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A leaky-building victim is trying to stop his neighbours having him declared bankrupt over repairs to a large Parnell apartment block.
Wayne George Young successfully applied to the High Court at Auckland for an adjournment of a bankruptcy petition being brought by a group of residents in the block where he lives.
Three neighbours who are members of the block's body corporate committee and others involved in its design and development have applied to the High Court for summary judgment against Mr Young.
They want all the owners to share in the cost of repairs. Mr Young, however, refuses to pay because he objects to the way the matter has been handled.
If he is declared bankrupt, Mr Young may be forced to sell up.
The case has worried John Gray, head of the Leaky Homes Action Group, who said such action was extremely disturbing and he predicted a flood of other cases like it.
"This is really sad and will be the first of many other cases."
Apartment owners in multi-unit blocks often fought over repair payments, Mr Gray said, and other cases were pending where victims had filed notices against each other.
At the 16-unit Parnell block, initial repairs have been carried out and apartment owners were levied to contribute to a fund to pay for the fix-up. But more repairs are needed and owners are being levied again.
Mr Young has filed an affidavit opposing the group taking the action against him: "I believe it is inappropriate and unlawful for me to have been levied for the share of costs that relate to the proceedings."
In 1999, he bought a unit at the Waterford Apartments at 10 Ruskin St and was a member of the body corporate committee closely involved in representing owners as a group.
The block leaked, some members of the body corporate disagreed with each other and legal action ensued.
The defendants in Mr Young's case were developer Robert Holden of Conrad Properties, Leuschke Group Architects who designed the block, builder Brian Hughes, Auckland City Council and apartment owners Timothy Heathcote Fynes Garland, Alistair Peter Bell and Nicolette Fay Sheridan, who are members of the body corporate committee which represents owners.
Earlier this decade extensive repairs were done to stop the block leaking. But Mr Young said he resigned from the body corporate committee in 2003.
The block's problems have been the subject of court proceedings before.
Mr Young said in his affidavit that lawyers at Cairns Slain - now Grimshaw & Co - were involved, as was Craig Leishman, formerly of Crockers Strata Management, now of Boutique Body Corporates.
Mr Young is disputing many legal aspects, including the hiring of Babbage Consultants and Andrews' Properties Services for remedial work.
Other aspects Mr Young is challenging include:
* Lawyers' role in representing apartment owners.
* Whether there is a legitimate body corporate.
* Terms of a settlement agreement.
* A payment of $150,000 deposited in a lawyers' trust account.
* Whether lawyers had instructions from the body corporate to negotiate with Conrad Properties.
* Powers of the body corporate secretary and committee.
* Handling of trust account money.
Timothy Garland of the body corporate said repairs were done on the block a few years ago but more were needed. He had already paid about $30,000 but expected to pay a further $50,000 in levies for his unit.
The cost of levies for repairs differed between apartments.
"We've decided we can't wait, the building is not getting any better and we've called on the other owners to put in all the money. But Mr Young has not been a party to that," he said.
Mr Young's case was adjourned until October 3.
Some Owners Looking At More Repairs
Some repaired leaky apartment blocks are in for a re-fix.
Greg O'Sullivan of consultants Prendos said he knew of four major complexes on the North Shore and in Auckland where re-fixes were necessary.
Owners had initially gone for the cheap option, refusing to acknowledge the extent of problems.
But in reality, they had to spend much more and they were sometimes being misinformed about the true cost of repairs, he said.
Many large apartment blocks needed new cladding and major repairs, yet owners had believed they could get away with much less.
"There's been a proliferation of consultants coming up with cheaper solutions that were seemingly attractive to people as repair options. But we had no doubt they'd fail," he said. Residents of Waterford Apartments in Parnell are faced with a second round of repairs soon, although they say this had always been expected. The first repairs did not resolve issues.
Resident Wayne Young uses a large plastic sheet to collect water pouring in through a ranch-slider. He then folds the sheet out a lower window, creating a temporary solution to the problem.
