Jannu Rental Management is a Christchurch based rental management company located at 359 Riccarton road, run by a woman named Debbie who has had over 10 years experience in the field of property management.
On the Jannu rental website they state "Why do you need a property manager?", these questions are aimed at landlords and are designed to show Jannu's expertise in the field of property management. I'd like to go over some of these questions and contrast them with Jannu. (http://www.jannu.co.nz/owners/index.php?id=1)
Are your tenants able to contact you at any time if there is a problem at the property? There may be a burst pipe, or a fire. You need to be available!
You are right tenants should be able to contact you at any time however this is not possible with Jannu, this is caused by a lack of respect of "student" tenants, where they are always in the wrong no matter the situation, treated more like children rather than adults when events like the above occur. This continues on even when you have a simple question for Jannu, instantly they assume you are trying to undermine them or take authority and argue back even at the simplest of questions, they always have the "right" answer.
Do you know how to correctly complete a Tenancy Agreement if there is more than one tenant and the procedure if those tenants change during the term of the tenancy?
I don't doubt Jannu's ability to make these changes in the correct ways, however Jannu does not want them to happen, it causes to much stress and work at their end and after 1 change they basically say that you are now not allowed to change any more members of the given flat.
Do you understand the mediation and Tribunal process including the filing of all necessary documentation and ancillary applications needed?
Debbie understands mediation and Tribunal processes very well indeed. She's well versed on any laws related to Tenancy agreements and uses them as a bargaining mechanism, often making vague references to "The Law" to intimidate residents. If a tenant makes any reference to their rights, Debbie will eagerly assert her vague "background in law" and her "never losing in court". She will use all her rights as a property manager to inconvenience tenants and threaten them with mediation or eviction even if they have done nothing wrong.
A little about the owner of Jannu Rental Management, Debbie:
As a manager of student property, Debbie is stringent to the point of absurdity. Tenants should keep their house reasonably clean - that's understandable. Some of the things Debbie will complain about when inspecting properties are just plain ridiculous. Here's a few hypothetical examples which are vaguely related to actual examples (so as not to reveal facts about my tenancy with Jannu).
- Don't keep items on a certain shelf - it might make the paint flake off.
- Keep your windows open so rooms don't get too damp - a pretty dumb request considering the room in question might be right next to a busy road.
- You must be up out of bed when Jannu inspects your property - despite the fact that you're a student, and it's early morning on a Friday. This is not only farcical, it's completely unreasonable - the Department of Building and Housing say a landlord cannot request a tenant to be doing anything or not doing anything, and they certainly can't inconvenience the tenant by refusing to inspect the house when someone is in bed and inspect again the next week.
Although I've said a lot about Jannu's professional side, I must mention personality. Debbie will threaten a tenancy's continuation if she has a personal bias toward any members of the flat. It's very easy to get on her bad side and very difficult to change her opinion about someone she's set on disliking. In this way, Debbie is rude, immature and unprofessional.
I'm not alone in my dislike of Jannu: http://www.finda.co.nz/business/listing/52lz/jannu-rental-management/#
Or alternatively search "Jannu" under organisation on: http://www.tenancytribunal.govt.nz/
to have a look at Debbie's tenancy tribunal appearances.
Comments and support would be appreciated on your experiences with Jannu Rental Management. Peace.
14 comments:
My advice; Do not rent from jannu, its not worth it. Her flats are overpriced compared to most others and she will gladly rip 1st year students of; in this case by showing us 2 terrible flats ages away from uni before showing you the slightly better (but still small, overpriced, and dingy) flat we signed up for. Then before we signed the lease my flatmate began to ask her a simple question regarding who is responsible if things break, and debbie snapped back "if you want to take me to court then do, I'll warn you now, I never lose in court".
She acts like a petty teenager, and will argue with anyone who doesn't share her beliefs - may be her aim in life was to be some sort of counseller but because of her stupidy and high level of belief that she is ALWAYS RIGHT she failed at that, so had to surcumb to being a property manager where she could fulfill her urge to talk to people like they are utter morons. DO NOT RENT FROM JANNU. If you already have, try your best to deal with Kristin her relation, she is vastly more agreeable even if she is related debbie.
I gotta say, these comments totally reflect my experience too. Just extremely unprofessional, seems like she has one hell of an axe to grind.
Debbie Rochford at Jannu: unprofessional, obnoxious and extremely hard to deal with. Avoid avoid avoid.
Thanks for the blog!
If I didn't need one hand to type I would be offering a standing ovation to the creator of this blog right now.
I agree 100% - avoid Jannu. No matter how nice the house is, it's not worth it if you have to deal with Debbie.
We had similar comments said to us after property inspections. One (we framed the letter) said that although in general we were taking good care of the property she ''couldn't help but notice there was dust on the windowsill in the lounge''.
When I suggested to her that this was a little over the top she looked me up and down and said: "I can tell you don't have very high standards''.
Not only is she unprofessional and rude, she is unable to communicate without shouting or talking over the top of you like Suzanne Paul on some sort of mind-altering substance.
