TV star's property firm fined over tenancy law breaches
A Christchurch property management company, Good Girls Property Management, has been fined nearly $6,000 by the Tenancy Tribunal for multiple legal breaches. The tribunal ruled that the company cannot use landlord non-compliance as a defense for failing to meet its own legal obligations to tenants.
Why it matters
The ruling sets a legal precedent that property managers bear direct responsibility for tenant welfare, regardless of their clients' instructions.
A Christchurch property management company whose sole director appeared in a reality TV show about renting admitted to multiple breaches of tenancy law, including an unlawful termination. The Tenancy Tribunal ordered Good Girls Property Management, run by Prudence Morrall - who appeared on TVNZ's Renters - to pay $5877 over breaches across 20 tenancies. The tribunal accepted evidence the company had raised maintenance and repair problems with the owners of the rentals it managed. The owners delayed or refused the work because of the cost. But the tribunal held the company responsible anyway. The adjudicator said agents would not always be protected when their clients' actions or inaction led to breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act or harm to a tenant, and that property managers should not put the client relationship ahead of their legal obligations.
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