Tenants scarred by flat of horrors
Photo:
Otago Daily Times
A student who took on a notorious Dunedin landlord is sharing her "traumatising" ordeal over fears others could end up trapped in the same situation.
Zoe Eckhoff, 19, and two of her close friends signed a year-long fixed-term lease for a Queen St property, which was set to be their first flat.
However, the tenants soured on the property after inspecting it in late January and discovering vegetation choking gutters, black mould and grease in vents and windows, curtains covered with black mould, rubbish strewn throughout the property, borer dust throughout wooden fittings, peeling lead paint in soffits and broken gutters.
"It was horrendous, to be honest, there was just random furniture everywhere.
"There was pots and pans outside the door, and so much borer as well.
"All of the utensils in the drawers were wet, the whole bench was wet - there was mould everywhere, and wallpaper peeling, and all the stuff you don't want to see as a tenant."
Damage caused to the exterior of a Queen St flat due to lack of maintenance.
Photo:
Otago Daily Times / Supplied
She said the experience was "traumatising" and "terrifying".
In February, the tenants advised the landlord, Man-Oock Holdings, they would be withholding rent and taking her to the Tenancy Tribunal.
The tribunal's first ruling found the landlord "turned a blind eye" to many of her responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act, but it was also "not open for one party [the tenants] to unilaterally decide to stop paying rent".
No suppression was available to the landlord because she was only partly successful, the tribunal ruled.
Mould damage.
Photo:
Otago Daily Times / Supplied
It was only after mediation that Eckhoff and her fellow tenants were able to end the tenancy.
A second tribunal ruling followed, saying "as a result of the agreement all costs will lie where they fall, and the previous order of the tribunal cannot be enforced".
Eckhoff felt the system was stacked against her.
"I think that landlords need to be held way more accountable for the kind of stuff that they get up to.
"It just feels like I was set up for failure."
The emotional toll had been "wrenching".
More mould damage.
Photo:
Otago Daily Times / Supplied
Last week, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment tenancy compliance and investigations team conducted visits to 53 Dunedin properties.
The majority had some maintenance issues and three properties had "multiple breaches" of the healthy homes legislation.
Eckhoff said she was pleased to hear about MBIE's initiative, calling it a start.
"I was very happy to hear that, to be honest - thank God someone is doing something about this.
"I hate to say cross-examine your landlord, because it feels like something that shouldn't be our duty, but honestly, it's not a bad idea.
"I wish that I had, because I probably would have found a lot more and it would have been very helpful."
The
Otago Daily Times
reported in 2019 there had been 21 Tenancy Tribunal cases involving Man-Oock Holdings since 2017.
Man-Oock Holdings did not wish to comment.
-
This story was first published on the
Otago Daily Times
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Supermarket sign catches fire while customers were in store
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon A supermarket on Auckland's North Shore has had to be evacuated after a fire this evening. Fire and Emergency were alerted to the blaze about 7.45pm, after the New World sign at the Brown's Bay supermarket ignited. The building, which was open at the time, was evacuated with smoke entering the store. A video posted on a Brown's Bay community group on social media showed flames coming from the building. Four fire appliances including a high reach truck were deployed. The fire has since been extinguished with two trucks remaining on scene. Last month a massive blaze broke out at the New World Victoria Park supermarket in central Auckland in June, taking more than 10 hours to extinguish.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
Homeless situation in Auckland now at 'crisis' point
More than 800 rough sleepers are now being helped in Auckland. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell The government needs to do more to combat homelessness, says an Auckland council committee, after outreach teams recorded a 90 percent increase in people sleeping rough since September. Outreach providers in the city say they are now dealing with 809 rough sleepers. The Community Committee voted this afternoon to write to the government, asking it to engage with frontline agencies to understand and respond to the drivers for all homeless people. This included using data provided by sector organisations working on the ground, alongside the 2023 census data. Committee chair and councillor Angela Dalton told Checkpoint that homelessness has reached crisis point in the city and is likely still rising. "It is a crisis in Auckland and if it has risen by 90 from September till May 2025, we're in July, I doubt very much those numbers would have decreased, they would have increased," Dalton said. "We need a shift in policy change, we need understanding and a bit of compassion would help, to understand why our people are homeless and how we can provide them with a roof over their heads." Dalton said the policy changes that made it harder for people to access emergency housing, and declining those that have contributed to their lack of housing, has been problematic. "I think there's some policies that have been changed that shows a lack of compassion because they are making assumptions that people are not trying hard enough." A government report released last week found 14 percent of people leaving emergency housing may be homeless. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson talked to the committee, as a representative of the Coalition to End Women's Homelessness. The coalition's research late last year found 46 percent of homeless women lived in Auckland. "The Auckland City Mission is asking for the council to do everything in its power to communicate to government the reality of homelessness that we see here in the central city Auckland and to advocate for a system that genuinely responds to those people's needs." Robinson said that included house houses and appropriate support. "There is a real call to change the current emergency housing policies and then to work with organisations like the mission so we can provide the services people need when they truly are at that point of homelessness." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Southland lagoon at risk of ecological tipping point, warns DOC
Waituna Lagoon is on the receiving end of sediment and nutrient run-off. Photo: Supplied / Sarah Crump An ecologically significant Southland lagoon that has been plagued by algal blooms and deteriorating water quality is at risk of crossing a tipping point without intervention, the Department of Conservation says. Waituna Lagoon, south-east of Invercargill, is part of the internationally significant Awarua-Waituna Wetlands - but its position at the bottom of a 20,000ha intensively-farmed catchment area means it is on the receiving end of sediment and nutrient run-off. An independent panel is considering a consent application by the Southland Regional Council, Te Rūnanga o Awarua and the Department of Conservation (DOC) to determine if the lagoon should continue being periodically opened to the sea to manage water levels. The council used emergency powers twice last year to open Waituna Lagoon to flush out cyanobacterial bloom . At the first day of the hearing on Tuesday, DOC solicitor Pene Williams said the lagoon was an ecologically significant site that was home to native birds, fish and plants. "More than 90 species of birds have been recorded. It is a place where the arctic migratory species come in our summer, their winter. There's also waterfowl, waders, wetlands species. Some of these are at conservation concern," she said. "It's a place that people go to recreate, including to appreciate its ecological values, and its cultural values. It's the only remaining coastal lagoon on the east coast in a natural ecological condition but it remains at risk of crossing that tipping point without action being taken." During a public notification period last year, 51 people made submissions, 42 of which opposed the change. Many submitters sought changes to the frequency or duration of the lagoon openings, raising concerns the proposed higher water levels could cause flooding and impede drainage. Fish & Game and Forest & Bird objected to a proposed 20-year transition period in the plan, which would involve gradually raising the water level thresholds at which the lagoon could be opened to the sea. Both organisations wanted higher water levels to begin without delay. Williams said DOC, the council and Te Rūnanga o Awarua were committed to working with the community to restore the lagoon. "We have submissions from people who deeply care about Waituna, who have been recreating, working, observing, celebrating Waituna for generations," she said. "This [plan] is managing the lagoon as the receiving environment for what is coming down the catchment in a way which promotes hauora, and restores it." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
