Obligations Of Landlords During An Emergency/Natural Disaster

The team at Allen Realty advise that it is a good idea to plan for the best but prepare for the worst in the event of a sudden onset emergency or natural disaster, and they recommend that all tenants, landlords and property managers download the Civil Defence App to be notified of a disaster or of one looming. Having advance warning of a disaster could make a huge difference, as sometimes in an emergency, data and phone networks might not be working but texting is available or vice versa. Also, as an extra precaution they can subscribe to receive SMS text message alerts from Civil Defence.

After the Christchurch earthquake, both tenants and landlords had to learn their obligations quickly to try and determine whether damage had rendered a rental property uninhabitable, if a tenant qualified for reduced rent or at what point the tenancy was deemed to have been terminated. An official review of the Civil Defence response to the Christchurch earthquake found that organisations of any kind that had prepared for a disaster responded much better than those that had no plan.

Allen Realty is no exception and they are prepared to initiate their disaster plan at a moment's notice, which prepares them for any scenario and introduces protocols to follow should an emergency or disaster hit Auckland. A disaster plan sets out tasks that will guide landlords and property managers in the weeks and months that follow a disaster as, in the aftermath of a disaster, critical services such as phone, internet, post, water, sewage and electricity may not be working and a disaster plan should prepare for this.

The most important aspect of any disaster is to maintain good communication between property owners, tenants, insurers and tradesmen, and being able to respond well to each other’s needs will go a long way to ensuring a positive outcome. If the property is still able to be lived in but your tenant wants to leave and has signed a periodic tenancy then they are still required to give a minimum of 21 daysˈ notice. Those in fixed term tenancies are required to keep paying rent until a tenancy is terminated. A tenancy can be terminated upon agreement or the Tenancy Tribunal may terminate a tenancy as it sees fit and this is usually when there has been a drastic change in circumstances and a disaster may fall in to this bracket.

For further information on Allen Realty, please go to www.allenrealty.co.nz .