NZ Landlord Documents and Templates: Everything You Need

When I became a landlord in New Zealand in 2019, one of the first things I realised was that nobody hands you a checklist. You find out what documents you need the hard way: a tenant asks for a rent receipt you have never provided, or you try to file a Tenancy Tribunal application and discover you need records you have not kept. I have assembled the full list here so you do not have to find out the hard way.

These are the ten documents and templates every NZ landlord needs. For each one I have noted what it is, when you need it, and whether RentManager generates it for you automatically.

1. Tenancy agreement

The tenancy agreement is the legal contract between you and your tenant. It sets out the property address, the rent and when it is due, the bond amount, the start date, whether the tenancy is fixed-term or periodic, and any specific conditions (pets, smoking, parking).

You do not have to use the MBIE standard form, but it is strongly recommended. The Tenancy Services standard form is available at tenancy.govt.nz and covers all the required clauses. Using a non-standard agreement introduces the risk that you omit something required by the Residential Tenancies Act or include a clause that is unenforceable.

RentManager generates a tenancy agreement from your property and tenant details. Both parties can sign it digitally without printing anything.

2. Tenant application form

Before you offer a tenancy, you need a record of who you considered and why you chose the person you did. A structured application form captures the applicant's details, employment, rental history, references, and their written consent for credit checks and reference calls.

There is no government-mandated form. You design it yourself, or use RentManager's online application process, which sends every applicant through the same structured flow. See our full guide on the NZ tenancy application form for what to include and what to leave out under the Privacy Act.

RentManager captures applications online and stores them against the property, so you have a full record of who applied and what was said.

3. Bond lodgement and refund forms

If you take a bond, you must lodge it with Tenancy Services within 23 working days of receiving it. A bond for a residential tenancy cannot exceed four weeks rent. From 1 December 2025, you can also take a pet bond of up to two weeks rent per pet.

Lodgement is done through the MBIE bond portal online or by paper form. The system generates a bond number that you give to the tenant as their receipt. At the end of the tenancy, you agree on the refund with the tenant and apply through the same portal. If you cannot agree, either party can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to decide.

RentManager tracks the bond for each tenancy and links the MBIE bond reference to the tenancy record, so you have the full trail in one place.

4. 14-day notice to remedy (breach)

When a tenant breaches the tenancy agreement - other than by non-payment of rent, which has its own process - you can serve a 14-day notice to remedy the breach. Common examples include keeping a pet without permission, causing damage, or failing to keep the property reasonably clean.

The notice must describe the breach, state what the tenant needs to do to remedy it, and give them 14 days to comply. It must be served in a valid way: in person, by post, or by email if the tenancy agreement allows email service.

Tenancy Services has a standard form. RentManager does not currently generate this notice automatically, but the rent ledger and tenancy record give you the foundation you need to complete the Tenancy Services form quickly.

5. Notice of overdue rent

When rent is overdue, you should put a written record in place from the beginning. The Notice of overdue rent is a specific document that records the amount overdue and the dates it relates to. It is one of the documents that feeds the three-notices-in-90-days route to the Tenancy Tribunal for persistent late payment.

The notice must state the amount of overdue rent, the dates, the tenant's right to challenge it at the Tribunal, and how many such notices you have already given for this tenancy. This is different from the 14-day notice to remedy, which is a separate document.

RentManager shows the arrears figure and the payment history. Exporting the arrears schedule gives you the core information you need to complete a Notice of overdue rent correctly. See our guide on the NZ rent arrears process for the full process.

6. Rent increase notice

Before you increase the rent, you must give the tenant at least 60 days written notice under section 24 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Rent can only be increased once every 12 months. The notice must state the new rent amount and the date it takes effect.

A verbal notice of a rent increase is not valid. The notice must be in writing and served correctly. Keep a copy and a record of how and when it was served.

RentManager generates rent increase notices from the tenancy record and lets you record the notice date and effective date, so the arrears calculation stays accurate from the new rate date.

7. Entry notice for inspections

Before entering the property to conduct a routine inspection, you must give the tenant at least 48 hours written notice. The notice cannot be given more than 14 days in advance. Inspections must take place between 8am and 7pm. You can inspect a maximum of once every four weeks.

The notice should state when you intend to inspect and why. A simple written message sent by text or email with the date and time satisfies this, provided the tenancy agreement accepts email or text as valid notice.

RentManager has an inspection scheduling tool that tracks when you last inspected each property and when the next inspection is due, keeping you on the right side of the four-week limit.

8. Property inspection report

The property inspection report records the condition of the property at a point in time. The most important inspection is the one at the start of the tenancy: a detailed, room-by-room record of the condition of every surface, fixture, and fitting, with photos. This is your baseline. At the end of the tenancy, you compare the final condition to this baseline to determine whether any damage goes beyond fair wear and tear.

Without a proper ingoing inspection report and photos, you will struggle to claim for any damage at the end of the tenancy. The tenant can simply say "it was already like that." The inspection report is your evidence.

RentManager's inspection tool lets you complete room-by-room condition records with photos attached, timestamped and stored against the tenancy. At the end of the tenancy, you have a complete record ready for comparison or, if needed, for the Tenancy Tribunal.

9. Rent receipts and rent records

Tenants can request a written receipt for any rent payment. More broadly, you are expected to be able to produce a rent ledger showing what was due and what was paid for any period of the tenancy. For tax purposes, you need records of all rental income and expenses for each property.

For Tribunal applications, the arrears schedule (showing expected rent, payments received, and the running balance per period) is the key document. An adjudicator will ask for this and will look closely at whether the figures add up.

RentManager maintains a real-time rent ledger for every tenancy, matched against your bank transactions. The arrears schedule export is in the format a Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator expects.

10. Healthy Homes compliance statement

When entering any new tenancy agreement or renewing an existing one, you must provide the tenant with a statement of your Healthy Homes compliance. This covers heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping. The statement confirms which standards are met and any outstanding work.

This is a legal requirement since the Healthy Homes Standards compliance deadlines came into force. Providing a false or incomplete statement is a breach of the Act.

RentManager's Healthy Homes dashboard lets you record the compliance status of each standard for each property, and generates the compliance statement you attach to the tenancy agreement.

Keeping everything in one place

The thing I found hardest when I started was not knowing what document I needed when. A tenant would leave and I would be hunting through emails for the inspection photos. A Tribunal hearing would come up and I would be reassembling records from three different places.

RentManager keeps the tenancy agreement, application record, inspection reports, rent ledger, and compliance documents all in one place, linked to the tenancy they belong to. When you need anything - at a hearing, for tax, or to answer a tenant question - it is all there. You can see how the document store works in the live demo without creating an account.