How much money was awarded in case 5238371?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5238371?

The primary dispute was Mould & damp. Related themes: Cleanliness, Healthy homes, Exemplary damages, Leaks.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5238371?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12176719-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5238371?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5238371?

The primary dispute was Mould & damp. Related themes: Cleanliness, Healthy homes, Exemplary damages, Leaks.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5238371?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12176719-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Unit/Flat 3, 77 Jellicoe Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5238371 — Mould & damp

Q: What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5238371?

The tribunal order states: The landlord is to obtain a correct Healthy Homes report by the 15 August 2025

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Order

The landlord is to obtain a correct Healthy Homes report by the 15 August 2025 and provide the tenant and the Tribunal with a copy of the completed report.

The landlord is to investigate and repair if necessary, the heatpump, leak in the skylight and remove any noxious plants.

The tenant’s remaining claims are not proven and therefore dismissed.

This matter is determined as indicated by the orders above, but both parties are granted a period of six weeks within which, if there are further instances of gutter overflows or drain blockages, the heatpump not working, or if the Healthy Homes report discloses non-compliance with the Health Homes Standards they can request that the application be brought back before to the Tribunal with new evidence in respect of those events and the matter will be re-opened.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing held on the 24 July 2025.

This claim is made by the tenant, Lynette.

The property is an older 2-bedroom unit in Manurewa. The tenant has lived in the property since July 2022. During the tenancy the property has always been managed by First National. Lynette’s main contact was with Esme Cole, although at different times other property managers have conducted inspections or attended to maintenance work.

Esme tells me that until the claim was filed, she thought that Lynette and she had a good relationship and that if Lynette had problems with the tenancy that she would come to Esme and Esme would address them.

Lynette does not think that the issues that she has previously raised have been properly dealt with by her landlord and she has come to the Tribunal to get resolution.

Lynette says that the problems at her tenancy are: a. That the gutters overflow and this allow water to come inside the property when it rains. b. That the drains don’t work properly are clogged and this means when it rains that the water ponds (does not drain away). c. That there a pest problem at the property. d. That she cannot use her kitchen drawers because they are mouldy and full of pests. e. That there are trees are the back of the property that need to be cut back. f. That the heat pump and or remote does not work. g. That the landlord took 4 weeks to give her a replacement garage door remote which meant that she could not use her garage over that time. h. That the hotwater cylinder needs replacement. i. That the previous leaks in the hotwater cylinder and pipes have caused mould in the cupboard. j. That because of the hotwater cylinders age and leaks the tenant is paying more for water and electricity than she should. k. That the insulation in an area over and around the manhole was not in place throughout the tenancy. l. That the landlord’s rent records are incorrect and she has paid more than a week in advance.

When Lynette filed her application, she asked for both work orders and or compensation and exemplary damages. However, she told me at the hearing that she now wishes to leave the property. It is clear to me that she has lost trust in her landlord and wants to leave the property.

Her landlord would like to give her notice but was concerned about it being seen to be retaliatory. The tenant confirmed that at the hearing that she would prefer the landlord to give her notice, and that she would not view such notice as a retaliatory notice.

Lynette confirmed that she was now only seeking compensation and exemplary damages (if appropriate) for any breaches.

Before the tenancy began the landlord had the property assessed for Healthy Homes compliance on the 19 July 2021. The property failed a number of the standards for the following reasons. a. Moisture ingress and draining because of vegetation and debris in the gutters, leaves in the back drain. b. Ventilation, as the rangehood in the kitchen was not ducted outside. c. Draught stopping – due to a window in bedroom 2 having a perished seal. d. Heating – no heat source in the living room.

The landlord tells me that as a result of that report that they: a. Installed a kitchen rangehood. b. Installed a heatpump in June 2022. c. Replaced the window seal and catch in bedroom 2 in August 2022. d. Cleaned and cleared all gutters – August 2022.

The landlord said that this made the property compliant with Healthy Homes Standards within the required timeframe after Lynette’s tenancy began. The documents the landlord brought to the hearing.

