KEY POINTS:
Tenants who want to make their renting experiences public are being encouraged to post comments about their landlords and property managers on a website.
But the site has raised the ire of a landlords' group, which says it allows tenants to bad-mouth landlords.
John Oldfield said his new
website - landlordcheck.co.nz - was not a "name and shame" site but an attempt to promote the idea that tenants were customers who should be treated well.
"A lot of landlords have poor attitudes towards tenants," he said, citing one comment posted on a property investment website which said: "We often have a certain level of disdain for tenants, we look down on them and pity the way they have to pay us rent because they can't organise their own finances to be able to purchase a property of their own."
Oldfield said such attitudes were pervasive and should change.
He started the site in September after having difficulty with the property manager for the flat he was renting and becoming interested in tenants' rights. "I got the impression that a lot of landlords have to change their attitudes towards tenants," he said.
Oldfield said landlords should realise they were providing a service and they could lose customers if that service was inadequate.
To give balance to his website, landlords could post replies, he said.
He noticed feedback to the Herald this month calling for a database for tenants after the Tenancy Tribunal's decision to post all its decisions online, potentially allowing landlords to compile bad-tenant lists.
"While most landlords/property managers provide their tenants with good service, many do not. They can make tenants' lives a misery by not doing property repairs or maintenance, evicting tenants without valid reason, or harassing them," the website says.
"Landlord Check New Zealand aims to improve the quality of service provided by landlords and property managers. On this site tenants can create reports on their renting experiences, good or bad, that can be accessed by others who are intending to rent a property.
"Tenants can also access rental property advertisements posted by landlords and property managers that have received positive feedback from other tenants. Prospective tenants can therefore be confident they are going to have a good rental experience."
Landlords and property managers with good feedback can place rental advertisements on the site for free.
Andrew King of the Auckland Property Investors Association said he had some concerns about the site.
"I'm not against it, but I think it suffers from some of the complaints its producers are making against tenant sites. Anyone can put up gripes against a landlord and unless the landlord knows about the site and checks regularly, they may have no idea that bad comments have been made against them in a public place.
"Even if the landlord finds out about the negative posting, the site's administrators decide if it will be removed or not, yet it may be untrue or biased. The very fact that they set up the site makes them biased against landlords and as such unlikely to give them a balanced hearing," he said.
"The site is actually worse than most tenant sites as there doesn't have to be any third-party clarification such as a mediation or tenancy tribunal decision. Basically a tenant can put up whatever they like."
But he does approve of one aspect: "You can put up good comments. It was very pleasing to see association members listed in the section on good landlords."
