flatmates being difficult to find but his/her signature being required. Where a tenant hasn't given the landlord a bond within 23 days, do you believe landlords should be requesting their $750?

[ecoeco]

There is another issue here as well. Most of us landlords are fair and honest people.
Sadly there are also a fair share of rogues and ... unpleasant ... people in the game as well.

Some landlords do not lodge the bond and then when the tenancy ends try to change a lot of items which should be fair wear and tear to the bond. They see the bond as their money which they need to jump through more hoops to get, not as the tenants money which is held in trust. They take a punt that most tenants either wont bother going to the TT or just don't know their rights.

When they don't lodge the bond it makes this scam easier.

[Green Fish]

Any landlord who fails to lodge the bond should be tied to a tree and horsewhipped. As has already been pointed out, the bond is the tenant's money. The landlord, by retaining it, has, basically, stolen it.

The best way to bring this issue into sharp focus is to assume that the landlord goes bankrupt - as many are. In that event, a perfect tenant, who had paid a bond equal to fours weeks rent, would lose all of that money, through absolutely no fault of their own.

I would suggest that tenants tender the bond via a crossed cheque made out to Tenancy Services. If the landlord won't take that form of payment, pay $10 extra for a bank cheque. If the landlord won't take that form of payment, then he's probably bent, so find another place to live in.