Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4525312 — Rent arrears at 7A Seakens Way, Glen Eden, Auckland 0602
Decided 26 Oct 2023 · Published 26 Oct 2023 · Application 4525312
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
Order
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $990.00 (6467536-003) to Datatask (NZ) 2008 Limited Peter Philip Wilson immediately.
- Steven Paul Koszegi must pay Datatask (NZ) 2008 Limited Peter Philip Wilson $4,970.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below. Rent arrears to 2 February 2023$5,940.00 Filing fee reimbursement$20.44 Total award$5,960.44 Bond to be paid to the landlord$990.00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord$4,970.44
Reasons
- Peter Philip Wilson attended for the landlord.
- The tenant did not attend. The hearing proceeded in his absence.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation for methamphetamine testing, payment over of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
How much is owed for rent?
- The tenancy ended on 2 February 2023. Mr Wilson provided a rent summary that proved the amount owing for rent at the end of the tenancy.
Must the tenant pay for methamphetamine testing?
- The landlord has applied for compensation for the cost methamphetamine testing.
- The landlord must prove that the tenant caused or permitted the contamination, or that it was caused by someone at the premises with the tenant’s consent. The landlord must also prove that, as a result of the contamination, the premises have been damaged or are not reasonably clean.
- Section 138C Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provides for regulations to be made prescribing the maximum acceptable level for contaminants, but as yet no regulations have been made in relation to methamphetamine.
- There are currently two sources of guidance on the issue of a safe level of methamphetamine contamination in residential premises. In June 2017 Standards New Zealand published NZS 8510:2017. The standard recommended a maximum contamination level of 1.5μg/100cm 2 for high use areas where contamination has resulted from both consumption and manufacture. It recommended a higher level of 3.8μg/100cm 2 for limited use areas.
- In May 2018 Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, the then Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, released a report "Methamphetamine contamination in residential properties: Exposures, risk levels, and interpretation of standards”. The report noted that there is a lack of scientific evidence to prove that low-level third-hand methamphetamine exposure poses a health risk to humans. It stated that guidelines should be proportionate to risk and that exposure to a level below 15μg/100cm 2 was unlikely to have an adverse effect. It recommended retaining the level of 1.5μg/100cm 2 where contamination resulted from manufacture, due to the risk posed by harmful chemicals used in the process.
- The District Court has held that remediation should be carried out in accordance with the prevailing guidelines at the time (Diamond Real Estate Limited v Allan [2017] NZDC 833, Judge Kellar).
- The Tribunal has generally applied the Gluckman recommendation. This approach was approved by the District Court in Full Circle Real Estate Limited v Piper [2019] NZDC 4947, where the Court stated (at para [36]): The Tenancy Tribunal was in a difficult position. The best state of knowledge of risk to human health from methamphetamine contamination available to the adjudicator was the Gluckman Report. It would have been bold for the adjudicator to have ignored that report in favour of the New Zealand Standard given that the Gluckman report represents the current scientific knowledge on the risk to human health from methamphetamine contamination in dwellings.
- The District Court took a similar approach in Acme Realty Limited v Hogg and others [2021] NZDC 3231, where the Court referred to the Full Circle case and held that, because NZS 8510:2017 has not been adopted into law, the Tribunal was not bound to apply the 1.5μg standard.
- More recently, in Barfoot and Thompson Limited v Kāhui Tū Kaha Limited [2021] NZTT Auckland 4276319, both parties presented scientific evidence at a hearing before the Tribunal. The Tribunal concluded that there was no new scientific research to change the conclusions reached in the Gluckman Report.
- In this case, the individualised test results were positive but at a level well under 15μg/100cm 2 .
- That being so, the claim for reimbursement for the cost of methamphetamine testing is dismissed. Filing fee
- The landlord having substantially succeeded in the proceedings, the Tribunal orders the tenant to reimburse it for the filing fee.