Landlord fined for renting out garage

An Auckland landlord has been penalised more than $16,000 for renting out his unconsented garage to a family.

The Tenancy Tribunal has ordered Manurewa landlord Satya Silan to refund $15,840 in rent and pay $750 in exemplary damages for renting out the garage as ‘‘a separate household unit’’.

The case was brought by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s tenancy compliance and investigations team.

Steve Watson, the team’s manager, said the decision should serve as a serious warning to landlords that they were running a business and were obliged to provide a warm, dry, safe home.

‘‘Allowing a family to live in an unlawfully converted garage is unacceptable as it poses a serious health and safety risk,’’ he said.

Watson said Silan came to their attention after a news article reported last year that Silan’s tenants, a family with a very young child, had to find another place to live.

‘‘Our investigations found that the Auckland Council had issued Mr Silan notices to cease using the premises as a third household unit and to remove unconsented building works, reverting the building back to a standalone garage. Mr Silan continued to rent the garage before this work was completed.’’

It was also not the first time Silan had rented the garage, Watson said. ‘‘There are significant consequences for landlords who fail to meet their obligations, and we will not hesitate to crack down on poor landlord behaviour.’’

The team is also investigating reports of tenants living illegally in commercial buildings. This was only revealed when some were affected by November’s Wellington earthquakes.

Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith welcomed the conviction, the first under the Government’s tenancy law reform passed last year.

‘‘This prosecution is significant in that it is the first time the Government has pursued a landlord for failing to provide a warm, dry, safe home,’’ Smith said.

‘‘Last year’s tenancy reforms enabled the ministry to directly prosecute landlords rather than relying on tenants to take an action in the tribunal.

‘‘The law change also introduced a requirement for smoke alarms, home insulation by July 2019 and strengthened tenancy protection when taking tribunal cases over substandard rentals.’’

It was not the intention of MBIE to prosecute in every case, he said.

‘‘Prosecutions are focused on the worst cases, where landlords have not acted in good faith or where landlords have a track record of poor compliance.

‘‘We encourage tenants to generally take issues over substandard rentals themselves to the Tenancy Tribunal, particularly with the added protections against retaliatory action provided in the 2016 reforms.’’

Silan refused to discuss the tribunal’s decision yesterday afternoon.