Tenants playing the system for free rent

By Andrea Milner
Ron Goodwin, an Auckland landlord, says he has heard about people selling up rather than be at the mercy of the bureaucratic system and tenants that turn nasty.

“Tenants know they can get six to eight weeks or more free rent out of every landlord before they finally get evicted,” Goodwin says.

Department of Building and Housing client services manager Jeff Montgomery says there were some delays when new processing systems were implemented but these problems have been resolved.

“There are still sometimes delays due to workload peaks, incomplete applications, unavailability of landlords or tenants to attend hearings or shortage of court facilities,” Montgomery says. 
 
During a recent dispute with a tenant Goodwin says he waited 71 days from lodging the application to the date of the Tribunal hearing. During that time no rent was paid, the place was “trashed” and police raided it for drugs.