Category: Uncategorised
Months of waiting while rent arrears continue to mount has become an all-too-familiar frustration for property managers. From 3 August to 30 October 2026, the Tribunal will trial a new Priority 2 scheduling category. It isn’t just good news for landlords pursuing rent arrears. Tenants living in properties with serious health and safety hazards, such […]
Could Healthy Homes Standards soon get even more robust? A new Member’s Bill says they should. MP Helen White has introduced a Member’s Bill that would require landlords to provide insulated curtains, insulated blinds, or equivalent window coverings in rental properties where practicable. The Bill would amend section 138B of the RTA, expanding the Healthy […]
Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541 is the case that changed how New Zealand determines tenant damage and is now cited in more than 4,000 Tenancy Tribunal decisions availabe online. It involved Auckland landlord Gary Guo, whose Titirangi rental was extensively damaged after Grant and Lara Korck’s two toy poodles repeatedly urinated throughout the home. […]
Welcome to Landmark Cases, a new series exploring court decisions that continue to influence tenancy law in New Zealand and across the common law world. In our first episode, we travel to London in 1992, where a relationship breakdown between two joint tenants ended up before England’s highest court at the time. At first glance, […]
The rise of AI-generated Tenancy Tribunal applications has created a noticeable increase in long, complex, and often poorly grounded claims being filed. Many of these applications are sprawling, repetitive, and contain dozens of allegations with little supporting evidence. So it begs the question: Can a landlord or property manager be awarded compensation if a tenant’s […]
A family returned home to find their rental had been burgled and completely ransacked. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A SNIPPET VIDEO BREAKING DOWN THE CASE Shaken by the experience, they no longer felt safe staying there. So they moved out early and argued the burglary should end the fixed term tenancy. At first glance, it […]
A simple strategy suggested by one of our consultants helped turn a meth contamination case into compelling Tribunal evidence. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A SNIPPET VIDEO BREAKING DOWN THE CASE In this case, contamination readings were extreme, with some areas recording levels more than ten times above the accepted threshold. The challenge? There was no […]
One of the first known Tenancy Tribunal decisions under New Zealand’s new pet consent laws could reshape how landlords handle pet requests going forward. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A SNIPPET VIDEO BREAKING DOWN THE CASE In the Christchurch case, tenants wanted to adopt a Labrador puppy in the middle unit of a three-storey building, with […]
Off the back of last week’s 2026 Meth Regulations Webinar, Tenancy Senior Consultant, Chris Matthews, and TAI Chief Executive, Craig Furness, answer the top questions asked by the viewers ahead of the regulations commencing on April 16. I was on the 2017 NZS8510 standard raising it to 1.5. Gluckman Report said it was his opinion […]
Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka After shelving the idea just two years ago, the Government has effectively made a quiet U-turn on regulating residential property managers. This time opting for a “light-touch” model rather than full licensing. Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka said the goal is balance. “The changes are designed to improve […]
The long-awaited Methamphetamine Regulations will commence a little earlier than expected. The new regulations under the RTA will come into force on April 16 introducing a formal framework for identifying and managing methamphetamine contamination in rental properties. The regulations set two legal thresholds. A maximum acceptable level of 15 micrograms per 100cm² will determine when […]
December 1st, 2025 marks the effective date for the final set of amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act introduced through the 2024 reforms. These changes represent a massive shift for all stakeholders in the rental property industry and Tenancy as a software and education provider is ready. “The general industry consensus is positive: the new pet laws are […]
The Government has confirmed that from 1 December 2025, changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will give tenants greater ability to keep pets in rental properties. Under the new legislation, tenants will still need to obtain the landlord’s consent before keeping a pet. However, landlords will only be able to withhold consent on reasonable grounds. […]
The Government has confirmed it will introduce new regulations setting out clear, science-based rules for managing methamphetamine residue in rental properties, a move aimed at ending years of uncertainty for both landlords and tenants. Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said the lack of legislative clarity has long created confusion about what levels of meth residue […]
And that’s a wrap for TMC 2025! Taking the Tenancy Master Class Conference on the road to Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch this year was nothing short of an adventure. It felt less like a series of conferences and more like a full-on roadie – one that tested our stamina, filled our hearts, and reminded us […]