Covid 19 coronavirus: Tenant booted out of home during lockdown following Tenancy Tribunal order

Tenants who offered drugs to workers, abused others, played music excessively loud and broke Covid-19 laws were kicked out of their home during the lockdown.

The landlord of the New Plymouth property wanted the tenant gone after numerous reports and a warning, before taking up the issue with the Tenancy Tribunal.

Seeking termination on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, the adjudicator ordered the tenant out despite their denial of the evidence provided by three people.

The tenancy was terminated and possession was granted back to the landlord at 11.59pm on April 25 - Anzac Day.

The adjudicator, R Woodhouse, accepted the tenant would be impacted by the termination but they could not find a reason not to terminate the tenancy.

During the coronavirus response, the Government had put restrictions in regards to the grounds the tribunal could order the termination of a tenancy.

However, it allowed anti-social behaviour to be a ground in which termination could be approved under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Evidence supporting the landlord's claim was based on three statements:

1) A workman attended the property multiple times and had been offered cannabis while they worked or afterwards. They had also seen drug use "on the range" which had damaged it.

2) A local wrote an email to the landlord saying the tenant had been vandalising the property by graffitiing the fence and lighting fires in the yard. They also claimed the tenant played music very loudly day and night and verbally abused passers-by on the footpath. They also alleged the tenant broke lockdown rules by associating with different groups of people.

3) A neighbour of the property also said there was loud music played - so loudly it could be heard 200m away during lockdown - by the tenant and police constantly visited the address. They claimed there was also fighting and screaming at the property and also backed up claims the tenant abused passing-by traffic.

The landlord also wrote a warning to the tenant on January 14, 2020, complaints had been received about them. The landlord also reminded the tenants of their legal obligations to their neighbours.

Based on the three statements, the tenancy adjudicator R Woodhouse deemed there was enough evidence of anti-social behaviour to terminate the tenancy.

"While the tenant disputes all of the allegations, I accept it is likely the allegations are truthful," the adjudicator said in their decision.

"The tenant has not established any reason why the three statement writers would not be lying in their respective statements.

"There is also the warning provided in January 2020, which is consistent with the more recent allegations."

Woodhouse did not consider it unfair to terminate the tenancy following the circumstances which arose or that the landlord acted any retaliatory way.

"I accept there will be an impact to the tenant from this termination, but cannot find that circumstance outweighs the landlords right to have the tenancy terminated given the anti-social behaviour that has occurred in this case."