Rotorua landlords Stephen Bhana and Jasu Mati Bhana have been ordered to pay $6195 in exemplary damages and complete extensive repairs to a property in Rotorua. Pictured is rotting flooring on the deck.
Rotorua landlords Stephen Bhana and Jasu Mati Bhana have been ordered to pay $6195 in exemplary damages and complete extensive repairs to a property in Rotorua. Pictured is rotting flooring on the deck.
Rotorua landlords who were charging “significant” rent have been ordered to pay more than $6000 in exemplary damages after their tenants were living in an “unhealthy and unsafe” home with a leaky roof and rotten decking.
The Tenancy Tribunal has found landlord Aquastar Holdings Limited breached the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 for a property in Rotorua.
The company’s sole director and shareholder is Jasu Mati Bhana. The landlord’s agent for this tenancy is her brother Stephen Bhana, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Aquastar Holdings Limited was ordered to pay $6195 in exemplary damages and a $20.44 filing fee to MBIE.
The tribunal issued a three-year restraining order – meaning Aquastar Holdings Limited cannot commit further unlawful acts – after determining it was an “experienced landlord” and there had been “insufficient regard” for addressing breaches, even when raised by MBIE’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team.
The report said Bhana had received restraining orders for his own rental premises and adjudicator Rex Woodhouse had “no confidence” that ordering exemplary damages “would have any material influence in ensuring that no future breaches occur to this or other tenancies for this landlord”.
Rotting flooring on the deck.
In September, Stephen Bhana was ordered to pay $12,000 in exemplary damages after his tenant was left “sleeping on the lounge floor” with their children, due to rainwater leaking into the bedroom.
In February, he was ordered by a Rotorua District Court judge to pay more than $50,000 plus interest after losing a long-running battle over a property in Fordlands.
Aquastar Holdings Limited had applied for a rehearing in the Tenancy Tribunal and had also appealed the tribunal’s decision in the District Court for the latest case, MBIE said.
‘Unsecured’ roofing would ‘lift with the wind’
A hearing took place in Rotorua on November 27 and 28.
The tribunal report, between the MBIE chief executive and Bhana of Aquastar Holdings Limited, showed three tenants were charged $1000 per week to rent the upstairs premises of a “large house” which covered two levels.
The tribunal ordered suppression of the tenants’ names.
On June 23, 2023, a tenant complained to the Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team.
Team inspectors visited the property on August 3 that year and identified problems including an “unsecured” section of garage roofing that “would lift with the wind”.
Other problems were a hole in the Perspex roofing in the entranceway, missing roof flashing, ceiling panels in a bedroom being “held up with wood”, ceiling panels in a second bedroom “sagging”, an “insufficiently sized” heat pump, absent and inoperative extractor fans in two bathrooms, and “rotting flooring” on the deck.
The report said the tenant raised these issues with the landlord “on a number of occasions to no avail”.
The ceiling panels in one bedroom were being held up with wood screwed on to the bottom of the panels.
The inspector raised these issues with the landlord. A response from Stephen and Jasu Bhana was received on August 31, 2023.
On November 28, the Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team issued the landlord improvement notices and required stated defects be addressed by February 23, 2024.
The landlord confirmed receipt of the notice on December 6, 2023.
On March 1, 2024, the Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team emailed the landlord to advise it had failed to comply with the improvement notice. Eighteen days later, the landlord requested an extension to comply with the notice, which was declined given the deadline had passed.
That same day, the tenant confirmed none of the required work had been done.
A second inspection took place on March 21, 2024, when inspectors noted “some repair” to the Perspex roof but the work was described as being “of an unprofessional standard” and it continued to leak.
A third inspection took place on May 22, 2024. The inspector confirmed a heater had been installed but no further work had been done.
The report said a copy of the file was provided to Jasu Bhana at the hearing, however, she left before any of the witnesses gave evidence or the chief executive’s representative presented the case.
Jasu Bhana was told the hearing would proceed in her absence and a decision would be issued.
The hearing proceeded on November 27 and Jasu Bhana did not return.
’Soft and spongy’ deck
The tenant said a hole in the Perspex roof meant the tiled floor became “saturated” when it rained. This was raised with Stephen Bhana, who had someone fix the roof, but it still leaked.
The Bhanas put up wooden planks to support the “sagging” ceiling tiles, which were still in place.
The tenant said an element on the stove had never worked and this was raised a number of times with Stephen Bhana.
The deck had worsened during the tenancy, and the tenants no longer used it as it was “soft and spongy”.
Rotorua landlords Stephen Bhana and Jasu Mati Bhana have been ordered to pay $6195 in exemplary damages and complete extensive repairs to a property in Rotorua. Pictured is rotting flooring on the deck.
This was raised with Stephen Bhana, but no work had been done.
He said the tenants would need to move out so he could fix the deck but that was in late 2023 and there had been no further communications about the deck.
A Tenancy Compliance and Investigation Team inspector said the general state of the house was “unmaintained” and “shocking”.
‘Intolerable’ living conditions
The tribunal found the landlord had not adequately maintained the Perspex roof, ceiling panels, stove, decking and roofing, and the property breached the Healthy Homes Standards for heating and ventilation.
“The breaches are likely to be intentional,” adjudicator Rex Woodhouse said.
“All of these breaches have been identified by the inspectors and notified to the landlord, but the landlord has not addressed them in any adequate way,” Woodhouse said.
“The effect for the tenants is that they live in a tenancy that leaks and will likely be cold and draughty, and otherwise does not have the features that they [are] paying significant rent to receive.”
The tribunal ordered the landlord to repair or replace the roof, ceiling panels, stove, deck and bathroom extractor fans and install heaters by January 28.
If the landlord failed to comply with the order, the chief executive may have the work done and charge the landlord the costs of up to $20,000.
The tribunal acknowledged this was a “short time” but the issues were “well known” by the landlord and it would be “intolerable” for the tenant to continue living in premises that were “unhealthy and unsafe”.
The tribunal also found Aquastar Holdings Limited failed to comply with an improvement notice, failed to provide a compliant Healthy Homes Statement and failed to advise tenants the property’s insurance statement was available for review.
