Website: Tenants strike back with landlord checking website

Product: LandlordCheck New Zealand
Price: Free
Overall rating: 2 out of 5
Website: www.landlordcheck.co.nz

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LandlordCheck.co.nz was launched in February to give tenants the chance to rate landlords and property managers online. Landlords with good ratings can advertise properties to let for free on the website.

In the words of the site itself: “Landlord Check New Zealand aims to improve the quality of service provided by New Zealand landlords and property managers. On this site tenants can create reports on their renting experiences, good or bad, that can be accessed by others who are intending to rent a property”.

The reports rate landlords from one to five in four areas:
1. What was the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy?
2. Did the landlord/property manager respond promptly when repairs were needed?
3. Did the landlord/property manager give the tenant quiet enjoyment of the property?
4. Did the landlord/property manager give at least 24 hours notice to the tenant before entering the property?
There is also a space at the end of a review for comments.

Once you’ve joined as a landlord or property manager and logged in the home page shows a list of the best landlords and worst as well as the most popular listings of property to rent on the site.

The idea is that both good and bad landlords get a listing. For example, one tenant wrote about Richardsons Real Estate Tairua: “The guys at Richardsons were a breath of fresh air. My partner and I had a lot of trouble finding a property in Auckland because we have never rented before and we are considered very young. When my company relocated me to Tairua, Richardsons were understanding and helpful. I’m dreading being moved back to Auckland now!”

But another complained that Dave Murray, of First National, Whangarei, hadn’t given the bond back because of some dust, crumbs in the oven and a small stain on the carpet.

When the New Zealand Property Magazine contacted Murray he told an altogether different story about the property. The stain was 18 inches in diameter and the property empty for some while because it needed bringing back to a decent state of cleanliness after the tenants left. “I am a good landlord 99% of the time.”

Murray believed the site would mainly be used by disgruntled tenants and didn’t give a balanced picture. “It is a one-sided site.”

Signing up is pretty simple. Once you have signed up you’re directed to a page listing landlords/property managers already listed on the system. You’re asked to check if you are already there. On sign-up your details are automatically listed in the directory and you can search for references about yourself posted by tenants.

Once you are registered as a landlord, you will receive an email alert each time a report is entered in the system about you.

On the listing side landlords can list their rentals for free. If, however, you have no LCNZ rating or a poor LCNZ rating, “viewing of your advertisements will be restricted,” says the site in its frequently requested sections list.

Listing on the site is incredibly simple – more so than Trade Me if you list your properties individually. Big users of Trade Me who keep 50 or more properties for rent current on Trade Me at any one time ‘pipe’ information from their computer system directly onto Trade Me – cutting out the one-by-one manual uploading process. You can’t currently do such bulk uploads with LandlordCheck.co.nz.

Multiple lines of marketing always make sense and Landlordcheck.co.nz is free and quick to use. As a result, landlords might find it a useful way to attract tenants.

Stephen Hall from Professionals Real Estate in Panmure (Auckland) was one of the first property managers to list rentals on the site. He said, “We are advertising rental properties on this new site primarily because it is free, it is obviously targeted to our desired market and because we always strive to maximise our exposure”. A secondary reason, he says is “a desire to assist new start-ups that could possibly produce the next Sam Morgan”.

The downside of LandlordCheck.co.nz is that the information on this site is not verified. Unlike landlord websites such as Tenancy Information New Zealand (TINZ), the ratings of landlords are subjective and not limited to Tenancy Tribunal judgments.

LandlordCheck.co.nz says it ensures accuracy by:
· collecting the contact details of anyone posting a report on the site, along with a verified email address
· auditing reports before they are displayed on the site
· allowing landlords or property managers to respond to reports about them
· recording IP addresses (the unique address of a computer connected to the Internet) to prevent one person from creating multiple accounts.

Unlike websites such as TINZ where tenant references can only be added if the tenancy agreement made it clear that they would be, any tenant can enter details about a landlord on LandlordCheck.co.nz.

Whether ultimately LandlordCheck.co.nz can be successful with the “them and us” attitude between many landlords and tenants is something that only time will tell. The site will no doubt be labour intensive with email contact to the administrator from both landlords and tenants for its founder and unless it provides a revenue stream, running the site could become a burden.

One also wonders if the type of tenant that is likely to dob in landlords on such a site and may be particularly hot on their rights is the type that landlords might want as tenants.

From a design point of view, the site isn’t the best. It is, however, pretty simple and straightforward and it doesn’t take too much trouble to find your way around.

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Contact: admin@lcnz.co.nz
System requirements: Internet access
Verdict: A website that landlords should watch with interest
Pros: Free listing of properties to rent
Cons: Landlord ratings are not verified and are at the whim of the tenant.

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