COVID-19 commercial rent dispute service

Many commercial lease arrangements in New Zealand have been affected by COVID-19. Tenants may have been unable to pay their rent as their business was not fully operating. Landlords may have been unable to meet their mortgage payments.

A subsidised arbitration and mediation service will be available from late September 2020 to resolve commercial lease disputes arising from COVID-19.

The service will be available for six months, until the end of March 2021 and is for parties to commercial leases where at least one party is a small or medium enterprise. 

Use of the service will be voluntary. There will be no legislative change to the Property Law Act 2007.

More information is coming soon!

Further updates will be provided on a dedicated page on the Ministry of Justice website soon. The information will cover eligibility, funding and who to contact to access the services.

In the meantime, please continue to direct any questions to: Arbitration@justice.govt.nz

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