Pet-friendly verbal agreement

Our Experts Answer:

Where the landlord and tenant have entered into a tenancy agreement but then agree to change the terms of that agreement, the Residential Tenancies Act requires the variation to be in writing and be signed by the landlord and tenant. However, the Act also states that no agreement, or renewal or variation of an agreement, is unenforceable merely on the grounds that it is not in writing. The Ministry advises that all variations be in writing.

Where the parties have agreed to vary the contract verbally it is best practice to then record the change in writing, as soon as possible. Both the landlord and tenant should sign the changes. The changes can be in the form of a separate document or can be added to both the landlord’s and tenant’s copy of the tenancy agreement. Should a dispute arise about whether the parties had agreed to vary a clause in a tenancy agreement the Tenancy Tribunal would have jurisdiction to decide, on the balance of probability, what terms the parties had agreed to.

It should also be noted that email is recognised as a valid form of written correspondence under the Act, so we would advise that you keep a copy of the owner’s email for your records.

For further information regarding landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities, you can visit our website at www.tenancy.govt.nz or subscribe to our tenancy landlord e-newsletter at www.tenancy.govt.nz/subscribe.