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A young Auckland family has to pay for the accommodation in addition to their mortgage, as the new leasing rules mean that tenants decide when to move out of their home.
The family returned from Australia just over a week before closing, planning to move into their Botany Downs home in early April, having notified their tenants in February.
But new legislation that meant that tenants couldn’t be asked to move in during the closing, unless certain criteria were met, changed all of that.
The Leasing Court said it was a “difficult situation” for the owner and his family, who say they are paying around $ 1,400 per week for temporary accommodation and furniture storage fees, but due to changes in the law there was no nothing i could do.
The tenants also recognized the difficulties, but they also had young children and had been unable to find a suitable new home.
Hans Shawani, his wife and their three children, one 8 and two 4 years old, arrived in Auckland from Australia on March 16, with Shawani to start a new job.
Shawani had bought the property in 2006 while living in Auckland, but he moved to Australia three years later, where he met his wife and they started a family.
It is their only property, and they are still paying the mortgage, Shawani said.
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“It is our home, and we have been very financially affected right now. I don’t know what to do,” says Hans Shawani. Photo / Dean Purcell
“I understand the need to protect tenants, but this is a truly unique situation.
“We have warned well in advance, this is the only place we can go: it is our home and we have been very financially affected right now. I don’t know what to do.”
Through a property manager, Shawani informed tenants of Botany Downs’ management on February 26 that he and his family were moving into the property, and notified them 42 days in advance, as required by law.
The tenants responded, agreeing to the move-in date of April 9.
The property manager sent a follow-up email on March 16, to which tenants replied that they were having trouble finding a new place in the area with such notice, had children at school, but promised to move out before April 9th.
However, on March 23, as the country prepared for closing at 11.59 p.m. On March 25, the Government released a series of measures to protect tenants, including restrictions on removing tenants from properties for a minimum of 90 days.
Under the new legislation, unless the parties agreed, tenants could not be asked to leave unless there were rental delays of at least 60 days and proven “anti-social behavior”.
Meanwhile, Shawani and his family have been paying $ 1,250 a week for temporary accommodation and another $ 120 a week to store the furniture they had brought from Australia.
To further complicate matters, Shawani was delayed two weeks to start his new job due to Covid-19 restrictions.
His wife had also not been working, planning to help out with the family as they tried to settle into their new life in Auckland.
Shawani said he offered to financially support tenants to find and move to a new property, but they declined and stated that they wanted to wait until they found a suitable place.
He said he approached the Leasing Court about six weeks ago seeking an order for a date to end the lease, but yesterday, at a hearing, the request was rejected.
The Court said it “absolutely accepts the difficult situation the landlord is in,” but there was no relief it could provide.
“Covid-19 and the Government’s response to this has caused almost unprecedented
interruption of many people’s lives, “said the decision.
“As difficult as the landlord’s situation is, there is no legal authority for the Court to terminate this lease.
“The parties should continue to work together to find a resolution, or wait for more statutory changes.”
The only possible order was a “consent order”, but this required tenants to agree to end the lease on a particular date, which they would not commit to until they found new suitable accommodation.
The tenants declined to comment when the Herald approached them, but in the Court’s decision it was noted that they “understood the landlord’s difficulties” and attempted
vacate the lease ASAP, but only when they found another suitable lease to move into.
Shawani said he understood the need to protect tenants during this period and that the time for him and his family was “very unfortunate.”
“It is a difficult situation for them too, I understand, they also have children. But we are desperate. We have given them a lot of time, meanwhile we have to add to our mortgage to pay for our current accommodation. We have nowhere else to go.”
They also couldn’t find lower-cost rentals because they needed to commit for a year or two, he said.
He felt that the legislation had not been correctly interpreted in his case, and he wanted the Court to set a date to end the lease, after the 90-day period ended.
“It is not aligned with the Prime Minister’s instructions that there will be an acknowledgment to evaluate unique cases in which people like me face great difficulties in which a level of equity must be applied in decisions, instead of being a victim of owning.
“The order states that only tenants can decide when to move out of our property whether it is within the next two months or two years or 10 years, which totally contradicts the Lease Law.”
“I feel like we’ve been victimized by owning a property.”