AVOID AVOID AVOID
Everything that is listed in my comment is simply my own personal opinion of which I do not claim to be based on fact.
I have had similar issues with Jannu. I truly wish I could have read this blog prior to signing up to the flat, but as you already stated she is happy to rip off and bully 1st year flatters. This blog is great; I hope all students can read this so that they can properly prepare themselves before dealing with Jannu if they choose to.
While you can contact Jannu at any time as they list on their website you better have a good reason to. Unless something is life threatening Jannu will be very reluctant to fix any issues and will blame you regardless of what happened. If something could be life threatening then they will claim it is fine unless you really push them to do something about it. In such a situation you will forever be treated like shit by Jannu. Moreover approximately 2/3’s the way through your tenancy Jannu will offer you the flat for the following year. If you decline, often due to her disgusting treatment of you throughout the first 2/3’s of your tenancy, then unless you rent with Jannu in a different flat for the following year you will be targeted worse than before as she hunts for any excuse to take bond from you as she will think of you as simply a lost tenant.
I totally agree that her attitude seems to be that students always wrong and she is always right. From my own experiences with her there were several occasions where she would literally present something to me as complete fact which I knew was wrong before arguing with me because gave her the actual fact, once she left I googled the subject and funnily enough she was wrong.
Jannu’s knowledge of ‘the law’ seems to be flakey. By checking the tenancy tribunal website I came across a situation where she tried to argue to the adjudicator that her client, not a party to the tenancy contract, would be affected by the contracts failure. I think the technical term for this kind of argument in contract law is termed a “rookie mistake”. Jannu is well trained at bullying tenants into using the smallest sliver of her rights as landlord to annoy tenants. Jannu’s ability to order continuous reinspections of the property for the smallest reasons a normal person could dream up is legendary.
Ordering reinspections for items such as: dusty windowsills, rubbish (a clean, empty wooden box, not rubbish to us) by the backdoor, curtains were slightly crinkled, car tyre mark on the lawn, food scraps on the bench (regardless as to whether the inspection was at lunch time and a tenant was preparing a meal), a small splatter on the inside of the oven, sink was not perfectly clean (again regardless as to the time of inspection), storing things on window sills is a no-no as it will damage them (e.g a plastic bottle), rooms need to be vacuumed more often (despite them being clean when inspected, using her impressive psychic powers she determined that we had not been vacuuming it weekly without us saying anything), rooms are too messy and lots of clothes were on the beds (see my comments on her flakey knowledge of the law ).
Debbie is absurd. She is one of those bad things that happens to good people. The items she complained about that I left out so as to prevent myself from being identified were ridiculous, we have likewise framed some of her classic letters. Debbie would snap at people constantly for no reason. If you do not agree with what she is telling you she will repeat herself louder and louder until you simply walk away, either because she is so annoying, the potential ear damage or because you don’t want to laugh directly in her face.
Everything that is listed in my comment is simply my own personal opinion of which I do not claim to be based on fact.
Despite complaining about being so busy at every single inspection she will still send several page letters outlining her personal concerns and feelings as to the condition of the property and then reinspect. Because it is easier to see her twice in two weeks and then have six weeks without her dropping by I quickly learned it is easier to let her reinspect than it is to argue and have her turn up every four weeks. Debbie is petty and vindictive.
I implore any students out there to book a viewing with Debbie to go through a flat. You will never be the same again. If the only thing you learn at Canterbury is that there are actually people like Debbie out there then your 3-5years at the Uni are well worth it. Don’t talk to Kristin, she seems fairly normal, albeit after dealing with Debbie anyone could seem normal. Please please please go meet Debbie. You will have a great story to tell, trust me.
For those who are currently tenants of Jannu, I’m sorry. Maybe you should get a bunch of Christmas chocolate advent calendars so you can count down the days with some joy?
I applied for a property with Janno but luckily something else came up and I did not end up having to rent from Debbie.
During the application process I was lucky enough to see another side of Debbie that actually concerned me. The information disclosed in the other comments within this blog page certainly echo's my (all be it) brief experience with Jannu. She enjoys conflict and has the potential to be unreasonable to an extreme degree. I am not exaggerating.
If I had of read this blog, reviewed the reports on the tenancy tribunal website, and even her trade me feedback, I would not have bothered applying.
I know its a tough market for renters in Chch at the moment - but if you are reading this, my advice is to consider all options before proceeding with an application through Jannu.
In the end I went to a professional property manager (a proper one) and the whole process of applying for a rental was easy and painless. I now have a great rental and a manager that can be reasoned with and communicated to.
My brief experience with Jannu compelled me to add to this blog.
Beware Chch.
Having problems with Debbie Harding at the moment. Wanted bond paid before signing of tenancy agreement contrary to what was written in original contract signed when holding fee was paid i.e. bond paid when agreement signed. Still chasing refund of holding fee. Sounds like a lucky escape.
Debbie is horrific to deal with, absolutely no manners right from day one and very intrusive in her inspections. My house is meticulous yet she always seemed to find some fantasy reason to complain, even if it meant rummaging through your cupboards to find one. You find out these "reasons" for re-inspection via mail too, she would never actually speak TO you about it like you were a person.
