The housing crisis has a waiting room
What happens to a tenancy problem while everyone waits—and why that time belongs in the housing conversation.
Read the reflection Published · 4 September issue · 4 min readFIELD NOTES · AVA SANCHEZ NEAL
A home. A problem.
A way through.
Reflections for tenants, landlords and property managers on homes, fairness and making it easier to put things right.
SIGNATURE ESSAY · 7 SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Pets, permission and the cost of getting stuck
New Zealand has changed the law. The next test is whether tenants, landlords and property managers can make it work.
Read the editorial Ava Sanchez Neal · Published online 7 September 2026 · 14 min readSeptember collection: issue dates organise the series. Each article records its online publication date. Follow the RSS feed →
Before we blame the chatbot, look at the queue
Why people turn to AI for help with tenancy problems—and the standard that useful technology should meet.
Read the reflection Published · 5 September issue · 4 min readA repair request should not need a project manager
A practical picture of tenancy support that remembers the problem, carries the work and checks what happened.
Read the reflection Published · 6 September issue · 3 min readNotes from building The AdvoCat
Why pet consent is the first full pilot
Pet consent is bounded enough to test an entire journey and real enough that the result matters. Both people have legitimate interests, the response has a defined timeframe, proposed conditions can change the outcome, and any final record must reflect an actual human decision. The pilot is not evidence that pets define the tenancy market; it is a disciplined place to learn.
Read the full explanation →A second pair of eyes before you send
People already use general-purpose AI to draft notices, letters, evidence summaries and Tribunal material. The useful response is not to shame that choice. It is to check what the person is about to rely on: factual claims, missing evidence, invented or unsupported legal propositions, remedy, tone, procedural fit and deadlines. AdvoCat’s Alpha demonstrates this tenancy-specific review without claiming that automation replaces professional judgment.
Try the demonstration →Start with what happened
People rarely begin with “I need tenancy dispute resolution.” They ask: “Is this allowed?”, “What can I do?”, “Can they make me pay or leave?”, “How do I prove it?” or “Can someone help me deal with this?” The product should understand those jobs before asking the person to choose a legal category or process.
Tell AdvoCat what happened →