Are property managers required to be registered?

Question from Les updated on 16th September 2011:

We have a property in Timaru that we rent out and have had a property manager for the last 2 years, however we feel that they have not done anything other than collect rent as we have had only one property inspection and we had to ask for that. Even after asking them questions to see if they have a rental agreement with the tenants we can't seem to get a straight answer, so we have now decided to get our daughter that lives in Christchurch to look after these affairs. Our question to you is, does the property manager have to be registered? For insurance reasons we know we must have a property manager.

Our expert Juliet Robinson responded:

No, your property manager does not have to be registered. There is no standardised registration for independent property managers. However, some insurance companies require that a professional property manager be employed in order to enable the cover afforded by a landlord policy.

The insurance companies are keen to reduce their risk, and may require information about the frequency of rent follow-ups, inspections, etc. I suggest you ask your insurance company what your policy requires, and whether a family member in another town is sufficient “management” for your insurance purposes.

One further question that you may want to consider is 'what happens with the Sunday night call-out?' Maintenance emergencies can occur at any time, and whoever is managing your property needs to be able to respond quickly if necessary. Local property managers who can respond to after-hours emergency calls, and who have access to reliable and responsive contractors, will be a real comfort when you’re living overseas.

Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 22 years.

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