On one occasion, the toilet backfilled to the point of overflowing onto the bathroom floor.<\/p>\n
Christian Lamdin, Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator, wrote in a decision in April that the breach of the landlord\u2019s obligation to maintain the premises was \u201cat the most serious end of the scale\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be possible that the problem could be managed with a high level of maintenance, but in the three and a half years of this tenancy, the landlord has shown they are not capable of doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tenant said that he contacted the landlord multiple times about the toilet and septic tank. Plumbers had been sent out to try and fix the problem, but \u201cnone of the work has provided a lasting solution\u201d.<\/p>\n
Two of the tenants\u2019 claims were found to be proven \u2013 the toilet and septic tank not functioning, and a pathway not being reinstated after plumbing work had been carried out. <\/p>\n
Lamdin wrote that exemplary damages were appropriate due to the length and seriousness of the breaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe landlord has to all intents and purposes, failed to adequately address a serious problem for three years and nine months. <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving to repeatedly complain to a landlord about the same issue is tiresome and erodes goodwill in a tenant\/landlord relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tribunal ordered that by May 2026, the septic tank would be replaced and the toilet would need to be fixed. If the work isn\u2019t completed, the landlord must pay the tenant $50,000 to undertake the work.<\/p>\n
Lamdin also ordered the landlord to repair a broken bathroom heater and washing machine, but did not find the breaches significant enough to warrant exemplary damages.<\/p>\n
Other claims made by the tenant were dismissed as unproven \u2013 being overcharged for power, breach of private enjoyment, blinds not being installed, discrimination against the tenant and issues with a rainwater catchment.<\/p>\n
The tenant was awarded $1440 in compensation for the unreliable toilet and $1800 for the landlord\u2019s failure to maintain the toilet and path.<\/p>\n
The landlord successfully claimed that the tenant owed rent arrears following their refusal to pay a rent increase. Lamdin ordered the tenant to pay the landlord $929.29.<\/p>\n
The property was managed by Lizzie Te Rongopatai of real estate company The Agency.<\/p>\n
Te Rongopatai declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On one occasion, the toilet backfilled to the point of overflowing onto the bathroom floor. Christian Lamdin, Tenancy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[246864,246865,74,95,1558,13912,6130,12506,10054,130,111,139,69,19719,245112,213,14931,10050,131,1529,29889,6202,102,1530],"class_list":["post-492747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-246864","tag-246865","tag-after","tag-and","tag-been","tag-broken","tag-failing","tag-gisborne","tag-landlord","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ordered","tag-septic","tag-sports","tag-tank","tag-tenant","tag-than","tag-three","tag-toilet","tag-wins","tag-with","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}