Christchurch property firm fined for multiple tenancy law breaches

Good Girls Property Management has been ordered by the Tenancy Tribunal to pay $5877 after admitting to multiple breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act across 20 properties. The Christchurch-based company, whose sole director Prudence Morrall appeared on the TVNZ show Renters, admitted to various violations including an unlawful rent increase in one tenancy and adding unenforceable clauses to eight agreements.

The breaches included unlawfully terminating a room-by-room tenancy without grounds by treating it as a boarding house tenancy, despite uncertainty regarding its legal classification. The tribunal also found the company failed to include insulation, insurance, and Healthy Homes compliance statements in tenancy agreements.

The company had identified maintenance and repair issues and raised them with property owners, who reportedly delayed or refused the work due to cost. However, the tribunal ruled that property managers cannot use landlord resistance as a defence and must not prioritise client relationships over statutory compliance.

Brett Wilson, the national manager for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team, stated that property managers have a professional obligation to act when aware of breaches. "Turning a blind eye is not an option," Wilson said.

How it developed

• Mon 28 Sep, 3:40pmPhotos showed rotting weatherboards and a front door with a large gap causing a cold draught at a rental property.

Compiled from reports by Stuff, The Press, 1News, NZ Herald and RNZ.