The quaint rural location of this cottage at Maunu, on the outskirts of Whangārei, appealed enough to the tenants that they stayed six years and wanted to stay longer. However, the landlord’s failure to maintain it made for damp and uncomfortable living. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The quaint rural location of this cottage at Maunu, on the outskirts of Whangārei, appealed enough to the tenants that they stayed six years and wanted to stay longer. However, the landlord’s failure to maintain it made for damp and uncomfortable living. Photo / Michael Cunningham
An overseas landlord has received a sharp warning from the Tenancy Tribunal that charging a low rent for an old property doesn’t cancel her legal duty to ensure the property’s habitability.
Shireen Sewgolam, a nursing lecturer at Federation University, Victoria, Australia, was ordered earlier this year to pay $30,721.72 compensation to Lynn Perkins, who rented an old property from her at 569 Cemetery Rd, Maunu, for about six years between October 2017 and September 2023.
While the property’s rural setting was picturesque, tribunal adjudicator Nicholas Blake said the tenant had “suffered a significant loss of amenity due to the landlord’s failure to maintain” it.
“Substantial compensation was appropriate,” Blake said, but stepped back from also imposing exemplary damages, saying he was “satisfied that an award of compensation served the purpose of compensating the tenants and imposing an appropriate detriment on the landlord”.
The case came to the Advocate’s attention recently when the tribunal published a notice correcting an administrative error in the original judgment.
However, the largest amount – $15,001.53 – was to reimburse the tenant for more than $20,000 she arranged to pay incrementally (by withholding and redirecting their rent) for a replacement septic tank system at the property.
The house was damp and mouldy. Carpet in the lounge and one of the bedrooms got wet from leaks during heavy rain.
Faltering foundations caused cracks that were visible inside and out. One in the lounge was so big, the tenant could see daylight through it. It was eventually fixed by one of their sons.
The laundry floor collapsed.
The heat source for the house – a pot belly stove – was unusable throughout the tenancy.
This Google Maps aerial view of 569 Cemetery Road, Maunu, shows the relative age of the red-roofed property in relation to a newer build across the road. Photo / Google maps
A friend of Sewgolam’s, Nadjen Potic – who leased other land from her – had effectively acted as her agent but often failed to pass on concerns about the property, which got progressively worse over the years, the tribunal was told.
The tenant often had to arrange for repairs and to pay for them themselves by withholding and redirecting their rent – an arrangement Sewgolam proposed herself in 2021 and about which she had previously been complicit. Sewgolam didn’t complain about it until after January 2023, when the tenant organised the replacement of the old septic tank system at a cost of $20,000.
The system had failed beyond repair in December 2022; the tenant initially making do with a portaloo while she tried repeatedly to contact Sewgolam about the serious and urgent work needed. Unable to reach her, the tenant organised the necessary work and had paid the contractor $8,400 towards the total cost of it before Sewgolam terminated the tenancy.
Disputing the claims against her, Sewgolam told the tribunal she’d never been informed about the leaks, dampness, mould or the problem with the wood burner. She was only made aware of the house’s structural problems in June, 2021, to which she responded by emailing the tenants, giving them the option to move out if they had health and safety concerns. She didn’t know about the septic system until March 2023 and it was unfair she was presented with a “very large cost as a fait accompli”.
The age and condition of the property was reflected in the rent she charged, which she hadn’t increased for the entire duration of the tenancy.
Frequently presented with invoices for repairs and maintenance work after it was done, Sewgolam said it denied her the chance to investigate the issues, choose her own tradespeople and manage the process. She had also potentially lost the chance to make an insurance claim and did not know if the work carried out was done to a proper and professional standard.
Cemetery Road, Maunu, is an idyllic rural location close to central Whangārei. Photo / Google
In his findings, tribunal adjudicator Nicholas Blake said while it was true Potic was an ineffective agent, the consequences of that lay with Sewgolam. If an agent was aware of issues, the landlord was deemed to be aware too.
The lesser rent charged didn’t absolve Sewgolam of her duty to maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.
Landlords couldn’t avoid maintenance obligations by suggesting, as Sewgolam had in her 2020 email, that the tenant move out.
It was the landlord’s responsibility to investigate the various problems and have them remedied. A good starting point would have been the wood burner, which would have at least enabled the tenant to heat and dry the house out.
Sewgolam’s decision to terminate the tenancy wasn’t “retaliatory“ but was unlawful, Blake said. Sewgolam had got things “precisely backwards” by wanting to get vacant possession of the house to assess the scope of work needed. A tenancy could only be terminated if there was substantial work to be done and the work could not be done with the tenant in situ. When she terminated the tenancy, Sewgolam had no idea what work would be needed.
Ending the tenancy inconvenienced the tenant “not least because it ended [her] ability to compel the landlord to reimburse for the septic replacement by way of withholding rent”, Blake said.
The landlord’s response: when contacted by the Advocate, Sewgolam claimed “an opportunity for compensation was taken full advantage of and was premeditated after refusal to sell our house to the tenant’s son”. There had been “minimal to no communication regarding repairs and maintenance” since 2021.
“This is so that the house would not be able to be sold unless at a significantly reduced price to them.
“We have learnt our lesson regarding goodwill and good intentions.”
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
