New changes are coming into force today in the largest tenancy law shake-up for landlords and tenants in decades.
The series of new rules will bring an end to the 90-day termination period, making it much harder for renters to be given the boot.
Some landlords fear the new regulations will prove it increasingly difficult to evict renters causing havoc beyond reasons for notice outlined by the Government.
Auckland landlord Peter Lewis told Breakfast today the situation now leaves "draconian punishments" for misbehaving property owners while nothing to reprimand renters.
"Now if your mother lives in a house, let's say next to the Hells Angels or Mongrel Mob, she's going to be required to go along to a tenancy tribunal then stand up where those people are present, give evidence against them and then go home to where they're standing at the front gate whirling their bicycle chains," he said.
The strenuous process is going to prove "really difficult" to give the evidence needed in tribunal hearings to have troublesome renters evicted, he added.
Bidding for rental properties is also banned from today as the Government aims to make tenancy laws fairer for both parties involved.
Advocacy group Renters United says the changes help to level the playing field for renters to be treated equally.
Spokesperson Geordie Rodgers told Breakfast the push back from landlords is due to them "having to live under the same expectations that tenants had on them this whole time".
Geordie Rodgers, from Renters United, says the change allows tenants to put down roots.
With the inclusion of a minor alterations regulation, renters will now be able to make small changes to their properties without having to seek approval first, which Rodgers says will encourage tenants to lay down roots.
"Being able to make a tenancy your home is going to make you want to stay there and so this is a great change for both landlords and tenants."
Long-term renters were descibed by Lewis earlier on the programme as the "ideal" tenant. The landlord said he'd love to have a great renter who wasn't difficult to deal with and "wanted to stay forever".
Rentals must now be advertised along with the price listed and potential new tenants can't offer to pay more as an incentive.
Landlords also aren't able to decline a request for minor changes to their properties from today, as long as it's paid for at the renter's expense.
More new regulations surrounding the ability to end tenancies in dangerous situations are set to be introduced in August.
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