Landlord Obligations and Methamphetamine Changes

There are now additional Landlord’s Obligations increasing the standard of care required. It is important that you adhere to these obligations if you were ever to lodge a claim under the Landlord’s Protection or Methamphetamine Contamination policy benefits.

Landlord Obligations

Under the new policy (effective from 1 December 2018 for new policies, and 1 January 2019 for renewing policies) to meet landlord obligations you will need to:

  • complete an internal and external inspection of the home at a minimum of 3-monthly intervals and the relevant residential dwelling upon every change of tenant(s).
  • keep photographs and a written record of the outcome of each inspection, and provide to us a copy of these if we request it.
  • monitor rents on a weekly basis with written notification being sent to the tenant(s) whenever rent is 14 days in arrears, together with a personal visit to determine if the tenant(s) remains in residence.
  • make application to the Tenancy Tribunal for vacant possession in accordance with the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 if:
    • the rent is 21 days in arrears, or
    • you become aware of any illegal activity by the occupant(s) at the home, or
    •  intentional damage to the home is caused by the occupant(s).

Any new tenancies that commence after 1 January 2019 will be subject to the new tenant vetting requirements. These are:

  • exercise reasonable care in the selection of the tenant(s) by at least obtaining satisfactory identifcation and written or verbal references for each adult tenant and when a reasonable landlord would consider it appropriate also check their credit and Tenancy Tribunal history.
  • keep written records of the pre-tenancy checks conducted for each adult tenant.
  • collect a total of 3 weeks’ rent in any combination of rent in advance and bond that will be registered with Tenancy Services.

Methamphetamine Changes

Initio continues to provide cover for meth, and is still considered to be some of the best meth cover available.
The new policy now specifically defines meth contamination as an insured event, where the old initio policy (due to its age) did not specifically define meth – however it did provide cover.  The new policy seeks to provide more clarity and certainty of cover for meth damage.  Under the new policy the limit of cover for damage arising from both meth manufacture and for meth consumption is as now per the policy schedule – where is set a $30,000, with a $2,500 excess.

The landlord obligations above apply to meth cover so its important that you are managing your property in line with these obligations.

Regarding your liability as a landlord, you are not covered for your liability for accidental loss to someone else’s property (eg your tenants contents) in connection with the presence at the home of any ‘controlled drug’ as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 – Unless you, or the person who manages the tenancy on your behalf, have fully met the Landlord’s obligations and have tested for the presence of methamphetamine before and after each tenancy of the home in accordance with the New Zealand Standard NZS 8510 and the testing has confirmed that methamphetamine contamination at the home does not exceed the contamination level.  Please note that you are NOT required to test the property between tenancies to receive cover for Methamphetamine Contamination, only for meth related liability as a landlord. 

Meth in rented holiday homes 

Please note that where the home is occupied by short-term paying guests as a holiday home, then the above Landlord’s Obligations DO NOT apply, however holiday homes are only covered for manufacture of meth not consumption of meth.

Where Methamphetamine Contamination Damage occurs in connection with a any tenancy or occupancy of 90 days or less, there is NO cover unless the contamination damage was caused by manufacture, distribution or storage of methamphetamine at the home.

 

This is not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of the changes to the policy but rather a high level summary.   For full details of cover, benefits, conditions, and exclusions please see the policy document  Initio landlord and holiday home policy NZ1811