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Lodge any bond money with Tenancy Services

A landlord does not have to ask for a bond but can legally charge up to the equivalent of four weeks’ rent as bond. They will be able to claim some or all of the bond money at the end of the tenancy if:

• there is damage done by the tenant.
• rent is left unpaid.
• the house is left dirty or property is left behind.
• the tenant doesn’t fulfil any other legal obligation and the landlord suffers some loss as a result.

If the claim by the landlord is greater than the bond, a tenant may be ordered to pay the extra as well.

Fill out a Bond Lodgement form

The tenant pays the bond to the landlord who must lodge it with the Tenancy Services Centre within 23 working days. A Tenancy Services Bond Lodgement form, completed and signed by both landlord and tenant, must also be sent with the bond cheque. (Bond Lodgement forms are on this website and are supplied with most Tenancy Agreements. You can also phone Tenancy Services for copies.)

When the Tenancy Services Centre receives a bond, both landlord and tenant are sent an acknowledgement letter and Bond Refund form. The Tenancy Services Centre holds the bond money until the tenancy’s end, when either tenant or landlord may apply for its refund.

For more information on bonds, look at Refunding the bond.

Free advice and information on bonds is available by calling freephone 0800 737 666.

‘Key money’

A landlord may not charge key money except with the consent of the Tenancy Tribunal. The Tribunal would only allow the landlord to charge key money in very special circumstances. (‘Key money' means any payment requested by the landlord for letting the property to the tenant, except for rent, bond, or a real estate agent’s fee or solicitor’s fee. For example, a charge of $50 for the key to the house or $20 deposit on a lawnmower supplied with the tenancy would be ‘key money’.)

Rules about rent payments

A landlord may ask for one or two weeks’ rent in advance. This is the rent for the first week or two weeks. If rent is to be paid weekly the landlord can only ask for one week in advance. A landlord may not ask for more rent until the end of the period for which the rent has been paid.

For example: A Tenancy Agreement is signed to begin on 1 February. The tenant pays two weeks’ rent as bond and two weeks’ rent in advance. The two weeks’ rent in advance pays for the period 1 to 14 February. The tenant does not have to pay rent again until 15 February, when a further two weeks’ rent in advance is paid for the period 15 to 28 February.

Ways to pay rent

It is up to the tenant and the landlord to agree how rent will be paid and write this into the Tenancy Agreement. Rent may be paid by cash or cheque, or by automatic payment. If the tenant pays by cash or open cheque then a landlord’s receipt is required. If rent is paid by non-negotiable personal cheque or by automatic payment then a receipt is not required because the tenant’s bank records would show the rent was paid. (It is still a good idea to receipt all payments.)

However the rent is paid, a landlord must keep records that allow the tenant and, if required, a mediator or the Tenancy Tribunal, to see the rent due and the rent paid for any particular period. A sample rent summary format is available from Tenancy Services.

All receipts and bank statements showing rent payments should be kept in a safe place.

Increasing the rent

The landlord must give 60 days’ written notice of any rent increase and cannot increase the rent more than once every six months. Rent can only be increased in a fixed term tenancy if it is stated in the Tenancy Agreement.

Market rent

Market rent is described (in the Residential Tenancies Act) as what ‘a willing landlord might reasonably expect to receive, and a willing tenant might reasonably expect to pay for the tenancy’, in comparison with rent levels for similar premises in similar areas.

A tenant may feel that a landlord is asking for too much rent. In this case a Tenancy Tribunal application can be made for a market rent assessment. The Tribunal may make an order to set the rent, if the rent the landlord wants substantially exceeds the market rent. The landlord would not be able to increase the rent again for a period decided by the Tribunal (usually six months).