NZPIF Members' June Newsletter

In this newsletter 

• Making the Offer - the dos and don'ts
• Bunnings offer to those full NZPIF members with a NZBN
• Bernard Hickey's analysis of the state of the economy and the housing market

Making the offer

Many landlords find the process of selecting a new tenant for their property to be a stressful experience. Having found that (hopefully) ideal tenant they then tend to relax and rush the next step in the process.

Offering a tenancy must be done in a careful and considered manmer

However, offering the tenancy to that new tenant must be done in a careful and considered manner to avoid what could develop into quite serious problems. We have heard sobering stories about the landlord who has run into difficulties, the Bond has not been paid or they have been held by the Tenancy Tribunal to have made commitments to the tenant without realising their implications.

Establish the amount of Bond and rent you require

Prior to advertising the tenancy you should have established the amount of Bond and the rent you require, and you must make that clear to all applicants for the tenancy. There is every reason to collect the maximum amount of Bond allowable, but note that it is currently illegal to collect more than four weeks rent as Bond even if it is called something else, e.g. a Pet Bond.

Good reference and credit checking vital steps

Good reference checking and credit checking are vital steps in your tenant selection process. Then, having selected your preferred applicant, you are in a position to make them a conditional offer of the tenancy.

Offer must be in writing

To protect yourself your offer must be in writing and must be subject to payment of the full Bond, payment of the initial rent, and the written Tenancy Agreement and other necessary paperwork being signed on or before a specified date. Remember there is an online NZPIF tenancy agreement available for members to use.

EXAMPLE OF AN OFFER

I am offering you a periodic tenancy of the property at nn xxxxx Street as from dd/mm/yy subject to the receipt of the Bond of $xxxx, first weeks rent of $xx (Total $yyyy) either in cash or in cleared funds directly to my bank account and completion of the attached Tenancy Agreement on or before the date of commencement of the tenancy.

Never accept any excuses for these conditions not being met in full, no matter how sad or plausible. If an applicant is unable to pay the entire Bond and initial rent then your offer lapses and you can safely move on to another applicant.

Possible problems with a verbal agreement

We have seen cases where the tenant has talked their way into a tenancy on the basis of a verbal agreement or with promises to pay the Bond later. Invariably these situations become fraught and troublesome. In some circumstances the landlord has not realised that they have actually verbally offered the tenancy, and in others they have attempted to withdraw the tenancy offer when they realise that the applicant has not met these unspecified obligations. In such cases the Tribunal has ruled that there is a legal tenancy, a verbal contract is a legal contract, and the applicant is entitled to move into the property even if the Tenancy Agreement is not signed and the Bond not paid.

Knowledge is power

Like all tenancy matters, knowledge is power. Life is too short to make all the mistakes yourself.

Learn more about clever clauses and other matters in the NZPIF Rentskills course. A few hours of your time can save you much more time and stress later.

 You can arm yourself with the knowledge to follow the correct steps, do things the right way, and create the paper trail that will protect you if and when things turn ugly. 
This is program free for all full NZPIF members and can be undertaken by Associate Members and non-members for a fee of $350. We recommend that you sign up and complete that program.

Bernard Hickey Presents

A recent NZPIF Communications Meeting on 27^th May began with a presentation by Bernard Hickey on Zoom. He gave a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the economy and housing market which was very engaging and interesting. 

The video of this presentation is now on YouTube and the link is https://youtu.be/VIH0eOfFwlA

Apologies that Sue Harrison's introduction was slightly interrupted as we made sure everything was working correctly.

Bernard also sent through a copy of the PowerPoint slides he used and these can be found here