Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5418530 — 14-day notice at 18 Harold Denton Place, St Albans, Christchurch 8014
Published 12 February 2026 · Application 5418530
Landlord favoured
- 14-day notice
- Property damage
- Harassment
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Outcome
Landlord favoured
From published order
Location
Christchurch
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
J Greene
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
No individual claim amounts were reconciled for this order. View the official Ministry of Justice PDF for full detail.
Order
- The tenancy of David James Ngahooro at 18 Harold Denton Place, St Albans, Christchurch 8014 is terminated, and possession is granted to Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust, at 11.00am on Thursday 12 February 2026.
- David James Ngahooro must pay Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust $28.00 immediately, being reimbursement of the filing fee.
Reasons
- Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (OCHT), a community housing provider, has applied to terminate Mr Ngahooro’s tenancy because he assaulted 2 tenants at the housing complex on separate occasions.
- I heard the application on 11 February 2026. Mr Olds represented OCHT. The tenant did not attend the video hearing, details of which were provided to him.
- I heard witness evidence from 5 witness (4 in person and 1 by phone) including the 2 persons whom Mr Ngahooro assaulted. The first assault
- The first assault occurred on 24 November 2025. The tenant who was assaulted described how Mr Ngahooro (who had been earlier served with a trespass notice) punched the left side of his face and then head butted him just above his nose. He then poked him in the chest and said he was going to kill him and ‘get the mongrel mob’.
- The assault was witnessed by 2 other people both of whom gave evidence and confirmed what took place. The second assault
- The second assault occurred on 8 January 2026. It involved a different tenant who was in a relationship with Mr Ngahooro although they had separate tenancies. The tenant gave evidence and described how Mr Ngahooro pulled her hair back and slapped her hard twice on the side of her head which affected her surgically implanted hearing aid. Mr Ngahooro also caused damage to her unit by breaking a window in the door. As a result of that assault Mr Ngahooro was charged and has been remanded in custody.
- Another witness described what she heard when she phoned the tenant who was assaulted. She heard Mr Ngahooro yelling at the tenant and saying that he was going to kill her. She said it was she who phoned the police. Law
- The Tribunal must terminate a tenancy if it is satisfied that the tenant has assaulted or has threatened to assault any neighbour of the premises or of any building of which the premises constitute a part 1 . Discussion
- In this case the evidence before the Tribunal establishes on the balance of probabilities that Mr Ngahooro assaulted 2 other tenants; they are neighbours of the tenancy premises he rented. Even if there had been no actual assault, (which there was) a threat of assault is sufficient. In Collins v Housing New Zealand Ltd 2 the Court said: To “threaten to assault” means just what it says: it is an expression of intent to do harm to another person by the use of force. The fact of the threat can be enough... 1 See section 55(1)(c)(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) 2 [2004] NZAR 665
- The evidence in this case establishes that Mr Ngahooro, in addition to threats of assault, actually assaulted 2 separate tenants, neighbours of the premises.
- Because that has been proved, the Tribunal must terminate his tenancy.
- The Tribunal has a limited discretion not to make such an order where the breach has been remedied (if it is capable of remedy), the landlord has been compensated for any loss, and there is unlikely to be any further breach.
- The Court discussed the exercise of this discretion at length in Collins. Here, the breach cannot be remedied. But putting that to one side, the Tribunal cannot be satisfied that there is unlikely to be a further breach by Mr Ngahooro. Some of the witnesses gave evidence that he has been threatening in his behaviour over time, such that one of the tenants who was assaulted was reluctant to go outside and spent most of his time inside his unit.
- And the fact that there were 2 separate assault events on different persons about 6 weeks apart means that the Tribunal cannot be confident that there is unlikely to be any further breach of the same kind by Mr Ngahooro. Result
- The tenancy of David James Ngahooro at Unit 18, 18 Harold Denton Place Christchurch is terminated. Possession is granted to OCHT at 11am on Thursday 12 February 2026.
- As the application is successful, the tenant must pay the landlord’s Tribunal filing fee.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s55(1)
Key findings
- Dispute theme: termination 14day
- Dispute theme: property damage
- Dispute theme: harassment
Property management
- OTAUTAHI COMMUNITY HOUSING TRUST (applicant)
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5418530?
The tribunal order states: The tenancy of David James Ngahooro at 18 Harold Denton Place, St Albans,
How much money was awarded in case 5418530?
Verified claim lines are listed on this page.
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5418530?
The primary dispute was 14-day notice. Related themes: Property damage, Harassment.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5418530?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13107397-Tribunal_Order.pdf.