A group of tenants have been awarded more than $12,000 after living in a property with a cockroach infestation that was so bad the sound of the insects scuttling across the ceilings kept them up at night.
The tenants’ ordeal was detailed in a recently released Tenancy Tribunal decision.
The tribunal noted the six tenants first reported a cockroach issue when they viewed the $1300 per week property and decided to rent it.
They told the landlord — Pr Property Management Limited as agent for Bhavika Enterprises Lrd — about it, and it assured them that pest control would be called in to stop the infestation before their tenancy began.
The tribunal, however, noted: “The landlord claims it did undertake pest control prior to the tenancy commencing but could not produce any receipts to support this claim.”
A text message presented by the tenants showed that the house was treated after they moved in but it didn’t work, meaning the infestation continued.
After following up with the landlord and asking for pest control to come back, the tenants were told it could take two weeks for all the insects to die.
This did not happen and the issue started “getting worse”.
The group eventually took matters into their own hands, buying pest bombs. These temporarily controlled the infestation but the insects soon returned in “full force”.
The cockroaches were also blamed for two dishwashers breaking down, with one already broken at the start of the January 2023 tenancy.
The landlord arranged for a replacement which arrived more than three weeks later. It stopped working at the end of April 2023.
A technician the following month told the tenants there was a broken part in the dishwasher which had been caused by the cockroach infestation.
The landlord then purchased a new dishwasher in late July 2023. By the time it was installed, the tenants had been without a dishwasher for a further 15 weeks.
No further pest control was undertaken by the landlord despite the dishwasher being damaged by cockroaches.
“The tenants endured a severe cockroach infestation for the duration of their tenancy that interrupted their sleep at night from the sounds of them scuttling across the ceilings and caused issues with the dishwasher appliances,” the tribunal detailed.
“This ongoing infestation has also led to them having to have all their belongings decontaminated after their tenancy ended and before they could safely move their belongings into a new premise.”
Tribunal adjudicator Michelle Pollak did note the landlord produced a receipt for pest control services to carry out a cockroach treatment two weeks after the tenants’ tenancy ended.
The group also dealt with a broken stove for months before being asked to pay for a replacement.
When the tenants moved into the property, they said only one of five gas hobs was working, which made cooking difficult. They were also concerned about how safe it would be to cook on a faulty stove.
After asking the landlord to fix it, the tenants were told they would have to collect a new stove from a residential address and pay the seller $250.
The tenants refused to do this, and about a week later, the landlord dropped off a new stove. But when a technician arrived to install it, the stove was found to be the wrong size for the benchtop.
The broken stove had to be reinstalled, and the tenants waited about a month before they received a working replacement.
They were also threatened with eviction if they didn’t replace a toilet that the landlord claimed they had broken.
The tenants provided proof that the toilet was “old and that they did not carelessly or intentionally cause any damage to it”, the tribunal said.
“The tenants refused to pay the demanded costs as they maintained the house was around 20 years old and the toilet looked to be about the same age,” Pollak said.
“The crack was not because of any careless act or omission on their behalf, and they considered it to be fair wear and tear and a cost that should be borne by the landlord.”
In her decision, Pollak said the property manager had engaged in a “pattern of conduct” where it often tried to get the tenants to pay for costs and maintenance that were a landlord’s responsibility.
The landlord was also found to have “unlawfully” increased the rent to $1400 before a full year of the tenancy had passed.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, it is illegal to increase rent within 12 months of the start of a tenancy.
The tenants were awarded $12,640.68 in compensation and damages following the tribunal hearing.
The sum included $3642 for the broken stove, $4607 for the landlord’s failure to maintain the dishwasher, and $1128 for failing to control the cockroach infestation.