Sign urges ‘slum lord' to clean rental
Asign reading “slumlord clean up this house” in capital letters has been erected by a disgruntled resident on the overgrown lawn of a Titirangi property.
The sign has been up for weeks after long-term tenants moved out of the rental which is overgrown, has broken windows and has rubbish strewn about it.
However, the property rental company involved says the damage is the fault of previous tenants.
A neighbour of the Golf Rd property, who asked not to be named, said in the four or five years he had been living on the street he had never seen the property maintained.
The same tenants had been living there for years, complaining of locks which didn’t work, holes in walls and no working smoke alarm, he said.
“One word, squalor, would describe it.”
The man had investigated the property after the tenants moved out three weeks ago, finding rubbish everywhere, wiring in rooms which didn’t work and, he suspected, the carpet full of fleas.
The unnamed resident said he and other neighbours had tried to contact the landlord and the letting agency over the years but they were “like a ghost — you hardly see them”.
The man said he did not know who put the sign up.
Complaints had been made to the Auckland Council but an inspector had told him no bylaws had been broken so the council had no power to act.
Auckland Council compliance response manager Max Wilde confirmed two complaints about the The sign in front of the Titirangi property. property had been made in the last month.
“The complaints referred to the section being overgrown and rubbish being left on the site. Investigation from our compliance team found that no bylaws were being breached.”
After being contacted by the Herald, compliance staff visited the property again. “We made an informal visit to the property and spoke with the property owner who is currently in the process of removing rubbish from the site,” Wilde said.
The purpose of the council’s Property Maintenance and Nuisance Bylaw was to ensure private property did not create a nuisance, he said.
“It does not cover properties purely for amenity purpose.”
An ABC Property spokesperson said it had applied with the Tenancy Tribunal for possession while the house was occupied.
This was because of rubbish and disrepair at the property, which they claimed was caused by the tenants.
The cost for lost rent, cleaning and damages was high, they said.
The Herald has tried to contact the property’s landlord. as being at risk of extinction.
The turnaround is the result of 30 years of co-ordinated efforts from the government, tangata whenua, and community groups like Forest — Dubby Henry