Landlord alleges cannabis use, but tenant says tent at property was to keep her orchids warm
When a landlord suspected their tenant was growing cannabis in a tent on their rental property, they tried to evict her. However, the tenant claimed the tent was to keep her orchids warm during the colder months.
At a Tenancy Tribunal hearing late last year, tribunal adjudicator Michael Brennan heard from landlords Carl and Kim Lines, and the tenant of their Nelson South property, whose name is suppressed.
The Lines sought to terminate the tenancy, wanted some cabling removed, and requested access to locked areas of the property.
The tenant counter-claimed, but did not seek any specific orders.
According to the ruling, the Lines served the tenant a notice to remedy in October after a property inspection. The notice instructed the tenant to remove “cannabis plants and growing tent and rectify any electrics”. The landlord also contacted the police, who told the landlord they wouldn’t get involved in the dispute, and to settle the matter at the tribunal.
However, the landlord had not looked inside the tent, the ruling said.
“I do not find the landlord has proven any cultivation of cannabis,” Brennan said. “The landlord did not look into the tent, nor did he take any photos that might evidence drug cultivation.”
The tenant submitted the tent was used for her orchids in the colder months, Brennan noted.
The tenant acknowledged she used cannabis for medical reasons, and she supplied the tribunal with evidence that she did so legally.
“This is useful and may assuage some concerns of the landlord,” Brennan said.
The landlord also requested some cabling be removed from the property. In October, the tenant had asked if she could extend internet cabling from the main house to the sleepout.
When she didn’t get permission, she installed the cabling anyway.
Brennan said the cabling was “unauthorised, and more than a minor modification”. He agreed with the landlord’s submission that the cabling be removed.
Brennan also ordered the tenant to provide the key to a locked basement.
The adjudicator dismissed the application to evict the tenant: with no evidence to suggest cannabis cultivation, the issues were able to be rectified, which left no grounds for termination.
Due to the cannabis claims, the tenant asked for name suppression, which the adjudicator granted.