Esme provided both the Tribunal and Lynette with a lot of documents at hearing including Healthy Homes assessment report dated 2 June 2025. I allowed time at the hearing for Lynette to read through and consider these documents. After looking at the documents Lynette noticed that the picture of the kitchen on page 9 of the report was not her kitchen. Esme confirmed that the picture of the kitchen was not the kitchen for this house. Esme has no knowledge of how a picture of another property is in the report. Given that there a photograph of the wrong kitchen in the report, it makes it difficult to put any weight on the reliability of the report. Esme says that she will get another report to be completed and will provide a copy of that report to the tenant.

Esme acknowledged that the updated 2025 Healthy Homes report failed when it was first done, due to the insulation having been moved from the manhole area, the heatpump not working and obstructed gutters and drains. Esme says that work was done to bring those items up to standards and provided reports from tradespeople and invoices which confirm that the work was done. The gutters and drains.

Lynette says that gutters overflow when it rains. She showed me videos and pictures of the gutters overflowing in the rain. Lynette also says that the drainage is inadequate or blocked and that when there is rain, the drains don’t work, and the surface water does not drain away.

A landlord has an obligation to maintain the gutters and drains in a reasonably condition. Gutters and drains must be working and clear in order to meet the Moisture ingress and drainage standard in the Healthy Homes Standards.

The property neighbours a council owned park which has large oak trees on the boundary. The landlord says that the leaf fall from the trees often clogs the gutters and that the landlord now tries to have the gutters cleared every quarter.

The tenant provided photographs of the drain, which she says was unblocked by the landlord’s plumber (Scott’s plumbing on the 23 June 2023) Lynette says that despite the drain being unblocked, it would continually block up, even though it had mesh of the top of the drain to prevent leaves from going down into the pipe. This can be seen on the videos and the photographs which show the ponding and water in the area around the drain.

The landlord provided evidence of the inspection reports and invoices and a report from Counties Property Maintenance who completed the cleaning of the gutters and invoices from Scott plumbing who cleared the drains.

It is clear that there is a problem with the gutters and drains at the property in that they become blocked with leaf material and vegetation, which can cause the gutters to overflow and water to pond. There is some evidence that this has happened on a regular occurrence as you can identify sludge and water debris on the ground and green mould marking on the concrete/ tiles and the guttering where the water overruns.

The question the Tribunal has to answer is- has the landlord done what is reasonably required to stop the problem from occurring?

I am satisfied that they the landlord has taken reasonable steps to prevent the issue from occurring. I say this for the following reasons: a. That the landlord seeks to clean the gutters every 3 months. b. That the landlord has sent out the tradespersons (counties property maintenance and Scott’s Plumbing) to investigate and address issues as they arise. c. The landlord has installed leaf covers on the drain. d. The landlord has monitored the problem at its inspections. e. The landlord’s tradesperson noted that when he attended the property in April 2025 he was onsite during heavy rain, and whilst he noted the gutters were ‘very blocked’ with debris which he thought would cause overflow issues, he did not see any overflow. f. I am satisfied that the landlord has also promptly addresses problems when they have arisen.

The only recommendation that I would make it that the landlord install new leaf guard to the guttering, as I note that this was suggested by Counties Property Maintenance in 2021 and I am not sure if this has been done.

Whilst it is clear from the Healthy Homes Assessment completed in April 2025, that the property was not compliant, at that date, with the moisture ingress and drainage standard, because of the blocked gutters and drains I make no award of compensation or exemplary damages for this breach because the landlord quickly remedied the breach and I do not consider that the landlord was acting with intention. I consider that by obtaining a new report the landlord was been responsive to the tenant’s complaints and was trying to identify and then fix any issues at the property. Pests.

Lynette says that there are a lot of pests at the property, she has complained about pests through the tenancy. The tenant says that these are not cockroaches or beetles, more flying insects. In August 2024 Counties Property Maintenance said that they sprayed bug repellent in the areas the tenant had told her landlord that she noticed bugs coming in and sealed an area that the tenant had identified where bugs might get in.

Esme says that the tenancy managers have never noticed bugs at the property, but notes that they have seen bait out. Esme also says that Lynette keeps her home tidy and clean. Esme believes that the bugs are midges or sandflies.

