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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Tenancy agreements - Termination of tenancies and recovery of possession

58: Mortgagee or other person becoming entitled to possession

You could also call this:

“When someone new gets the right to take over a rented house, the people living there can usually stay.”

If someone else, like a bank or another person, gains the right to take over a rental property from the landlord, the tenancy doesn’t end. It keeps going, and some important things happen:

The new person in charge is treated like they’re the new landlord for some parts of the law. They have to follow the same rules about things like rent increases and keeping the property in good condition.

This new person can end the tenancy in the same ways the original landlord could. They can give notice or ask the Tenancy Tribunal to end it.

If the tenancy was for a set time period, the new person can usually end it as if it were a periodic tenancy (one that goes week to week or month to month). But this doesn’t apply if they agreed to keep the original tenancy going.

You, as the tenant, can also end a fixed-term tenancy as if it were a periodic one in this situation.

These rules apply even if other laws, like the Property Law Act 2007 or the Land Transfer Act 1952, say something different.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM95526.

Topics:
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57: Effect on subtenancy of termination of head tenancy, or

“When a main rental agreement ends, it can affect the agreements of people renting from the main tenant.”

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58A: Termination of tenancies in respect of build-to-rent land, or

“Rules for ending long-term agreements for special rental homes built for renting”

Part 2 Tenancy agreements
Termination of tenancies and recovery of possession

58Mortgagee or other person becoming entitled to possession

  1. Where a mortgagee or other person becomes entitled (as against the landlord) to possession of the premises, the following provisions shall apply:

  2. the tenancy shall continue notwithstanding that the mortgagee or other person has become entitled (as against the landlord) to possession of the premises:
    1. for the purposes of sections 15, 21A, and 43, the mortgagee or other person shall be deemed to have acquired the landlord's interest in the premises, and the provisions of those sections, with any necessary modifications, shall apply accordingly:
      1. the mortgagee or other person shall have the same rights (if any) as the landlord had under the tenancy agreement or this Act to give notice terminating the tenancy or to apply to the Tribunal for an order terminating the tenancy or for an order for possession of the premises:
        1. without limiting paragraph (c), but subject to paragraph (e), in the case of a fixed-term tenancy, the mortgagee or other person shall have the same right to give notice terminating the tenancy as the landlord would have had if the tenancy had been a periodic tenancy:
          1. in the case of a fixed-term tenancy, the tenant has the same right to give notice terminating the tenancy as the tenant would have had if the tenancy had been a periodic tenancy:
            1. paragraph (d) shall not apply where the mortgagee or other person is bound by the tenancy or consented in writing to its creation.

              1. Subsection (1) shall apply notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Property Law Act 2007 or the Land Transfer Act 1952 or any other enactment.

              Compare
              • Residential Tenancies Act 1978–1981 s 61(1)(c)–(2)(c) (SA)
              Notes
              • Section 58(1)(b): amended, on , by section 10(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
              • Section 58(1)(da): inserted, on , by section 39 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
              • Section 58(2): amended, on , by section 364(1) of the Property Law Act 2007 (2007 No 91).