Tenants need advice from service daily

Rental tenants need to know their rights.

Rotorua tenants are seeking advice on issues with their landlords or rental properties on a daily basis, according to one community organisation.

Citizen Advice Bureau Rotorua co-ordinator Jane Eynon-Richards said the most common inquiry was around rental issues - with an even split between landlords and tenants.

"Certainly the main issues with tenants is around maintenance not being done, the house is cold, they can't afford the rent or they are being asked to leave for whatever reasons," she said.

"Sometimes tenants don't know what their rights are and some landlords don't know either so there is a lack of communication between the two."

The Rotorua Daily Post reported yesterday how local landlords had been left with thousands of dollars worth of damage after tenants left properties in a mess.

The vast majority of the 1537 Rotorua complaints to the Tenancy Tribunal last year were initiated by landlords, with just 36 lodged by tenants. But Rotorua People's Union spokesman Paul Blair said there were usually two sides to every story.

Mr Blair said many property managers and other accommodation providers discriminated against beneficiaries.

"They refuse to rent to people in receipt of a social security benefit. You ask them, 'Why do they do that?' and they justify it by saying that beneficiaries steal and damaged stuff. That's like saying they had a bad experience with rugby players so they will never have them in again."

One Rotorua resident said she had recently left a property because of a continual demand for increased rent.

She said the property was sold soon after they had first moved and the new landlord increased the rent.

"It was within [the legal requirement of] 180 days, so we didn't pay the increase. As soon as the six month period ended [the property manager] asked a second time for an extra $35. I wrote her a letter asking for mercy and showed our expenses but she basically said, 'Too bad, I can get new tenants in'."