Family find meth pipes at new rental

A family say they are thousands of dollars out of pocket after they discovered methamphetamine pipes at the Auckland rental they were moving into.

Kirsty Hattingh was about to move into a Browns Bay house with her partner and their four children aged between 14 and 18 on November 29.

They had paid their bond, letting fee and about $5000 rent, and had shifted some of their belongings to the Beach Rd property when they found six smashed P-pipes outside.

Hattingh got a meth test done, which cost hundreds of dollars, and the results showed a reading of 0.61 micrograms per 100 square metres.

Ministry of Health 2010 guidelines state that an acceptable level is less than 0.5 micrograms.

Hattingh said it took $3300 to get movers to put everything into storage units at the last minute as new tenants were moving into their old home.

They are living with a family member but have found a new rental.

A police spokesman confirmed to the Herald that police had attended the address on previous occasions but could not comment on the circumstances for privacy reasons.

Hattingh said the property manager didn’t mention previous drug use to the family and, once he saw the test results, said he had not known about it.

“It’s been a nightmare and it’s still carrying on,” Hattingh said.

Uno Property Management Specialists managing director Monica Chen said the firm “absolutely” did not know meth had been used at the property. She said the bond had been refunded and they would also refund the rent and letting fee.

The family said they wanted compensation for their emergency moving costs but Chen said she was not aware of this and would not comment on whether they would get any.