Tenant fined more than $13k for meth contamination

The tenant claimed that her cousin was to blame, saying he had hosted a drink-over in the garage on one night during his stay. Photo / File

An Auckland tenant has been fined more than $13,000 for meth contamination.

A Tenancy Tribunal decision revealed that 15 samples taken from the Papakura rental property returned results of 7.91ug/100cm2 and 1.5ug/cm2.

When the tenant moved in testing showed meth levels were no higher than 0.08ug/100cm2. By the end of her stay, it had increased to 7.91ug/100cm2.

The tenant's defence was that her cousin was to blame.

"He had a drink-over in the garage on one night during his stay," she said in the report.

She was not aware of any drugs being consumed and her cousin did not have a drug problem to her knowledge.

She had not consumed any drugs during the tenancy, the report said.

The tenant moved into the property on a fixed-term agreement on July 21, 2018, and lived there for nearly a year before she left last July for "reasons out of her control".

The landlord claimed $9,691.43 of rent to November last year when replacement tenant was able to move in.

Documents show the landlord also claimed for water charges to June of $1119, meth testing of $3,436.20 and repairs of $1,391.04.

The tenant was ordered to pay the landlord a total of $13,258.

She said her cousin had been staying in one of the bedrooms and spent time in the garage. These two areas have the highest levels of methamphetamine contamination, the report said.

The tribunal decided while it was likely that meth was used in a bedroom and the garage during the tenancy, where the highest readings were detected, it was the tenant's responsible to ensure the A-class drug wasn't used on the property.