Property Managers
Here in New Zealand,property managers are not licensed and are not answerable to anyone.At present,anyone can start up a property management company,take letting fees and pick up rents without having to prove they know anything about what they are doing.There have been attempts to set professional standards for property managers over the years,but nothing has changed.
It is now time for change,as renters are in the ascendancy in New Zealand.The property management sector needs to set standards and ethics for their unregulated sector.In 2008 the Justice and Electoral select committee recommended "Immediate action should be taken to create an appropriate regulatory regime for property management actives."but the associate minister of justice at the time ,Nathan Guy,said additional regulation wasn't justified.
It should be noted that property managers have keys to your home,collect rents every week and require tenants to consent to credit checks.This gives them the ability to trawl through a tenants history and other personal information.In fact property managers and private landlords maintain power and control over tenants and many operate a "blacklist" so that some tenants have difficult time seeking a reference.
This is not the case in Australia where property managers have to meet minimum qualification requirements.But in New Zealand property managers want to know everything about their tenants,yet tenants no nothing about the character of their property manager/landlord,It is not a big ask to know ,you are dealing with a reputable person, change is needed now to redress this imbalance.
