Quinovic 'by far the worst experience' renter has ever had

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Stuart Shaw was astounded to return to his Whitby home, which had been rented out by a property management company, to find it dirty, damaged, and with a pit of wrapped dog poo outside.

No functional bathroom, holes in walls, dirty window sills and stained carpets - that's life as a renter with Quinovic, a Wellington woman says.

Advertisements by a Wellington branch of the property management company caused outrage among renters groups this week as it appeared to question landlords on whether they were charging too little rent, by asking them if they were financing their tenants' social life.

Another said: 'Your tenants may hate us. You will love us!'

For former Quinovic tenant Joy Charles the attitude of the advertisements was no surprise.

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The dirt from the window sill in Joy Charles' apartment when she moved in. The property manager was Quinovic.

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She took a Wellington franchise of Quinovic's to the Tenancy Tribunal this year and won.

Tenant Abraham Coombs was awarded more than $5660 in damages after living in a leaky home with mouldy curtains, broken doors, damaged toilet seats and loose wall bricks.

Charles and her husband lived in an apartment rented out by Quinovic that did not have functional bathroom, had holes in walls, dirty window sills and stained carpets.

The apartment also did not have a smoke alarm, she said.

Charles said she had had the worst experience with Quinovic in her history of renting over 80 homes in countries around the world.

'My husband and I have rented 80-odd houses. We keep moving around because of his work, so renting has always suited us, but this was by far the worst experience we had,' Charles said.

'We are responsible tenants, but to them we are scum. It's really appalling.'

Quinovic chief executive Paul Chapman did not want to comment on the criticism of the company.

Another former Quinovic tenant lived in a leaky, mouldy apartment managed by the company.

Abraham Coombs took the same franchise responsible for the advertisements to the Tenancy Tribunal last month and won.

One of the advertisements that has angered Renters United.

He and his flatmates were awarded more than $5660 in damages after living in a leaky home with mouldy curtains, broken doors, damaged toilet seats and loose wall bricks.

The Wellington flatmates had raised concerns several times over the six months they lived in the property, but their complaints fell on deaf ears.

The damages were paid by the owners of the property, not Quinovic, Coombs said.

During their stay contractors arrived unannounced to measure for cosmetic repainting and re-carpeting.

'I actually feel sorry for the owners who were paying Quinovic to manage their property and ended up footing the bill for their incompetence,' he said.

Quinovic has pulled down the advertisements, and has now also removed its apology posted on Facebook.

Charles said it was unfair that people who held their property managers to account and took them to the tribunal were blacklisted as tenants.

Property managers are currently unregulated. There are no rules for who can be one, no rules for what they must do with money they receive on behalf of landlords, and no oversight of their behaviour other than the Tenancy Tribunal.

If they are also a real estate agent, then they are covered by the rules for that industry.

Charles has also called for property managers to be regulated and licensed.

'The only way to hold them accountable is to take them to the tribunal, and that can get expensive.'

Quinovic pulled down the advertisements and also its apology on Facebook.

The Independent Property Managers Association would not comment because Quinovic was not a member.

But Coombs said not all his experiences with property managers had been negative.

'I don't think all property managers are dodgy. I think it's a small minority taking advantage of the fact the industry is not regulated,' he said.

Stuart Shaw was astounded to return to his Whitby home, which had been rented out by Quinovic, to find it damaged, and with a pit of wrapped dog poo outside.

But tenants have not been the only group to get burnt by dealings with Quinovic.

A landlord whose house was in the care of Quinovic in 2016 when he went overseas, returned to it being in a moat of dirty water and beside a pit full of dog poo.

The decks of the house were black with grime, rubbish floated in stagnant water out the back, dried dog poo was stuck to the garage floor, and daylight shone through the cat claw holes in his $4000 curtains.

Stuart Shaw said the experience left him feeling as though Quinovic were only out to take money from both landlords and the tenants.

'I left my property in their hands for three years whilst abroad which made me an easy target, the tenant was allowed to get away with trashing my property whilst they falsely reported that all was Ok in order that I didn't evict them and they then lose a monthly income stream,' Shaw said.

'I was sent a quarterly inspection report which showed the tenants had a glowing report however after three years I returned to find a flooded rear to the property which had been unattended to for years, their huge dog, which they weren't allowed to have, had chewed the skirting boards.

'There was a urine that had soaked into the new wooden floors which had been left to stagnant and above all they had been burying hundreds of plastic bags full of dog poop in the garden. Quinovic, Mana claimed they had no knowledge of this which only goes to show that they hadn't inspected properly.'

After spending six weeks repairing his property Shaw sold it at a loss.

The agreement between a house owner and agent was not covered by the Tenancy Tribunal, meaning any dispute would have to be taken to the Disputes Tribunal, or – if the financial loss was great enough – to a district court.