A landlord is required to provide the property to a tenant in a reasonably clean and tidy condition and to maintain the property to a reasonable condition. This means that Lynette would need to prove that the landlord had either failed to provide the property to her in a reasonably clean and tidy condition or that there was a problem with the condition of the property that was attracting these pests.

I am not satisfied that the landlord was in breach of their obligations which is causing the pest problem because there is no evidence with a problem at the property which is causing the bugs to come in, such as rubbish etc, nor is there any evidence that the property was not given to Lynette in a reasonably clean and tidy condition.

I consider it more likely that the bugs are a natural occurrence in this area, in which case it is the tenant’s responsibility to manage them. The kitchen drawers.

The tenant says that she cannot use the kitchen drawers because they are mouldy, smelly and have pests. Lynette showed me photographs of her kitchen drawers. The photographs show drawers that are old and worn. However, I could not see any mould.

The landlord says that they have inspected the drawers, they do not smell, that they could not see any mould and there were no pests.

I am not satisfied that the landlord is in breach of its responsibilities to the maintain the kitchen drawers or to provide them in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. However, I do note that the kitchen is old with wooden joinery, and it may be that the wood has absorbed a smell that is offensive to Lynette. Odours are difficult for the tribunal to adjudicate on, what might be offensive to one person, might be pleasant or un offensive to another. The tree

The tenant says that there is a smelly tree at the back of her section that is noxious and needs to be cut back and removed. The tenant thinks it is privet. The tenant provided a photograph of the offensive tree which she took in January this year.

The landlord says that the tree is not on the property. The tenant is adamant it is.

If the tree is overhanging onto the property, then the landlord is entitled to cut the tree back to the fence line. If the tree is noxious then the landlord should take steps to remove it.

I could not identify from the photographs of the property whether the tree is on the property or not or what type of tree it is. Esme has reassured me that she will look into the matter and if necessary, remove any noxious plant. The heatpump.

The tenant has said that the heatpump does not work, the landlord tests the heatpump when it attends the property for inspections and says that it works and it has run it for 10 minutes or more.

The tenant provided a video (take a day or two before the hearing) of the heatpump being turned on but not working. It is clear that there is a problem with the heatpump or the remote. It is noted that the HH report writer noted an issue in April 2025 but when the electrician went to the property to investigate the issue on the 28 April the heatpump was working , the electrician tested all functions.

The landlord acknowledges that the heatpump appears not to be working and has confirmed that it will investigate the problem and complete any repairs. The garage door remote

The landlord says that they were unaware that that this concern was going to be addressed at the hearing.

The tenant says that the when the garage door remote failed that it took 4 weeks for a new one to be given to her. The garage has no internal access to the house. If the garage door does not open electronically then there is no way of getting in or out of the garage (except through taking the window out).

It is clear from the inspection reports that the tenant has complained numerous times throughout her tenancy that the remote was not working correctly. In 2024 the remote stopped working completely meaning that the tenant could not use her garage. The landlord had to get a new remote and then had to get access into the garage (through taking the window out) to reprogramme the remote to the electronic door. I do not believe that the time fame to repair the garage door remote was unreasonable given the work that had to be completed and that the landlord had to get permission from the neighbour, therefore there was no breach of s45(1)(b). However, I note that the tenant was not given a rent abatement for not being able to use her garage over this time, and I consider one should have been given for the loss of amenity. The use of the garage is an important amenity at this property and as the tenant could not use the garage the landlord should have given some abatement. I consider the sum of $30 per week would be appropriate. As the landlord did not expect this claim to be heard today, I cannot make orders requiring a rent abatement, but I expect that the landlord will have no issues with abating the rent for this short period.

If there is any issue with the level of rent abatement then either party can bring this matter back to me and I will re-open the hearing. The hotwater cylinder.

The hotwater cylinder, the overflow and other pipes relating to the hotwater cylinder are one of the Lynette’s main concerns.

On labour weekend 2022 the hotwater cylinder overflow pipe leaked, and water came into the hotwater cupboard and wet the carpets etc. The tenant notified the landlord immediately and the landlord got Scotts Plumbing on site. They repaired the issue. The tenant dried the carpet and aired out the cupboard where it had leaked.

