The Tenancy Tribunal has forced a Wellington renter to hand over profits of subletting their rental property, a move that shows the consequences of illegal subletting, says the NZ Property Investors Federation.
Executive officer of NZ Property Investors Federation Andrew King said the tenant had sublet the property through Airbnb, making a profit, without telling the landlord.
The Wellington tenant was forced to hand over more than $11,000 of profit after sub-letting the apartment on Airbnb.
Mr King said he hoped the decision by the Tenancy Tribunal alerted "people to the fact that this is going on, [and] there is a problem with it and there are consequences."
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"Subletting is not allowed. It's an illegal act."
He said the Tenancy Tribunal made the decision, showing people "that this is not something that you can do".
"As rental property owners you need to protect yourself," Mr King said on TVNZ1's Breakfast.
"If you are carrying out a commercial activity at the property the insurance company may say, 'you're not meant to be doing that', and therefore there's no insurance cover as well."
Mr King said a bill is currently going through Parliament that puts the cost of damage back onto the tenant if it was an illegal activity.
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