Content has been updated to reflect recent law changes.

Support services
About the Aratohu

Support services
About the Aratohu

Approaches to advocacy
Empowering the tenant
Working on behalf of tenants

Support services

About the Aratohu

- Overview of rights and obligations
- Outgoings and paying bills

Who’s covered?
Who’s not covered?
Support for those not covered by the RTA

Aratohu Tenant Advocacy

Support and guidance for tenants and their advocates

Houses

Understanding tenancy law

Understanding tenancy law

Who’s covered?
Who’s not covered?
Support for those not covered by the RTA

Overview of types of tenancies
Periodic tenancies
Fixed-term tenancies
Room-by-room tenancies
Boarding house tenancies
Service tenancies

About boarding houses
Tenancy laws apply to boarding houses
Obligations of boarding house landlords
Disputes with boarding house landlords
Disputes between boarding house tenants
Ending a boarding house tenancy

Starting a tenancy

Starting a tenancy

Understanding the basics
Finding a good rental property
Finding a good landlord
References and privacy
Dealing with discrimination

Requirements for tenancy agreements
Additional conditions
Unenforceable and unlawful conditions
What can a tenant do about unlawful conditions?
Initial property inspection

Paying bond
Rent in advance and other charges
Documenting payments

Rent

Rent

Setting the rent levels
Setting the rent period
Special conditions regarding rent
Challenging rent levels

Paying rent
Rent receipts

Rent increases
Rent reductions

Getting into rent arrears
Getting out of rent arrears

Rights and Obligations

Rights and Obligations

Overview of rights and obligations

Right to vacant possession
Options if no vacant possession
Right to quiet enjoyment
Disruption caused by repair or renovation work
Dealing with breaches of quiet enjoyment
When it’s the landlord breaching quiet enjoyment

Notice for landlord visits
Legal reasons for landlord visits
Property inspections

Overview of repairs
Fair wear and tear
Intentional damage
Careless damage
Other forms of damage
Getting repairs done

Responsibility for maintenance
Types of maintenance
Chattels
Modifications to the property

Healthy homes standards
Insulation
Heating
Draught stopping
Ventilation
Drainage and moisture
Dealing with concerns about unhealthy housing

Minimum building standards
Unlawful residential premises

Outgoings and paying bills

Ending a tenancy

Ending a tenancy

Tenant ending a periodic tenancy
Landlord ending a periodic tenancy
Ending a fixed-term tenancy
Ending a tenancy via the Tenancy Tribunal
Ending a tenancy because of family violence
Dealing with a retaliatory notice
Requirements for a termination notice
Changing tenants

What to do at the end of a tenancy
Getting the bond back
Possession after end of tenancy
Abandoned goods

Mediation and the Tenancy Tribunal

Mediation and the Tenancy Tribunal

How to raise issues with the landlord
What to do if the landlord doesn’t address the problem

Role of mediation and the Tenancy Tribunal
Mediation
Deciding whether to apply to the Tenancy Tribunal

Making an application
Responding to a landlord's application
Understanding Tenancy Tribunal orders

Issues with attendance
Evidence
Representation
At the Tenancy Tribunal hearing

Tenancy orders
Rehearings and appeals
Enforcement of Tenancy Tribunal orders

ferns

About the Aratohu Tenant Advocacy

The Aratohu Tenant Advocacy is a project initiated by the Tenant Advocates Network (TAN), a national group of organisations involved in tenant advocacy. The project has been led and implemented by Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand. It is written for both tenant advocates and those people who wish to advocate for themselves.

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