An Auckland landlord has been ordered to pay their former tenants after a series of breaches – which included posting their personal information online without the occupant’s permission.
Towards the end of their tenancy, the landlord visited the property during a viewing to take photos to promote the soon-to-be vacancy.
The photos, which were taken without the tenants’ permission, were posted online and contained personal information.
This information included images of a female tenant and her daughter, a male tenant’s university degrees, expensive computer equipment, and the daughter’s schedule for her extracurricular activities, along with other belongings.
The tenants then took the landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal – and had claimed a breach of quiet enjoyment for the photographs, among other incidents.
Series of breaches
The tribunal’s decision shows, since the tenancy began in late 2023, contractors had also visited the property three times without the tenants being given at least 24 hours’ notice.
Mailbox keys were also not provided by the landlord to the tenants during the time they lived at the property, according to the decision.
Although tenants had raised the issue with the landlord and the letting agent, they had to access the mailbox using a pair of homemade tongs.
Additionally, the decision said the landlord did not give tenants front door keys for the first eight days when they were living at the property.
The tribunal also noted the landlord had failed to appoint an agent while they were overseas between late 2023 and early 2024.
The Residential Tenancies Act states a landlord who is out of the country for more than 21 days in a row must ensure they have an agent in New Zealand.
The landlord claimed Rent Hub acted as an agent under a casual letting agreement – but the tribunal said the agreement held by the landlord did not include ongoing property management.
Instead, the agreement included marketing, viewings, vetting tenants, preparation of the tenancy agreement, and lodging the bond.
“There was no commitment to pay a monthly fee of any sort for ongoing property management services,” the decision said.
The tenants also specifically asked Rent Hub if it was the property manager when the tenancy commenced and were told it was not.
The tribunal ruled the landlord must pay $2643.26 for the found breaches – and remove the photos from online.
Wall damage
At the same time, the tenants were ordered to pay $458.74 in compensation for wall damage.
Damage to the walls had occurred after wall hooks were removed, which had damaged the paint.
With the consent of the landlord, the tenants had tried to repair the damage themselves. However, the decision said the tenants did not restore the walls to their previous condition.
It said the damage was more then fair wear and tear, and were ordered to pay the compensation.
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