"Scumlord"

[SueDonim]

My whole point is that we don't know how he is behaving. Stuff doesn't present a balanced view and I gave an example of how the "story" presented might have panned out in reality. He might be a bad landlord. Or he might be someone who is working through what he needs to do on the houses and leaving the sitting tenants on cheap rent in the houses that haven't been brought up to standard. If he was flagrantly ignoring the legal requirements he would have had a lot more fines than the few that are quoted. Like I said above, the insulation needs to have been completed by now, but most of the rest of the stuff can stay as is until next July unless the tenant changes. So he can work on one house at a time as the tenants turn over, and the sitting tenants can benefit from cheap rent in the meantime.

The two months without consistent hot water is somewhat suggestive...

What does "consistent" mean? Stuff doesn't tell us.
To what extent did it not work? Off once a month, once a week or once a day? Stuff doesn't tell us.
What did the landlord do when the problem was reported? Contact a tradesman? Did the tradesman come in a timely fashion or was the landlord also a victim of being messed about?
And so on.

My main point at the outset is about taking articles like these with a huge grain of salt. Did Stuff make any attempt to provide the other side of the story? Did Stuff seek out the evidence to ensure that what they were printing was factual? This forum has had a lot of discussion about critical analysis of what can be read online. The concepts don't just apply to CTs on the fringe. People need to learn to be critical and check whatever they read if they are going to give credence to it.

---

Perhaps we should simply address the issue with a few new laws to prevent exploitation.

There are some excellent landlords out there  doing the best they can in difficult times & any new measures needn't affect them - just the absolute ratbag landlords.

The last thing we need is new laws. So much of today's problems have come about because there were too many new laws that have caused price hikes and rental shortages as owners have coped with the expenses that were thrown at them. Ratbag landlords are already taken care of through the Tenancy Tribunal.

The "woe is me" stories you see in the press always have another side. Look up the evidence on some and you may find a totally different perspective.

---

Lawmakers need to take into account the views of various different stakeholders and are legally required to make the best decisions for all, not just a single stakeholder...  The entitlement clearly comes from not wanting to accept the decisions and policies of aforementioned lawmakers, basically thinking they know better.  But as I alluded to, the big picture is where the lawmakers work.  I know though, it is difficult to accept if they don't take on board your perspective.

Yes, the lawmakers are required to make the best decisions for all, and that is where they fail so woefully. The vocal idiocy get listened to, the professionals who put forward quality best practice evidence and technical detail get ignored so legislation gets passed that ends up costing everyone unnecessarily.