Lease Court – Tenants Get Compensation After Living With Malfunctioning Toilet For Three Months

Three tenants whose toilet was so easily blocked that they were forced to throw their used toilet paper in the trash received more than $ 1,400.

The Leasing Court found that his limited property, Iron Bridge Property Management (Wgtn) Limited, was in breach of its responsibilities after tenants were forced to live with a malfunctioning toilet for at least 13 weeks.

Since the beginning of their tenure at Kilbirnie’s Wellington rental, the trio encountered ongoing problems with their toilet, which they say was sporadically prone to clogging.

After calling a plumber, who initially said the pipes were blocked, it was later discovered that the problem was the toilet.

The toilet was replaced in July last year, but it was still blocked and tenants “had already taken the extreme step of not flushing toilet paper, but throwing it away,” the court heard.

“Their evidence was that this was the situation until the end of the lease on January 31, 2020.”

Less than a month after the toilet was replaced, the owner was notified that the toilet base had started to leak.

Two months later, the base leaked every time the toilet flushed.

It was finally repaired on November 15, three months after the owner was first notified of the problem.

In a decision published last month, the adjudicator determined that the owner had initially addressed the toilet problems in a timely manner, but then there was “clearly a communication failure.”

“However, the evidence also shows that the tenant informed the property
manager regularly of the ongoing blockage problem with the new toilet 13
August, “said the decision.

“They say they lived with it for about four months until the end of the lease because nothing was done.

“A functioning toilet means that toilet paper can be deposited; therefore, this toilet did not work.”

In compensation for the current problems with the toilet, the tenants received $ 650.

But the trio also received an additional $ 750 in exemplary damages, as the owner did not fix the leak, even though they had been informed of the problem.

“The fact that the landlord did not act between August and November was intentional because they knew there was a problem,” the decision reads.

While the court did not find the property manager acting malicious, his omission had a significant impact on the tenants, the adjudicator found.

“They had to spend a lot of time unlocking the toilet and it was unsanitary and unsanitary.

“It is clearly in the public interest that the owners provide hygienic toilet facilities.”

Iron Bridge Property Management (Wgtn) Limited was ordered to pay its former tenants a total of $ 1,420.44, comprised of compensation, exemplary damages and a filing fee refund.