Landlords try to solve methdilemma
A family left teetering on the verge of bankruptcy after their Blenheim rental property was contaminated with methamphetamine is calling for greater powers for landlords.
Jamie and Tasha McCracken want landlords who discover the Class A drug being used or manufactured in their rentals to be able to evict tenants quickly, and for those responsible to be prosecuted.
The McCrackens have set up the Facebook page ‘Landlords NZ ‘‘P Contamination’’ law change’ after a positive meth test scuppered the sale of their Blenheim house.
They had been leasing out their former family home in Blenheim when they discovered the property was contaminated while trying to sell it to afford a deposit in Rangiora.
The Tenancy Tribunal ordered the tenant to pay them about $3100 for unpaid rent and damage after a hearing in March, and their insurance company paid out to the cap of $30,000.
However, Jamie McCracken said after paying for testing, decontamination and refurbishment to return the house to the market they were still left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
‘‘The people that do this kind of thing get to walk away and do it again. They’re doing an illegal activity on your property and it seems there’s nothing you can do about it,’’ he said.
Landlords could file an application for eviction through the Tenancy Tribunal, however the usual notice period was 90 days.
McCracken said the couple started the Facebook page because they thought tenants had more rights than landlords, even when there was a positive methamphetamine test.
‘‘If ‘P’ is detected landlords should be able to evict people straight away.
‘‘You’ve got to give people so much time to get out, and they can absolutely trash the place,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s no different to someone picking up a sledge hammer, walking onto your property and swinging it around - the cops would come and arrest them for damage.’’
Landlords should have more power to evict tenants if a property was contaminated, however only if they took the right precautions and tested before and during a tenancy, McCracken said.
‘‘Landlords just don’t have enough rights when it comes to this sort of stuff.
‘‘People think landlords are loaded, that they own all this property, but most probably can’t afford this,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s putting a lot of people off renting their properties and that has a flow-on affect for all the good tenants out there.’’
McCracken and his wife also wanted to see tenants damaging properties by smoking or manufacturing methamphetamine prosecuted.
However, the problem for police, as Blenheim community constable Russ Smith said in February, was a positive meth test was not enough to link the tenant to the use of the drug in the property.
‘‘It could conceivably be a useful piece of information that would help police to make further inquiries, but on its own it’s not going to be sufficient for police to arrest someone,’’ he said.
The couple were concentrating on selling their Blenheim house, however Jamie McCracken said they had not ruled out taking further action to push for change.
They wanted to hear from other landlords with similar experiences so they could come together and be heard, he said.