Town’s rental ad brutally honest
A Waikato landlord has shared a brutally honest take on what prospective tenants should expect if they shift into his semirural Te Awamutu abode.
Among the horrors listed in the TradeMe ad were a difficult neighbour who allegedly stole the landlord’s chickens and noisy trains.
The property, on the corner of Rewi St and Station Rd, is managed by struck off lawyer and ex-Waipā District Councillor, James Parlane.
The 61-year-old wants $400 a week for the two bedroom property after he claims the previous tenant didn’t pay rent and “had to get kicked out”.
The rental, having already been on the market for six months, was originally listed for $450 per week but due to a “lack of interest”, Parlane said he had reduced the price to $400 while bond payments could be scrapped for a “genuine tenant”.
The residence formed half of “a converted workshop” on the property while the other half was for Parlane’s personal “junk”.
Parlane didn’t hold back in his advertisement, detailing a contentious chicken stoush with his next door neighbour, with the matter now before the disputes tribunal, apparently.
Parlane himself has spent most of the last decade in and out of court with the ex-lawyer struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors and described as "professionally out of control".
It follows a series of run-ins with Waipā District Council, local media and other groups which saw Parlane pinged for an array of things including being sacked as a district councillor for failing to show up to meetings, breaches of fire regulations and Parlane claiming he was a victim of a witch-hunt.
Parlane even made it a condition in the listing that a potential tenant avoid talking to the “tedious” neighbour who he claims stole the chickens and is holding three hostage.
While Parlane wants “quiet working people” he offers zero photos to accommodate the long-winded listing, stating:
“I haven’t got any photos” and anyone serious about living in the property would “make the effort to visit the property themselves”.