Tenancy Tribunal criticises Quinovic breaches over bond, smoke alarms, and entry without consent

Wednesday, 16 January 2019

What must landlords do when they rent out a house?

Property manager Quinovic has been penalised by the Tenancy Tribunal for not lodging a tenant's bond, smoke alarms that didn't work at a house, and a letter that breached tenancy law.

Three of the firm's Wellington offices were ordered to pay damages in the months after a controversial ad, targeting landlords, was posted on Quinovic's Facebook page in August and claimed: 'Your tenants may hate us. You will love us!'

Wendy Ashdown, who took one of the cases against Quinovic, said: 'We've had landlords that are horrible but as far as professional property managers they would be the worst.'

Two Aro Valley tenants were awarded exemplary damages after Quinovic took them to the tenancy tribunal seeking to charge them for noise control complaints. (File photo)

In a decision delivered in September, Adjudicator Brent Smallbone criticised the standard end-of-tenancy letter sent to Ashdown by Quinovic for breaching the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).

**READ MORE:

Quinovic tenant Tarsha Hazleman said lodging a bond was ''landlord 101''.

* 'Degrading' adverts that outraged renters are shown the door

* Crockers Property Management slammed by Tenancy Tribunal for false information in inspection report

A tenancy adjudicator said a Quinovic letter breached the RTA because it didn't require a tenant's consent to enter the property.

* Auckland landlord fined $6000 over leaky toilet and demanding extra rent

* Calls for tenants to report dodgy landlords anonymously**

The Wellington branch of Quinovic has paid out at the tenancy tribunal.

The firm's letter read: 'If we cannot reach you, we will arrange the appointment with the prospective tenants and leave a business card to show that we have visited the property.'

Smallbone said the letter was 'a failure to adhere to the process set out in the RTA' because it allowed Quinovic to enter a tenant's living space without consent.

This controversial advert was published by a Quinovic franchisee in August.

In another case decided in December, students and Aro Valley tenants Ross Hulley and Luke Cunningham were awarded exemplary damages after Quinovic took them to the tenancy tribunal seeking to charge them for noise control complaints.

Exemplary damages are awarded for unlawful acts that go beyond 'ordinary' breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).

Hulley told Stuff it felt like Quinovic was trying to find a new way to take money off them by trying charge them $1000 for noise.

'We live in a noisy neighbourhood with heaps of students and it was kind of just bizarre.'

'Without any warning they just took us to the tribunal about this noise issue.'

Tribunal adjudicator Alan Henwood acknowledged there had been a series of noise control complaints against the tenants but said the tribunal could not give Quinovic the power to charge them $1000 for an event 'that may or may not happen in the future'.

Instead he charged exemplary damages against Quinovic for not maintaining working smoke alarms at the house.

One Quinovic tenant, Tarsha Hazleman, told Stuff she was presented with an offer to settle her tenancy tribunal case minutes before she walked into her hearing.

Hazleman said she chased Quinovic for four months over a $1420 bond that was never lodged.

'Ten minutes before the tribunal was due to start he phoned me and said 'oh sorry there's been an administrative error we didn't actually lodge the bond, we'll refund you the difference if you drop the tenancy thing'.'

Hazleman continued with the case and Adjudicator Janet Robertshawe dismissed Quinovic's claim that it didn't lodge the bond because of an 'administrative oversight'.

'The landlord [Quinovic] operates a business administering tenancies, and would be taken to have knowledge of the responsibility and processes in place to ensure compliance,' Robertshawe said in October.

Hazleman, who signed a tenancy agreement on behalf of her daughter, said lodging a bond was 'landlord 101'.

'I think they've got a captive market so they're not following the rules. I feel sorry for Wellington tenants.'

Quinovic has been approached for comment.