Rent main issue with tenants

Most rental complaints were over failed rent payments, followed by property damage and breaching tenancy agreements.

Unpaid rent and property damage have triggered the most formal disputes between the region's landlords and wayward tenants, new figures reveal.

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 over failed rent payments, followed by property damage and breaching tenancy agreements.

Western Bay landlords filed 30 complaints over 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Most of the applications resulted in tribunal orders, about a third went to mediation and the rest were withdrawn or unresolved.

Juli Tolley, director of Quinovic Property Management in Tauranga, said the best way to avoid tribunal disputes was a rigorous screening process.

"First of all, you have got to make sure you're getting good quality people who will take care of the home. That eliminates a lot of problems off the bat."

Character and landlord references were a must, and the way prospective tenants presented themselves played a significant role.

"How a person takes care of themselves, and takes care of their vehicles and their children, is usually an indication of how they are going to care for a property."

Tenants were only taken to court when "absolutely necessary".

In some cases, landlords could be left seriously out of pocket, she said.

This was usually when there was not strong evidence - such as photographs - of how the property looked when the tenant moved in.

"If there was damage, there might be a situation where they didn't take photos. They have no evidence to stand on in court. You really have to protect yourself from the beginning."

One landlord went "through hell" after being fooled into letting his property to an associate of the Mongrel Mob, Ms Tolley said.

"They pretty much decimated the place. There was a lot of damage. It got to a point where even the property manager was intimidated to go to the property. Things just got out of control." The woman was eventually evicted.

In January this year, Tauranga landlord Daniel Sycamore announced he was putting two of his properties on the market after a string of bad tenants who trashed his rentals and failed to pay thousands of dollars in rent.

He said landlords would have to be "crazy" to own rentals in Tauranga.

The Tenancy Tribunal is a special court that deals with problems that landlords and tenants cannot settle between themselves.

The tribunal can award compensation or order repairs up to a value of $50,000.

Nationally, 45,045 complaints were filed to the tribunal last year - a rise from 41,910 in 2012.

Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said tenants often used "sad tales" to waylay landlords' attempts to chase up lost rent, such as "the kid's sick and has to go to hospital" or "someone's died", or "the car's broken down, the washing machine's broken down".