Tenant wins compensation over flooding

A landlord has been ordered to pay a Timaru woman $550 compensation for various maintenance issues at a property she was renting.

The Tenancy Tribunal ruling by J Talbot ruled the landlord, DTJ Holdings Ltd, has to pay $280 compensation to the tenant for loss of amenity due to flood damage in the property.

The ruling noted there had been surface flooding on the property and under the house.

The tribunal ruled that when the tenant entered the Leckie St property in June 2019, it wasn’t correctly drained and the landlord was in breach of the law.

The landlord installed a one-metre deep sump under the property with an electric submersible pump that pumped water to the street stormwater system.

Talbot ruled that the pump was successful in draining the property, and while it was operational the landlord wasn’t in breach.

One of the pipes that carried away stormwater was damaged in a hail storm on January 8, 2020.

While the pipes weren’t repaired until July 2020, Talbot ruled the landlord was only in breach up until the tenant requested the pump be turned off on February 12, 2020, as she was concerned at the high electricity use of the pump.

The pump was not turned back on and the ruling says the tenant said the flooding got worse after it was turned off.

Talbot ruled the landlord was not at fault for the time after the pump was turned off.

Talbot also ruled the landlord was responsible for paying for the electricity cost of the pump.

He awarded the tenant $50 compensation for electricity use and ordered the landlord to pay the tenant $5 a week going forward to offset the cost of the pump.

The tenant also applied for compensation for a number of other maintenance issues, only some of which were successful.

The most significant of these was damage to the verandah roof which was caused by a hail storm on January 8, 2020.

Repairs on the roof weren’t started until July 5, six months later.

Talbot said ‘‘There is no evidence that even a temporary cover was considered. I am satisfied there was unacceptable delay, compounded by the Covid shutdown, and find that the landlord was in breach.’’

The tenant was awarded $100 compensation.

The tenant was also awarded $20 compensation for the landlord taking two months to repair a broken lock on the property’s back door, and $10 for a window that had a broken latch and cracked pane.