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STUFF René Simonis was paying $180 a week for a house on the site of Waikato's former Candyland, but a proposed rent increase started him investigating whether it was up to spec. A threatened stampede of landlords leaving the residential property market has failed to eventuate. The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act (RTAA) passes into law on February 11. Under the new law, landlords can no longer issue 90-day ‘no cause’ termination notices and fixed term tenancies will automatically roll over to periodic tenancies on expiry unless otherwise agreed. Rent increases have been limited to ...

Real Estate Institute chief executive Bindi Norwell welcomed the Privacy Commissioner’s move and said it was disappointing to hear that “bad tenant” databases were being created. Doing so was potentially a breach of the Privacy Act and there could also be defamation issues as some of the listings apparently contain unverified information, she said. “From our understanding, we believe that most of the users of these websites are private landlords rather than property managers. “We will be very clear with our members that the use of such a database is likely to be unlawful and i...

“There’s enough there to have a closer look at the sector, it affects a lot of people up and down the country.” Demand for rental accommodation meant more competition for properties, making applicants feel pressured to provide personal information that went beyond what was required by landlords, he said. MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Privacy Commissioner John Edwards is looking into the information that landlords are asking of applicants, and what they’re doing with it. Landlords could legitimately collect personal information to select a tenant, such as proof of identity or whether they had a...

Thursday, 4 February 2021, 9:16 am The New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF) agrees with the Privacy Commissioner that the collection, retention, and disclosure of personal information on tenants must be open and fair,” says Sharon Cullwick, NZPIF Executive Officer. Due to the short supply of rental homes, tenants are being asked for more information than is required by a landlord for them to be assessed for a rental property. Some information is vital for a landlord to be able to make an assessment, such as name, proof of identification, number of occupants, and pets. A la...