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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Boarding house tenancies - Rights and obligations of landlords and tenants

66J: Other obligations of landlord

You could also call this:

“The landlord must follow rules to protect tenants, like keeping services working and telling tenants about changes or sales.”

Your landlord must keep important services like water, electricity, gas, and phone working in your boarding house. They can only stop these if it’s needed to keep people safe or to do repairs.

If your landlord decides to sell the boarding house after you’ve moved in, they must tell you in writing as soon as they can. If they’re trying to rent out rooms and the boarding house is for sale, they must tell possible new tenants about this too.

Before your landlord changes any locks, they need to tell all the tenants who will be affected by this change.

If your landlord tests for harmful substances in the boarding house, they must tell you and all other tenants about the results within 7 days. They also need to give you a copy of the results if there are any.

If the boarding house is insured, your landlord can give you a copy of the insurance policy that affects you at any time. They must give you this if you ask for it. If the insurance details change, your landlord needs to give you the new information. If the boarding house is no longer insured, they need to tell you this too.

If your landlord doesn’t follow these rules, they might be breaking the law and could get in trouble.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3283911.

Topics:
Housing and property > Renting
Rights and equality > Privacy
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66IA: Protection from liability for landlord who complies with contaminant regulations, or

“A landlord who follows the rules about dangerous substances in a boarding house cannot be blamed if the place is unsafe because of those substances.”

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66K: Obligations of tenant, or

“Things you need to do and not do when you rent a room in a boarding house”

Part 2A Boarding house tenancies
Rights and obligations of landlords and tenants

66JOther obligations of landlord

  1. The landlord must not interfere with the supply of gas, electricity, water, telephone services, or other services to the premises, unless the interference is necessary to avoid danger to any person or to enable maintenance or repairs to be carried out.

  2. If, at any time after entering into a boarding house tenancy agreement, the landlord puts the premises on the market for the purposes of sale or other disposition, the landlord must, as soon as practicable, give written notice of that fact to the tenant.

  3. If a landlord is offering a boarding house tenancy, the landlord must inform prospective tenants if the premises are on the market for the purposes of sale or other disposition.

  4. A landlord who fails to comply with—

  5. subsection (1), (2), or (2A) commits an unlawful act:
    1. subsection (2A) commits an infringement offence and is liable to a fine or an infringement fee specified in Schedule 1B.

      1. Before changing any lock or similar device, the landlord must tell every tenant of the boarding house who will be affected about the change.

      2. If the landlord carries out tests for the presence of contaminants in any of the facilities, the landlord must, within 7 days of receiving the results of the testing, notify every current tenant of the boarding house, in writing, of the results of the testing, and provide each of them with a copy (if any) of the results.

      3. A landlord who fails to comply with subsection (3A)—

      4. commits an unlawful act; and
        1. commits an infringement offence and is liable to a fine or an infringement fee specified in Schedule 1B.

          1. The landlord of premises that are insured may at any time, and must within a reasonable time after receiving a request from the tenant for a copy of the insurance policy, provide to the tenant under a tenancy agreement a copy of each insurance policy that is relevant to the tenant’s liability for destruction of, or damage to, the premises.

          2. If anything changes so that the insurance information that was provided in accordance with subsection (5) or this subsection is no longer correct, the landlord must, within a reasonable time after the landlord becomes aware of the change,—

          3. provide the tenant with a copy of the correct information; or
            1. if the premises are no longer insured, provide the tenant with a statement that they are not insured.

              1. A landlord’s failure to comply with subsection (5) or (6) is declared to be an unlawful act.

              Notes
              • Section 66J: inserted, on , by section 49 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
              • Section 66J(2): replaced, on , by section 48(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
              • Section 66J(2A): inserted, on , by section 48(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
              • Section 66J(2B): inserted, on , by section 48(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
              • Section 66J(3A): inserted, on , by section 43 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 37).
              • Section 66J(4): replaced, on , by section 48(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
              • Section 66J(5): inserted, on , by section 15 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 37).
              • Section 66J(6): inserted, on , by section 15 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 37).
              • Section 66J(7): inserted, on , by section 15 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 37).