NZ’s worst landlord still at it

The Herald reports:

A tenant who installed a security system at her home to protect her and her daughters from gang-affiliated neighbours said her landlord, the Government, did nothing to help her.

The woman claimed two rival gangs who shared a driveway with her were involved in a stabbing, someone being hit with a car, wild parties, and caused rat infestations from endless amounts of rubbish.

Eventually, her friends and family stopped visiting because of the intimidating neighbours and she became depressed and anxious.

Now, she’s been awarded more than $3000 in a recently released Tenancy Tribunal decision.

This is example no 1,827 of what happens when you no longer have consequences for terrible behaviour from tenants.

Decent law abiding tenants should not live in fear because of Government policy that vicious criminals can terrorise the neighbourhood without being evicted.

Kāinga Ora produced written notes showing the tenant complained on four occasions, although she claimed to have complained more than this, but it did not issue a 14-day notice for the neighbouring tenants.

A 14-day notice can be served if a tenant or landlord breaches the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, meaning they have 14 days to fix the breach.

Incredible. They really are the worse landlords in the country.

“Given the nature of the complaints that Kāinga Ora has recorded which refer to family harm, drugs, gang activity and intimidation, it would be reasonable to expect a landlord to take the matter seriously,” adjudicator Tracey Lee-Lewis said.

But Kainga Ora doesn’t care if it loses in the Tenancy Tribunal, because it is effectively us taxpayers who pay the fine – not the directors or senior management of Kainga Ora.