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A South Auckland solo mother says she is over $60,000 out of pocket after a verbal "rent to buy" agreement with her landlord went sour.
Philominna Akaruru has lived in her Buckland Rd, Mangere, home since 1999. In the first couple of years she had major renovations done - including building of a conservatory, a sleepout and a privacy wall, recarpeting, and cobbling the driveway - on the understanding she would eventually purchase the property from her landlords.
The cost of the renovations would be considered her deposit, with the $60,000-plus for the work coming as a gift from a family member.
However her landlords, Abdul and Tahera Patel, say they didn't know their tenant had planned the work, and deny there was an agreement to sell the house to her.
A caveat was placed on the property in August and the matter is now before the High Court.
"I fell in love with the place," Ms Akaruru said. "I took an interest in it and then started to do the renovations. But they [the Patels] were aware of it. They didn't tell me, 'Oh, don't do it.' They visited while the work was happening.
"They could have stopped me."
She said Mrs Patel and a relative even made the curtains for the sleepout, for which she paid them $600 cash. Ms Akaruru said Mrs Patel did not give her a receipt for the payment.
But the Patels, who own a total of eight properties in Auckland and Manukau City, say there was no agreement to sell.
They told Ms Akaruru she was not supposed to do work on the house without their permission, Abdul Patel said. "When we find out [about the renovations], she say don't worry, don't worry, because when I had a bad time you helped me."
Mr Patel said Ms Akaruru had got behind on the rent on several occasions, and they agreed to let her pay off the arrears over time.
"We've been helping out so many times. Now she stabs us in the back."
Ms Akaruru, a 51-year-old beneficiary, admitted she owed the Patels rent, and was currently paying them $400 a week - instead of $350 - to catch up.
But she is adamant the understanding had always been that she would eventually buy Buckland Rd.
She said in 2004, the Patels got two real estate agencies to appraise the four-bedroom house - who valued it at between $290,000 and $350,000 - and set up a meeting for her and her adult daughter with their mortgage broker.
"They asked us, how much have we got for a deposit? I said we've got nothing. They advised us then they were only going to give me $20,000 towards the deposit so therefore we would have to raise $30,000. I was dumbfounded."
Ms Akaruru said her daughter was horrified. "Her exact words were, 'Mum, bulldoze what you've put in."'
Mr Patel said Ms Akaruru came to them to buy the property, and when they told her what it was worth she "just walked out". He declined to discuss the dispute any further, saying it was a private matter.
