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Tenants who trash rental properties or refuse to pay the rent will soon be named on a Government-run website.
In the next few weeks, Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove is expected to announce the launch of a new online service for Tenancy Tribunal rulings so the activities of landlords and tenants can be monitored.
The Government is hoping the register will help lower the loss of millions of dollars from deliberate vandalism and unpaid rent but tenants fear it will allow landlords to ban those the tribunal has ruled against.
Although landlords have pleaded for the website to monitor the growing residential rental sector, it could also backfire on some of them.
Last January, the tribunal released a string of decisions showing up landlords for hounding tenants via cellphones and emails, harassing and badgering them with notes and by moving their possessions, blocking vehicle access and demanding rent from employers.
Helen Gatonyi, Christchurch co-ordinator of the Tenants Protection Association, said the site's launch could make it harder for tenants to find decent affordable housing.
"If a tenant has breached the law, they're probably already on a checklist anyway," she said, citing landlords' ability to check tenant references, undertake credit checks and access the Real Estate Institute's property managers' tenant database.
"The tenant/landlord relationship is all about power and balance with the power being with the landlord," she said. "The list won't make much difference to that."
Mr Cosgrove is aiming to improve the rental sector, as the country's rental property stock rises fast due to the housing affordability crisis. In the last decade, the rental market grew by 35 per cent or 100,000 households and many now face a lifetime of renting. Around 500,000 Aucklanders are expected to be renting in the coming years.
A Department of Building and Housing spokesman said tribunal rulings would be online next month or by early March.
Names of landlords and tenants would be published so people could make a search before choosing a rental property.
The tribunal has jurisdiction over disputes involving Housing New Zealand's 66,000 properties worth $11.3 billion and these will also go online.
Jenny Leith, acting principal tenancy adjudicator, said the new service aimed to standardise rulings by the country's 36 tribunal adjudicators.
Landlords said the move could rid them of the worst tenants who cause the most problems. Andrew King of the Auckland Property Investors Association praised the launch.
* The decisions will be posted on www.dbh.govt.nz
Spiteful damage prompts backlash from manager
Nelson property manager Glenn Morris has complained to MPs about what he sees as a power imbalance between landlords and tenants.
Late last year, a tenant trashed a flat Mr Morris managed in a move he claims was retaliation for terminating the tenancy.
The tenant had two large dogs, breaching the rental agreement. So Mr Morris issued a 90-day notice terminating the tenancy.
"Rent payments stopped immediately and the flat was trashed the night before a scheduled mediation on the money," Mr Morris said.
The walls and ceilings had holes, the flat was covered in obscene graffiti, goods were strewn about the place and the dogs were left behind.
The tenant had also used false names to disguise criminal convictions and a bad credit history.
Mr Morris praised Tenancy Services for its urgent help but vowed to chase the tenant for the rent and repairs.
Mr Morris, who believes landlords are disadvantaged by the law, complained to National MP Nick Smith and Labour MP Maryan Street, sending pictures showing the damage.
Andrew King, of the Auckland Property Investors Association, agreed landlords were almost powerless to recover money from tenants who abandoned or vandalised places. He hopes the Tenancy Tribunal's online launch next month will help stop such situations.
