Inspection authority
Question from David updated on 2nd October 2019:
I am currently overseas and have asked a friend to perform a property inspection on a tenant that has already damaged my property. I want to see if there is other damage i need to address before their tenancy ends in three weeks time. I have given seven days notice to do the inspection but the tenant is refusing to let my friend inspect the property. The tenant says that my friend is not the landlord or a listed agent on the tenancy agreement. Can the tenant really refuse my request on these grounds? Can I authorise my friend to inspect the property somehow? I cannot seem to find this in the RTA.
Our expert Bernard Parker responded:
The landlord is entitled to inspect the property after giving the required notice (assuming there has been more than one month since the previous inspection). You haven’t said whether you have a current property manager. If so, you should get that property manager to formally notify the tenant that your friend (agent) will do a maintenance inspection, giving the tenant the required notice.
If you don’t have a property manager, you have every right as landlord to have your agent do the inspection. In this case, an email from you to the tenant should be sufficient to give the tenant notice of the inspection date and to establish your friend’s authority as your agent..
Bernard is principal of Quinovic – Kapiti-Mana. Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 30 years.Search the Ask an Expert archive
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