A landlord in Northland has agreed to pay his sister-in-law nearly $6000 after renting her a property described as being in a state of disrepair and unfit for human habitation.
At the Tenancy Tribunal, the man admitted that the dwelling, which sat empty on his property, was not intended to be a place someone could live in.
The woman lived in the dwelling between May 2021 and March 2024, and little maintenance was done over the course of her tenancy.
An investigation into the property was launched by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team in 2023 after it received a complaint from a social assistance provider’s employee.
The complainant believed the woman’s serious health issues were being made worse by the state of disrepair the property was in.
It also said the tenancy arrangement was supposed to be “temporary” while a more permanent cabin was built.
While visiting the property, investigators found numerous issues, including visible mould, a lack of underfloor insulation, and multiple holes in the walls.
There were damaged windows with rotten frames, signs of roof damage, visible vegetation on the gutters, and exposed cables outside the house, at the mercy of the weather.
The tenant told investigators the floor was “uneven” and that the lounge had flooded due to a cyclone.
On multiple occasions, the landlord was asked to complete maintenance work, but little was done.
“In one instance, on being advised there was a large gaping hole in the end room, the landlord said he told the tenant to close the door and not to use the room as a living space,” TCIT national manager Brett Wilson said.
The woman said she had a tenancy agreement but did not pay bond. The landlord did not carry out inspections and did not follow through on promises to fix the issues his sister-in-law had identified.
He admitted on more than one occasion the property was not fit for human habitation, TCIT said. The landlord said it had been sitting abandoned for a reason and was never intended for anyone to live in.
The landlord was taken to the Tenancy Tribunal, where he accepted he had made multiple breaches of tenancy law.
Those breaches included failing to state that he would comply with the healthy homes standards in the tenancy agreement, failing to insulate the property to the required standard, and failing to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.
Following successful mediation between the man and his sister-in-law, the tribunal adjudicator ordered the landlord to pay $5900 in exemplary damages to the tenant and reimbursement of the application filing fee.
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The landlord’s name was suppressed, with the adjudicator noting it had been a learning process for him and his family, and was not likely to happen again.
Wilson said it was a case which showed that under all circumstances, landlords must meet their obligations under the law, including maintenance.
“These obligations are not optional; they are a legal requirement. It is not an excuse for the landlord to say they had not intended to rent out the premises, the fact is they did and that means they have a responsibility to comply with the Act.”
