Landlord forced to pay $9900 to tenants over unlivable conditions

Two Auckland tenants are to receive $9900 after they took their landlord to court over uninhabitable living conditions.

Ting Xiao and Zheng Zhao had recently immigrated to New Zealand from China.

Stella Ren, a property manager, became involved with the pair after she said she felt sorry for them.

The Auckland landlord, Shiyu Dong, must immediately pay the pair $9904.48, which was calculated between six categories, including compensation of $6050 for mouldy and damp living conditions linked to the guttering which allowed water to leak into the walls.

A quote from Johnson Roofing in 2019 stated, "Please note, existing gutters are falling the wrong way causing them to hold water and leak."

The tenants' children ultimately became unwell with the flu and had rashes while living in the damp and mouldy house.

Mould was first spotted in 2019 and the tenants said that despite telling the landlord, no issues were addressed.

Mould was found in all six rooms in the house. Photo / 123RF

Ren called the house "uninhabitable", providing routine inspection documents which noted a whole wall in one of the bedrooms was "full of mould" and growing mould could be seen on a wall in the living room.

Dong was also ordered to pay the tenants a total of $2500 in exemplary damages, including $300 for failing to make an insulation statement, something that is required in a tenancy agreement.

The rent was also reduced by 3 per cent after it was found the deck was in need of repair as cracked boards had caused jagged edges that stuck out, causing risk of injury.

The landlord had lost the key for the front door which caused great inconvenience for the tenants as they could not enter their front door if they had locked it from the outside.

The tenants also claimed the landlord interfered with their privacy due to having cameras in the house.

However, this was dismissed as the tenants were told the cameras did not work and there is no evidence that they did work.