The decision said "the most serious issue" was dampness, with black mould found in bedrooms.
A Rotorua trust represented by Stephen Bhana and his sister Jasu Bhana has lost a long-running legal battle after it was ordered to do remediation works and pay more than $16,000 in damages and costs for having tenants in unsafe living conditions.
Court documents supplied to the Rotorua Daily Post reveal tenants in three flats were living with cockroaches that affected electrical appliances. The flats also had rodents, faulty appliances and electrical fittings, a cracked toilet bowl causing wastewater to overflow, missing drawers, cupboards and doors, and black mould and dampness so severe it forced families out of bedrooms to sleep huddled in lounges.
The trust came to the attention of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in 2019 due to the conditions the tenants were living in.
The ministry took Tenancy Tribunal action and in 2021, the tribunal punished the trust for an “ongoing pattern” of behaviour to avoid the rules, ordered it to carry out remediation works at the three flats and awarded total damages of $13,000 to the tenants living there. It was ordered to pay costs and expenses totalling more than $3400.
But the Bhanas did not accept the tribunal’s ruling and lodged an appeal and plea for what is called a “stay against a decision”.
A rehearing was scheduled at the tribunal based on the trust’s application there had been a miscarriage of justice. This was dismissed by the tribunal.
In November 2021, the tribunal extended the timeframe for completing the compliance work, but it did not amend its original decision of September 2021.
However, the trustees filed three appeals against the tribunal order at the Rotorua District Court. In February this year, Judge Greg Hollister-Jones dismissed the appeal and the plea for a stay of the tribunal’s order.
This means the tribunal’s 2021 order remains and the trust must pay the tenants as ordered.
The tribunal’s 2021 decision said the ministry took action after one of the tenants complained the floor under the carpet was wet. The names and identities of the tenants have been suppressed.
An investigation found several issues at three of the units in the block of four owned by the trust. The tribunal decision outlined the conditions the three lots of tenants were living in.
It included dangerous and unsanitary rubbish left in the driveway of the properties, a rusty oven, only one element working on a stove, no smoke alarms, a lack of adequate insulation, leaks and only cold water going into washing machines.
In one case, a man’s small child became trapped in a bathroom because a door handle broke.
The decision said “the most serious issue” was dampness, with black mould found in bedrooms, mouldy walls and ceilings, swollen skirting boards and ceilings, swollen and cracked window linings, blocked gutters, leaking windows, rotting timber and damp conditions that forced tenants to throw away bedding and clothes because of a musty smell.
Dampness in the bedrooms of one of the units forced one tenant to sleep in the living room with her children.
In the decision, tribunal adjudicator John P. Smith said there were health issues with the children and the tenant had to supply her own heater.
“For several months, she had to cope without a properly working stove, with faulty power points and running extension cords to the kitchen. This was not a safe environment with young children,” Smith said.
The Ministry told the Rotorua Daily Post the trust was yet to pay the amounts to the tenants as ordered.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment tenancy compliance and investigations national manager Brett Wilson told the Rotorua Daily Post Judge Hollister-Jones’ latest decision paved the way for the ministry to enforce the work order and collect the exemplary damages awarded by the tribunal.
Wilson described it as a “classic example” where the landlord refused to acknowledge the faults and hoped the ministry’s compliance and investigations team would succumb to “persistent legal battles and walk away”.
“The refusal of the trustees - Stephen Bhana and Jasu Mati Bhana - to acknowledge faults with the units had [a] serious impact on the health and wellbeing of tenants, who had little choice but to live in damp and mouldy properties.”
He said the ministry’s tenancy compliance and investigations team worked to ensure landlords were compliant with the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, with the aim of raising the standard of properties so tenants could live in warm, dry, and safe homes
The Rotorua Daily Post approached the Bhanas for comment at their address, but Jasu declined.
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