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SCREENSHOT
Janet Haenga told the Leasing Court that she only rented the $ 1,000-a-week property in the small town of Waipukurau in Hawke’s Bay because she “ran the risk of her children being removed from her care due to lack of ability to provide accommodation for them. suitable”.
A Hawke’s Bay company was ordered to pay exemplary damages to a desperate mother who rented a leaky, drafty commercial building as a home in an attempt to keep her family together.
Janet Haenga told the Leasing Court that she only rented the $ 1,000-a-week property in the small town of Waipukurau in Hawke’s Bay because she “risked having her children removed from her care due to lack of ability to provide housing for them. suitable” .
Work and Income negotiated the weekly rent, Haenga told the court.
But the court found that the property did not meet all the health and safety standards set forth in the Residential Leasing Act and ordered Gdss Properties Limited to pay tenants $ 4,190.44 in compensation and damages.
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That included $ 1,500 in exemplary damage and $ 1,100 in compensation for not being able to use one of the bedrooms due to the ingress of water.
King also ordered the Bond Center to return the tenants’ $ 4,000 bond.
The tenants were Haenga, Page Toki, Shian Haenga and Conrad Toki.
The Residential Leasing Law requires landlords to provide properties in a reasonable state of repair and meet healthy housing standards.
The property at 14 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau, which was advertised as a six-bedroom, two-bath, two-kitchen home, was leaking and had “significant” gaps around the door and window joinery, Lease Court arbitrator B found King.
That corroborated Haenga’s evidence that the facilities were drafty and difficult and expensive to heat, King said.
“One of the bedrooms was effectively unusable due to the extent of the leaks,” King said.
“The exterior of the premises appears to have an inadequate gutter system for the collection of rainwater from the roof and Ms. Haenga’s descriptions of the overflow of water from the gutters on the windows that leaked into the premises seem to me consistent with the evidence always photographic, ”he said.
The photos also showed accumulated water in front of the front door and a space under that door without a lip, allowing water to enter the premises, King said.
King said the owner was experienced and well aware of his obligations to provide a healthy home.
Gdss Properties’ violations of the Residential Leasing Act had had a significant impact on Haenga’s use of the facilities and his family’s health while living there, King ruled.
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The business register shows that Gdss Properties Limited was owned by Angela Marie Payne of Waipukurau. Payne is also the sole director of the company.
The landlord told the court that the property had a code compliance certificate for residential use, but King said: “The photographs show that even if it complies with the building permit when the CCC was issued, there are several aspects of the premises. .. that are not satisfactory.
“There is inadequate coverage between a room on the ground floor and the room above, which compromises your privacy. There are internal walls upstairs that clearly appear to be below a safe height, ”King said.
The property was now being marketed for sale as a “commercial / residential” property by The Professionals with a listing price of $ 550,000 plus GST.
“Recently occupied by renters, this property has so many options with its own 3 parking spaces in the rear and is close to the Countdown supermarket and Big Barrel,” the listing reads.