Neglects the house, not a cent was spent in 3 years that wasn't urgent repair work, then complains the place isn't in new condition, very unreasonable. Despite that, rent hikes of $40pw annually seemed justified to her.
Doesn't even have the courtesy to knock at the door or even greet you when she comes in. I remember sitting in my lounge, visible at the front sliding door, yet instead of knocking like a normal person she just used her master key and simply barged in, yapping on her headset and not even acknowledging us.
Luckily for me she messed up several times during my tenancy so it wasn't her threatening the disputes tribunal. If not for having something on her, for the first time I suspect I may have lost at least part of a bond. Up yours Debbie!!!
Debbie is the worst landlord I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. The flat group I was in had innumerable problems with her conduct and ability to fulfil her responsibilities as a landlord. The house was incredibly cold with a number of us getting ill throughout the tenancy. Compounding this was the leaking ceiling we had. We informed Debbie of this on numerous occasions and she did eventually get a contractor around to inspect. He said it would require scaffolding to be erected and significant (obviously costly) work to be done. She denied his report, refusing to fix the issue and telling us it was our fault for not heating the house enough. Other significant issues we had with Debbie included the continual inspections and re-inspections of our property which were very intrusive in nature. She always found reasons to reinspect the property citing issues such as 'fingerprint marks on the laundry door' and 'dust ontop of the heatpump'. Even on the occasion she told us we passed our inspection she sent an email later that day saying she had changed her mind and would be required to reinspect. A further issue which other people in this thread have duly noted is her confidence surrounding tenancy laws and the threats of 'taking you to the tribunal'. Ironically enough Debbie breached these very laws herself. She failed to send through our bond lodgement confirmation to the bond lodgement department and ceased contact with us when this presented significant issues, with reclaiming our bond. She was condescending in her dealings with us (calling us 'specials' on a number of occasions) and not speaking to us as if we were people. Ultimately, my recommendation and those of my flatmates would be to avoid Debbie. She cites inaccurate knowledge of tenancy laws and threatens you with this rhetoric, she denies issues and refuses to fix them, charges exorbitant rent for the quality of housing, will continually reinspect your property and if you ever call her out on anything (no matter how polite you are) you will somehow always end up in the wrong. Debbie is an atrocious landlord and should be avoided at all costs.
I must echo other comments posted above, Debra Harding or Debbie Harding or Rental Solutions is a bully, completely manipulative and a rip-off.
The place we rented from her was a water-damaged, mold infested, freezing cold dump. The roof leaked leaving large dark stains on the ceiling. Black mold appeared within one week of moving in, creeping through the recently painted outer walls, ceiling in the bathroom, recently pained window ledges. Over a three-year period I used about 6 bottles of exit mold just to contain it so that we could live in the house. Much of the wood in the house was cracked and moldy. Ultimately I ended up having to replace curtains, which were sure to be destroyed in such a damp and miserable place. When I asked Debra Harding to help with it, she said it was my responsibility to open the windows everyday all day and treat the mold, or "I could not renew my lease" (basically understood that as live with it or move).
She was the most difficult person I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I honestly think she must have some sort of narcissistic personality disorder the way she belittles and bullies people who disagree with her unreasonable requests. She will talk over you, use big legal terms to confuse or bewilder, threaten you to not renew your lease, threaten you that you will owe her money, etc. Watch out - total scammer.
Other interesting points, Debbie Harding claimed she was the property manager, so whenever I made requests for general basic maintenance issues, she would deny because "the owner did not agree to doing xyz". It turns out she, her husband, and one other third party were actually the owners of the property. I considered her dishonesty to be highly unscrupulous, especially since we entered a legal agreement and she failed to disclose this important information beforehand. If she owned the property I lived in, there is a good chance she may own others in Christchurch.
Advice if Debbie Harding tries to make you commercially clean your carpets. This is completely unlawful, see: https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/breaches-of-the-residential-tenancies-act/unenforceable-clauses-in-tenancy-agreements/ and a breach of the tenancy act. It does not matter if any special clauses, such as "in consideration of", are written into your tenancy agreement, it is 100 % not enforceable. Debbie Harding will try to argue that she has won before at the tenancy tribunal, which is an outright lie, in fact if she were to go to tribunal over carpet cleaning clause she could face a fine as it is unlawful to put that into the agreement in the first place.
I feel really bad for any future tenants of Debbie. On the final day at the property, she sent her painter over to do some 'touch ups'. He showed me the email, which said, cover up the water stains on the ceiling and the moldy plaster coming down around the bathroom fan. The painter said he needed to plaster it first and then paint. I am sure it won't be too long before the mold grows through. Black mold can make you really sick, especially if you are immuno-compromised.
Bottom line: Debbra Harding, Debbie Harding, Rental Solutions, Janno, Jannu, whatever is a slumlord, who does not demonstrate any compassion or concern for the well-being of her tenants, who at some point are sure to encounter bullying and belittlement from Deb as well as negative health effects due to poor housing conditions.
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