Canterbury earthquake: Information for landlords and tenants
Updated on 8 March 2011
The Department of Building and Housing stresses the need for landlords and tenants to work closely together and maintain their relationships as the state of emergency continues in Christchurch.
This is the page on the tenancy website that I've visited a lot since February 2011.
On the day of the quake I txt the Property agent and said:
Hi [address]. Hope u r ok. House is a mess on a lean waiting to hear from eqc. No power no water drive way damaged
Response:
Thanks for letting me know. I am i the same boat. Take care Leana.
my reply:
Oh No take care.
We r going to vacate house is on a real lean will email landlord ( our landlord lives over seas)
Response:
Yes that's a good idea. Plz take care
We received an email from landlord
On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Dear Vanillabean and husband thought it best to send you both a message considering this latest Earthquake affecting Christchurch. I phoned B next door today to make sure everyone was allright. All the best for you and your family as you come to terms with this latest upheaval. If there is anything you want to talk to me about, please send me an email.
Sincerely,
our response:
The inside of the house is a mess all of our items are on the floor, the house is on a lean apparently more visable from the back than the front, the rental company have been hit too, so I just said we are vacating which they said its a good idea, its not safe to stay there, and they can't get anyone around to look at the property.
The drive way is cracked and full of silt the factory will now have to be demolished, there is a power line down and our end of the street is not open to traffic.
The front lock jammed yesterday and I was trapped in the house as everything in the garage came crashing down and the stream turned into the rappids again making us unsafe in the house as there is no safe exit should the door do that again. ( a very terrifiying moment not being able to get out!)
There is no water in the house, power phone or internet
I'm tired and I'm exhausted
I dont think the agency can do anything you might want to do it all from your end.
Vanilla Bean
hope your parents are okayFrom Oversea's land lord Feb 24th
Hi, thought I would give you an update on what I have been able to find out. I was able to get through to Harveys on the phone this morning, L is out and about checking properties, she may be able to phone me here in Australia when she returns to the office.
The Council is going house to house to determine whether they are safe to be in or not. Information with regard to this can be found by going to google, type in civil defence, christchurch. Click on the site, "The ministry of civil defence and Emergency Management Canterbury", Where it says "webpage christchurch city council" click on "link to civil defence".
Scroll down to operation suburb.
There are details as to the process of checking houses. Whether 2/19 gets a red sticker or not will be up to the inspector.
I have phoned the Council, they are not able at this stage to say when Addington/Spreydon Houses will be looked at.
There is also a lot of other info on this page if you haven't found it already.
I have said to the receptionist at H's that if they have a carpenter available then a check of all the access ways into 2/19 can be made, repairs can be carried out on all access doors to ensure they swing or slide freely, and so the house can be secured. If K is interested in carrying out this type of work, please let me know, I can recompense him as necessary, if the front door needs bracing I suggest 7mm plywood screwed on the back.
If you re enter the building for any reason please be careful as far as your safety is concerned. I suggest that if you leave the building for any length of time, please turn the electricity off, the mains swith is in the garage. Also the water mains tap should be turned off. The out side tap by the front door is above the water mains tap which is red and buried in the shingle, if you go to the outside tap straight down to the shingle and two feet to the right you will find the buried mains tap. Until we find out if there is any damage to the internal plumbing it is important to turn this off if the house is left for any length of time.
Will keep you posted as I learn more, Sincerely,
Feb 24th
Some info to add to original message. J from property agent has phoned me. GT is going to go to 2/19 Montreal to check the place. . To inspect the place, if necessary engage a carpenter to ensure all access doors are working freely, and the property can be secured. I have also asked him to turn the water mains tap (buried red one) off if no one is at the house. If for example the council turn main pressure on at the street, there is no one home, and plumbing is damaged in the walls, further water damage could result. So the red mains tap may have to be turned on again if you re enter the property. Also asked him to check electricity, and sewage, as best he can. G.N.
We contact Tenancy services to see what was to happen in this situation, we were told that the Landlord had a responsibly to help us removed the silt, as he was oversea's he should consider compensating us. He should also decrease the rent as housing corp had as the property did not have full facilities
Our Response 25th Feb
Hi G
We went back to the property today and cleared the silt out of the driveway so we now have safer access into the property, please just send whatever you think is adaquate payment for this work took us over 5 hours to move it all.
Orion are working hard to install power back to the street, the needed to pull down more of the LWR building to make it safe, they are hoping it is back tonight, so we will return in the morning to check.
There has been no news on the water supply.
We called tenancy services and they have said that we all need to refer to section 59 of the residentaual tenancy act, regarding the rent, and cleaning up of the property.
I'm not sure if you wish to wait for the property agent to discuss a resonable rent reduction or if your own lawyers and insurance have advised you of what is resonable for this period of time when the house doesn't not access to all adminaties.
We are staying else where while there is no power and water. as we cannot clean floors where food and soil is spilt and we don't wish to trapes it into the carpet.
We took a spirit level through the house and it confirmed that the house is on a slight lean away from the river, the section of the deck near the house and the steps leading down to it sent the level bubble as hard to the side as it could go.
We still have not seen any new cracks in the house.
The council are sending teams around to locate water mains another team comes along to turn them off and on so they can locate leaks and blockages.
The EQC people doing the rounds have been, they are only checking that you have a roof and all the walls, they are not engineers and cannot comment on the lean at this time.
look forward to hearing from you soon
Regards Vanilla Bean
Landlord response 26th Feb:
Hi, thanks for your email, thanks for the work you and k have done on the driveway. I will post a cheque for $250 on monday made out to Vanilla Bean If you can purchase an invoice book, and receipt book, you may have these already if you have a small business, and write me an invoice perhaps along the lines of: To G N, [address] St, K & N enterprises, Silt removal. As and when you can you can get this invoice to the property agent, when the cheque clears in the bank, send her a reciept for the paid money in the invoice. I will post the cheque to [insert address]l St. If you prefer an alternative address for posting let me know via email before Monday.
I will have a look at section 59 over the weekend, and as I can discuss the issues you have raised with the agency.
As you have all come through quite a bit, continue to take care of yourselves, and keep an eye out for any potential hazards around the property, particularly anything that might fall. I hope all the beams at the west end of the house look stable and have kept a measure of their strength.
I expect you have been speaking with Neighbours B, G etc, and are supporting each other through this time.
I will mention the Red Mains tap by the front door, and electrical mains switch both need to be turned off if the house is left alone for any length of time.
Will send a copy of this to Leanna to keep her informed, etc. Thanks again, keep writing if there is anything you want to discuss.
Sincerely, G
Next email
Hi, I transfered $250 (Australian dollars) to your account today so it should show up over the next few days or so. With regard to Sec 59, I will attempt to contact H on Monday, raise the issue with them and try and get some ideas on what is the best way to go with the situation. The reinstatement of power, water, phone is a bit of an unknown might come together quickly could take longer. If any digging or repair work is proposed on the drive way, sewer line, services etc, could you let me know as soon as possible, in particular see if you can obtain a cell phone number off any work crew, inspectors, engineers etc that might show up.
I have ... as your cell phone. May I forward this number to H, and EQC, so they can contact you as necessary?
I am hoping that services inside the house will be o.k., as and when the external services start functioning again.
Let me know via email if the transfer doesn't show up in your account. Sincerely, G
