Level of management authority
Question from Leila updated on 18th August 2017:
We fired our property manager in Nelson as they chose unsuitable tenants and refused to even take photos of the berm that friends and neighbours were informing us was knee high. The Tenancy Tribunal said I could appoint someone to go through on our behalf during the inspection. (We wanted to know what was going on and no longer trusted this private company.) Did they have any legal right to refuse to photograph even the berm? They refused to let us know the time of the inspection so we were unable to appoint someone to be there. Were they legally allowed to do this also?
Our expert Bernard Parker responded:
The management agreement that you had with your property manager should have specified the level of authority that your property manager has. If that authority was complete management of the property, there was presumably the authority and requirement to carry out inspections. In that circumstance I can understand the property manager being reluctant to have another nominee of yours attending the inspection. Having been an overseas based property owner in the past, I understand how well-intentioned neighbours can report problems back to you without being in possession of all the facts. I learned that peace of mind can be achieved by finding a property manager I can trust and telling my friends that the property manager is the person to call, not me.
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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