A landlord has been ordered to pay $5500 to a solo mother with a brain tumour after using renovations as an excuse to evict her before relisting the property days after the family moved out.
According to a Tenancy Tribunal decision, the woman and her two young children had moved into the Mosgiel home in 2020.
The property is owned by Roshan John Mureekal and Anu Abraham. It was managed by Property Brokers.
The family’s tenancy was under a one-year fixed-term agreement, which was renewed with a slight increase in rent.
As the second agreement was coming to an end, the tenant told her landlord she would be unable to renew for another year as she needed surgery for a brain tumour.
Her tenancy became periodic, and the rent was increased.
In February of this year, Mureekal emailed Tania Simpson, a business manager at Property Brokers — saying he planned to change rental agency.
He asked her to “give the tenants a notice to leave as I am planning to do some renovation before the new agents take over".
“I assume it is 90 days notice."
Simpson told him she would give the tenants notice but also said: “Please note that if the property is not being renovated as you have advised, and you have given the notice for the tenant to vacate due to these reasons, it is illegal (just so you are aware).
“Renovations mean rebuilding, repairing and upgrading areas in the house and out.”
Mureekal replied: “I am planning some work which will be hard with the tenants in place. I understand you have to give notice to tenants if the work affects their stay.”
The end of her tenancy came as a huge surprise to the woman, compounding a lot of the pressure she had been dealing with at the time.
She told the tribunal she had brain surgery in November 2022 and was still in the early stages of recovery when she got the eviction notice.
She said her children had already been settled into the local school, and she’d built up a “support network” of neighbours who were helping her recover.
The woman said that while the house was “not well maintained”, she had treated it as her “home”, even planting a garden. It meant giving up the property was very difficult.
Despite this, she moved out in April of this year.
Sleepless nights
A number of sleepless nights followed as the woman embarked on a “very stressful” journey to find a new place to live, all while recovering from brain surgery.
“She produced a letter from her Occupational Therapist in evidence confirming she could not engage fully in her rehabilitation programme as she had to prioritise relocating during this crucial time,” the tribunal decision reads.
This is why the woman was “shocked” to learn that just two days after she moved out, the property was being advertised on Trade Me for $130 a week — more than she had been paying.
She also noted that “no renovations appeared to have taken place”.
Simpson told the tribunal it was the second time her agency had given a notice to a tenant “in good faith” for it to be re-listed with another agency.
“They say that they were just as surprised as the tenant to see the property readvertised.”
Mureekal claims he was in “two minds” when deciding to sell the property, and when the tenants had found a new place to live, the market was unfavourable so he advertised it.
He also claims some carpet had been replaced with painting and outside work being done — but he was unable to provide any receipts or details about it.
Tribunal adjudicator M Allan said that based on the evidence, the eviction notice was unlawful.
“The fact that the property was immediately re-listed with another agency and advertised only four days later, at an increased rental of $130, leads me to the inevitable conclusion that notice was given so that the landlord could increase the rent.”
Allan said the effect the landlord's breach had on his tenants was “at the high end”.
“Tenants find themselves in a vulnerable position when given notice to terminate their tenancy. They must find a new home at short notice and make all of the many life adjustments that such a move entails.
“There is a strong public interest in ensuring that landlords comply with the law and only give notice when they are lawfully entitled to do so.”
The owners were ordered to pay $5500 in damages and a $20.44 filing fee.
SHARE ME