Illegal occupants of a St Heliers rental property valued at $2.25 million are refusing to leave after they sublet the property from the tenant.
Nina Zhao told the New Zealand Herald her family bought the four-bedroom house two years ago believing it would give them an "easy income" as a rental property.
A tenant for the property was found on Skykiwi, a local Chinese website, but the family did not do credit or police checks on the man.
The 34-year-old said her family also didn’t do any property inspections for over two years until telling the tenant in June that she wanted to move into the property.
On her first inspection of the property, she found the property was like “a rubbish dump” and the tenant had sublet the property to four additional families, who were occupying a room each.
"There was a padlock on every bedroom door and l learned from the occupants that he has been collecting rent from them and making a profit," she said.
"There was rubbish everywhere, cans of urine on the front garden and the backyard was like a jungle."
The tenant was taken to the Tenancy Tribunal by Ms Zhao for rent owed and damages to the property and issued a termination notice for 14 July.
The sublet tenants, however, refused to leave - instead inviting friends to move in.
"It then appears that (the tenant) vacated as required . . . but did nothing about the occupants left in the property," the tribunal decision says.
Ms Zhao alleged that her mother had been assaulted at the property and one of the occupants had been threatening the family.
"I will pay rent only if you take off your pants,” she accused one of the occupants of saying.
"I was really scared so I called the police," Ms Zhao said.
The police came to the house but said the matter was civil and not criminal
New Zealand Property Investors Federation executive officer Andrew King was shocked that police wouldn't act.
"It is incredible that a young woman being told to take her pants off to get rent money owed isn't an illegal act and the police won't get involved," Mr King told the NZ Herald.
Mr King said the case showed the Tenancy Tribunal system was dysfunctional.
"The people remaining in the property are not squatters but sub tenants of the original tenant that was evicted. Once the original tenant was evicted, any sub tenants were also required to leave,” he said.
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