Source: Radio New Zealand
Property Brokers were fined for having a QR code rather than a price on a sign. (File photo) 123RF
A property manager says he was shocked to be handed a $2000 fine for including a QR code rather than a stated rent amount on the sign outside a property available for rent.
David Faulkner is general manger for property management at Property Brokers.
He said the company had been fined after being investigated by the Tenancy Compliance Investigation Team (TCIT) for not advertising a rent price on the signs.
The Residential Tenancies Act requires that landlords must not advertise or offer a tenancy without stating the rent in the advertisement.
Faulkner said this had been driven by concerns about rent bidding, where landlords drive up rent by asking tenants whether they are willing to pay more to secure a property.
“I think that’s fine, it’s transparent. It does stop that from happening.”
But he said problems arose when it was argued the rent sign itself needed to display the rental amount, rather than simply a way for tenants to find the information.
He said his solution had been to put a QR code on the rental sign which directed people to more details about the property, including the price.
Tenants would be required to apply to rent the property via the website, anyway, he said. “Where the price is clearly displayed.”
Complaints were often driven by other property management companies rather than tenants, he said.
“There’s been a lot of debate in the industry thinking that’s ridiculous and most companies have just turned a blind eye to it… but others haven’t and they’ve complained to tenancy compliance.”
He said some properties were located a long way from the property management offices, and when the asking rent needed to change, it would mean someone had to drive out and change the sign.
“There’s a cost, there’s a carbon footprint. A QR code is common sense as the price adjusts on the advert, which is happening quite a lot at the moment with rents going down.”
He said some tenants did not want to have the rent displayed on an ad in front of their neighbours, either.
The company had been fined $2000 although that had since been revised down to $1000.
“You need regulation and you need government but you don’t need overreach which prohibits how you run your business.”
In a letter to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development he said it was an overreach by a government department and provided no tangible benefit.
“I do not believe TCIT was established to police such minor and unworkable issues. Their role is to hold landlords accountable for failing to provide warm, dry, and compliant homes. To my knowledge, New Zealand is the only country that enforces such a strict stance on rental pricing signage.”
Sarina Gibbon, director of Tenancy Advisory, said the market was very different from when there were concerns about rent bidding.
“Rent is trending down, sometimes weekly in certain areas, where it’s being repriced and repriced every week in order to get a tenant, you then have to ask yourself, in this environment, why aren’t we just operating with a QR code or a website address that’s printed on the physical sign, which would be a more fit for purpose solution to the intent behind the rule, which is to not gouge tenants.”
She said it could put a lot of stress and demand on property managers who were already handling a lot of compliance.
“I’m still hopeful that we can explore some pathways directly with the Housing and Urban Development Ministry to just get some guidance out there and just clarify the government’s position that when they interpret the word state, they mean they’re looking at the totality of that piece of advertisement, that they’re not treating a sign as a standalone piece of advertisement.
“If they treat the sign as merely an extension of a Trade Me advertisement, for example, which seems to be an appropriate, reasonable approach, because you don’t see any single for rent sign out there listing absolutely all the details of their rental property to the extent Trade Me would… this is all very, very silly.”
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said in a statement it was aware of cases where QR codes or links were used in advertising, and the discussion around the issue.
“While there are no plans to amend the legislation at this time it is something that could be considered in a future review.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