Since that time the tenant has complained about corroded pipes and age of the hotwater cylinder. The tenant has become concerned about high water and electricity bills. 1 In July 2024 her power supplier came to her property to try to identify anything at the property which might be causing the tenant to be using more electricity that she thought. Lynette says that the tradesperson told her 1 Lynette’s water bill is within the normal range for one person. that her hotwater cylinder was old and due for replacement and that it could be the cause of her higher bills. The tradesperson noted in correspondence that he had seen mould on the cylinder walls and pipes that are corroded.

Lynette forwarded that report to her landlord, as a result the landlord replaced a sheet of ply in the cupboard and inspected the hot water cylinder.

The hot water cylinder is old (its date is shown as 1974) which means it is 51 years old. Hot water cylinders are generally expected to last 50 years, but some last longer and some not that long. Even though this hotwater cylinder is past its lifespan, it has not failed and therefore there is no obligation on the landlord to replace it.

I am also not satisfied that the pipes need replacing, whilst they show the green tinge of oxidation on copper pipes, that does not mean that they are leaking or have failed.

Older hotwater cylinders may not be as efficient as newer models and this may mean that tenants pay more for heating the hot water, but again, this does not mean that the cylinder should be replaced. The age of the property and chattels are something tenants should take into consideration when they agree to rent a property. If the chattels are older, then they are likely to use a little more power.

There is no evidence that the overflow valve is faulty, and that water is continually running from the valve. The property has been inspected by a plumber and he has not found evidence of a leaking overflow. If the tenant suspects that to be the case, then she should monitor the overflow valve by watching it outside, if the tank is constantly filling then her power bills and water bills will be higher than usual. Usually, you can hear the water tank filling up.

The tenant has not proven any of her claims in relation to the hot water cylinder or pipes. Insulation.

When the landlord undertook a new Healthy Homes assessment in April 2025 it found that there was a small patch by the manhole where the insulation had been removed. It immediately remedied that by adding in insulation.

I do not consider that the landlord was in breach of their obligations because when the problem was found the landlord rectified it quickly.

It is unclear who moved the insulation, it may have been the landlord’s plumber but equally it may have been the tenant’s electricity suppliers tradesperson when they inspected the property in 2024. The skylight.

The tenant says that skylight (solar tube) in the laundry leaks and is dirty. She has asked for it to be cleaned and repaired.

The skylight appears to be leaking. The tenant showed a picture of the water on the floor directly below the skylight taken in early July this year. The landlord needs to remedy this. I could not see anywhere where the tenant had raised this issue with the landlord. The landlord kept good records of the issues that the tenant told them about. However, I do note that Esme indicated that Lynette had made her aware of the problem.

The skylight also has bugs inside it, this would indicate that there may be some way the bugs are getting in, which case water may be able to get in as well. It is hard to tell if the bugs are on the outside of the glass but underneath the mesh grate or inside the solar tube.

Because of the grate the skylight is difficult to clean. I do not consider that the landlord is in breach. The skylight is not so dirty that it is not letting the light through. Rent in advance.

Lynette claims that she is only required to pay one weeks rent in advance, but the landlord has more than one week rent in advance.

Lynette pays her rent on Thursday. The rent week in the ledger starts on a Saturday. As at the date of hearing the landlord accepted the tenant had paid to the 2 August, this means that that the tenant was 10 rent days in advance.

As the tenancy is likely to end shortly, I do not make any orders requiring the landlord to pay back the rent, but the landlord should be aware that the tenant is 10 days in advance. If the tenant is still in credit at the end of the tenancy the landlord must pay this back as soon as the tenancy ends. Conclusion

The landlord has agreed to do certain works at the property, these include obtaining a correct Healthy Homes Report with the correct premises details, fixing the heatpump and investigating whether the noxious tree is on or overhangs on the property.

I also consider that the landlord should further investigate leaks in the skylight and give the tenant an abatement for the period she was without the use of her garage.

The landlord is likely to give notice and the tenancy is likely to end.

The tenant has not been successful in her claims relating to the gutters and drains, kitchen drawers, hotwater cupboard and pipes and insulation and they are dismissed.

As the tenant has not been wholly successful, I make no award for the filing fee.

Order