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canaletto

21 posts

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#205928 2-Dec-2016 22:19
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I've found a couple of questionable things in my tenancy agreement, so I'm digging deeper to see what else I can find. I'm wondering if there any other "issues" with this rental situation that is not legal or is sketchy, or whatever else.

My rental situation is like this:
* Double storey house (let's pretend the address is 5 Electric Avenue)
--Upstairs: three bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, garage - two tenants <-- have their own tenancy agreement
--Downstairs: two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, - two tenants <-- have their own tenancy agreement

 

* The upstairs and downstairs are connected by a stairway, but a locked door blocks access.
* The house is owned by a limited company, so on the tenancy agreement it says the company's name and not a person's name.

 

There's one water and power meter, but two separate phone lines (water and power are included in rent). There was something cheeky in the agreement saying that if a certain power/water cap was reached, we'd have to split the excess - that's not legally enforceable since there's only one meter between the two of us. But I digress...

There are no unit numbers or anything... so on my tenancy agreement it says "5 Electric Avenue", as it would say for the people upstairs with their separate tenancy. We're both on fixed term tenancies. It seems strange that one property can have two separate tenancy agreements? No separate unit numbers. The people upstairs have a garage, so legally what's stopping me from using it? There's no mention of which rooms I'm able to stay in at 5 Electric Avenue. Nothing like that.

 

 


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Hammerer
2476 posts

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  #1681544 3-Dec-2016 01:00
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It could be clearer. For example, how did they list chattels or didn't they? Edit: https://tenancy.govt.nz/starting-a-tenancy/tenancy-agreements/

 

I'm no lawyer but I'd expect that:

 

You can't avoid the agreement just because something isn't written down. How did you know where to move in, i.e. how were you shown which part of the property your lease applied to?

 

You would be trespassing  in the garage if you used it.

 

 




Fred99
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  #1681550 3-Dec-2016 08:36
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That sounds dodgy to me. There's usually a Council rule that prevents practical division of a dwelling into two by not allowing more than one kitchen per dwelling.  That's usually defined by having an oven/cooktop and kitchen sink, workaround is to use a microwave and/or portable cooker in a room that's not officially a "kitchen". 

 

Rules like that are criticised for being intrusive (why shouldn't you be allowed to have more than one kitchen in your own home?) but are there to prevent what you're appearing to describe.  There are reasons, fire safety, urban density / parking/access etc.

 

Old dwellings that may precede those rules for fireproof party walls etc, then there'd probably be separate power and water metering. 

 

I suspect that if Council knew that the house was being let as two separate tenancies as described, they'd do the landlord - like a dinner. 

 

OTOH there are people living in hideously overcrowded conditions, in garages, sleepouts etc, and nobody seems to care much.


canaletto

21 posts

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  #1681551 3-Dec-2016 08:50
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 I think you're onto something there, Fred. I found this which confirms what you said:
https://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?31403-One-house-two-illegal-tenancies-unconsented-kitchen

 

 


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