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Auckland tenants ordered to pay $27k for dog‑damaged rental home
A property manager was forced to cut her final inspection of an Auckland rental property short after being greeted by hundreds of flies, a strong stench of dog poo and urine-soaked carpet.
The Barfoot and Thompson property manager said she could barely enter the property due to the smell of dog urine and faeces.
She was so concerned about the state of the house, she shortened the report to one overall category, noting there were a number of areas that were intentionally damaged by the tenants, Barry Phillips and Tessa Boyd, and their two dogs and six puppies.
“The dogs have defecated and urinated all over the floors, and the stench was very strong,” Keely Stubbs, the head of property management for the agency’s Mt Eden branch, said in her final inspection report of the Massey house.
“There were hundreds of flies. The floor at the entrance to the first bedroom has been damaged. It appears to be wet from urine.”
Wet items were left on the downstairs floor, the front door wasn’t secure, and the keys hadn’t been returned.
Now the Tenancy Tribunal has awarded the landlords – Barfoot and Thompson as agents for Rysy Investments – $27,000, saying the pair must have known the damage that was being done during their four-year tenancy.
“The tenants allowed a situation where they had six puppies inside, toileting all over the flooring and carpet for a series of months,” tribunal adjudicator Melissa Allan said in a recently released decision.
“The tenants must have known the damage was a certainty.”
Scratch marks, holes in couches, piles of rubbish
According to the decision, the house wasn’t always in such a poor state. Photos presented at the hearing, taken in May 2023, show the house in a fairly tidy condition, except for two damaged doors, a large pile of rubbish in the laundry, and unkempt lawns.
During that inspection, it was also discovered that the tenants had two dogs (only one of which was permitted) and puppies, which were all housed inside.
The tenants, who were supposed to move out in September 2023, successfully sought a three-month extension, giving them time to re-home the puppies, repair the two doors and maintain the lawns.
But after the tenants left, photos showed the carpet in the bedrooms and hallway was covered in urine and faeces, as was the laminate flooring in the lounge and the terracotta tiles downstairs.
There were scratch marks all over the walls, and some of the carpet had been scratched and torn. A couch in one room had been upended, with the stuffing torn out and covering most of the floor. A window was broken, and there were holes in the walls.
The tenants also left behind a fridge full of food, multiple couches, a double bed and mattress, various drawers, a table, and chairs, a TV Cabinet, and huge piles of what appeared to be soiled bedding.
Rubbish was left under the house and strewn throughout the garden.
Barfoot and Thompson asked the Tenancy Tribunal for rent arrears and compensation.
While the decision noted the landlord had claimed insurance for some of the damage, it didn’t cover all of it, including the cost of repairing the flooring, because the insurers believed it was gradual damage.
File image. Photo: Barfoot and Thompson / Supplied
Soft and swollen particle board
The landlord said the flooring was so badly damaged that all the carpet, timber underlay, and the vinyl in the kitchen had to be removed.
The floors in the hallway and bedroom also had to be cut out and replaced as the urine had softened and swollen the particle board. Photos showed it was heavily stained and damaged.
Taking into account depreciation and betterment, the tribunal awarded the landlord $23,118 for repairs to the flooring.
A further $5000 was awarded for removing rubbish both inside and under the house, bringing the total award to $27,391.
– This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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