Heartache when home rentals go bad

Landlord problems? Troublesome tenants refusing to pay up? You're not alone.

Each year around 1400 warring Rotorua landlords and tenants battle out testy disputes in the Tenancy Tribunal.

Figures released from the Government's Building and Housing group document over 7300 tribunal applications made in Rotorua in the five years to September.

Most of the applications, which cost $20 to make, related to unpaid rent, though problems with property damage, abandonment, termination breaches and even assault were also listed.

Others involved bond disputes, reduction of fixed-term tenancies and compensation requests.

Two cases even related to "quiet enjoyment" - where landlords failed to provide suitable notice to tenants before entering a rental property.

Citizens Advice Bureau Rotorua said poor housing quality and maintenance repairs were the most common problems tenants presented with.

"[There are also] a lot around heating and insulation," manager Jane Eynon-Richards said.

Some tenants also had problems after they moved out, when they disagreed with the findings of property inspections - leading to disputes with landlords over bond repayments.

The New Zealand Property Investors Federation said launching a tribunal application was a last resort for most landlords.

However, if a large amount of money was owed, or significant damage had occurred to a property, landlords were often left with no choice, president Andrew King said.

In a recent example, a landlord couple had a dwelling behind their house trashed by renters, he said.

"[The landlord couple] lost the rental income and there was $3000 worth of damage," Mr King said.

Nearly 40 per cent of last year's Rotorua Tenancy Tribunal applications (530) resulted in formal hearings and orders.

A Building and Housing spokeswoman said hearings were held at a courthouse, presided over by an adjudicator and parties normally represented themselves. A similar number of applications (604) went to "mediation".

Resolutions from mediation sessions were legally binding.

Compensation for up to $50,000, or work totalling this amount, can be ordered by the tribunal in both mediations and hearings.

The remaining Rotorua applications (228) were "withdrawn", figures showed.

Nationally, more than 40,000 applications are made to the Tenancy Tribunal each year.

And while application numbers dropped substantially in the past five years, there were still more than 43,000 tenants and landlords who took disputes to the tribunal in the 12 months to September.