As reported in yesterday's Bay of Plenty Times, unpaid rent and property damage have triggered the most formal disputes between the region's landlords and wayward tenants.
More than 1370 applications were made to the Tenancy Tribunal in the Western Bay last year, nearly all lodged by landlords.
The number of applications was up on the previous year but down from 2011.
Most complaints were about failed rent payments, followed by property damage and breaching tenancy agreements.
Western Bay landlords filed 30 complaints about tenants abandoning the premises and eight for assault.
Most of the applications resulted in tribunal orders, about a third went to mediation and the rest were withdrawn or unresolved.
Property managers always say screening tenants and doing background checks is the best way to weed out the good tenants from the bad but this isn't always the case.
One tenant who left my property without a trace was one who passed all the checks and seemed reliable and trustworthy.
As a landlord who has had to clean up after other people and foot the bill for their damage, I wouldn't dream of doing that to someone else.
I don't know how people feel when they leave a house damaged and owing money, maybe it is about pride or common decency, or a lack thereof.
Luckily, I have a great tenant in my house at the moment who pays her rent and is clean and tidy.
I guess that is the best I can hope for.
