Concerns landlord website unfair
A ‘‘bad tenant database’’ where landlords can rate and review would-be renters online, is receiving a mixed response among tenant advocates and rental-owners.
Manawatu Tenants Union coordinator Kevin Reilly acknowledged there were bad tenants but there was also the danger a renter, who had suffered bad luck or a personality clash with a landlord, could find themselves blacklisted and unable to find a home.
‘‘I’m really sad to hear about it, because we’ve always suspected this kind of thing was going on. [But] we do have laws and systems to sort those kinds of disputes out.’’
Tenancy Information New Zealand, a private group that runs the database, argued it was just another tool to weed-out bad tenants from good.
‘‘We think most tenants are great but there are people who damage houses and don’t pay rent,’’ TINZ co-director Ian Baker said.
Registered, paying landlords or property managers were able to view ratings left on the website, along with a long list of credit and character checks, fines, and Tenancy Tribunal cases.
Landlords, who agree to abide by the Privacy Act, can post photos and ratings of their tenants.
Many tenants were agreeing to the checks on standard application forms that allowed landlords to view and update the database. The information posted would be active for six years, and renters could request any information held on them.
Reilly said the database had the potential to be incredibly unfair, and in such a tight rental market tenants often had little choice but to agree to the checks.
‘‘Landlords have enormous power over people ... if you don’t play the game you’re out.’’
Manawatu Property Investors Association president Pauline Beissel said landlords often checked tenant databases, in part, because of pressure from insurance companies to prove they’ve taken reasonable steps to prevent damage claims, including properly vetting their tenants.
The database was useful to raise red-flags and prompt a more careful look at a renter, she said. But landlords should use a variety of tools and methods, including asking the renter about any concerns, to come to their own conclusions.
Foxton landlord David Ross, whose Tenancy Tribunal case came to national attention last September, said finding good tenants could be a minefield but he was unlikely to use the database.
‘‘I’ve found the best references come from talking directly to previous landlords, and [tenant’s] family and friends.’’
That gave the opportunity to consider the nuances of a situation that aren’t always immediately obvious in a rating or a reference letter, and get a good feel for the renter’s character, he said.
‘‘[You can always] put them on a fixed term, four-month trial tenancy if you still have doubts but want to give them a chance.’’