Tauranga Rentals Covid 19 Response
This is an update to all of our Owners on how we are now operating in the Property Management world in response to the Corona Virus.
From the beginning of Lock Down Dan and Sheree have manned the office to ensure there was a central point for Owners, Tenants, Tradespeople and our Property Managers able to deal with any challenges that came up. Our Property Managers Karen, Rina and Wendy were all able to work remotely from their homes and have done a great job, our Office Administrator Sally wasn’t allowed to come into the office due to the Health Restrictions but we are grateful she is able to be back in the office now. Dan and Sheree were able to reconcile all Bank Accounts for Rent, pay any Tradespeople and water invoices and pay you your due Rental Income (the 1st of April just happened to be right at the start of the Lock Down). They also liaised with the six or so Tenants that vacated Properties and moved into new Properties during this time in regard to Final Inspections, Drug Testing, Smoke Alarms and Key returns and pick-ups.
When we knew we went into Lock Down Level 4 we got in touch with all of our Tenants to let them know we were thinking of them, we also asked them to please let us know if they were going to struggle paying their Rent as our Owners needed to know as soon as possible so you could arrange cover for lost Mortgage Payments or Income to live off. Fortunately for us our Portfolio has been very resilient to lost earnings and we have only had a handful of Tenants who haven’t been able to meet their rent obligations but are still trying and will catch up when they are able to. In regard to overdue Rent and any Invoices, we haven’t been issuing any 14 Day Letters due to the stress a lot of tenants are under but giving them friendly reminder calls. Tenants cannot be taken to the Tenancy Tribunal now until they are 60 days in arrears, up from 21 days.
Regular Inspections were put on hold until now and the Insurance Companies have said so long as we catch up on them as soon as we are able to you will be covered for any claims. We have started catching up with the Inspections overdue the longest being carried out first. In essence we will have six weeks to do our full cycle of three monthly inspections. Our Tenants have still been able to contact us with any Damage or Maintenance issues which we have been able to deal with using our loyal regular Tradespeople.
The Government cancelled all Rent Increases for three months from the 26th of March and may extend that for another three months to the end of September, we will resume Rental Reviews when we need to and legally can.
The Healthy Homes Standards Statements Legislation has not been extended as I write this so we must proceed with getting your Houses compliant, please do not be surprised about us having to do these Improvements over the next 12 months
We are also very conscious of finding the right Tenants for our vacant properties and are busy processing Applications from potential Tenants
From the Team at Tauranga Rentals Ltd we hope you and your families are safe and well.
Contact Dan 07 571 1025 or dan@taurangarentals.co.nz if you have any queries.