They said their landlords, Wenqian An (known as Alan) and Yanchao Sun, ignored requests to fix the home and that wastewater from the bathroom sink and shower drained directly onto the soil beneath the house.
“This period represents one of the lowest points of my life thus far. The impact on our family was not simply inconvenience — it was demoralising, destabilising, and deeply damaging,” the letter read.
Now, tribunal adjudicator Robert Kee has ordered the landlords to pay the tenants $31,786.65 for loss of amenity, emotional harm, and costs incurred by the tenants for fees and reports obtained during the tenancy.
According to the tribunal’s recent decision on the case, the tenants and their children moved into the home in December 2018 and remained there until November 7, 2023.
The landlords purchased the property in March 2020 and took over management of the tenancy themselves. The property was previously managed by Barfoot & Thompson.
“The landlords regarded their purchase as an investment or development opportunity and showed little desire to preserve the house for the long run or substantially improve it,” Kee said in his decision.
On April 16, 2021, the tenants, through a relative, emailed their new landlord, An, about maintenance they said “did not happen” before An and Sun bought the house.
This included buzzing ceiling lights, damp and cold bedrooms, and a gas fire heater which needed repair.
The landlords made partial repairs but did not address the more fundamental problems, including the cold and damp bedrooms.
They were required to comply with the Healthy Homes Standards by August 14, 2022.
However, they failed to do so, breaching standards for ventilation, drainage and moisture ingress, and draught stopping.
The failures included not ensuring the kitchen or bathroom had extractor fans vented to the outside, failing to repair the bathroom vanity, bath and shower drains that discharged directly onto the ground beneath the house, and failing to install a ground moisture barrier.
This allowed moisture to remain trapped beneath the home and contribute to damp conditions inside.
Over the following year, the house deteriorated further.
It reached a tipping point in August 2023 when the tenants and their children began sleeping in the living room to avoid damp, water ingress, mould and draughts in the bedrooms.
The tenants told the tribunal many of their belongings had been ruined by mould and damaged beyond repair.
“I am satisfied that the landlords failed to maintain the premises in significant ways,” Kee said.
The tenants also claimed the property was an unlawful residential premises, but Kee rejected that argument, finding there was no evidence it was unlawful.
According to realestate.co.nz, the property sold for $1.6 million in July 2026.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.
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