A tenant whose bedroom became so cluttered with rubbish that it reportedly left a bad smell throughout his apartment has been ordered to clean the room after his landlord took the matter to the Tenancy Tribunal.
According to a report by the New Zealand Herald, the case involved a room in a three-bedroom apartment where rubbish had reportedly accumulated to the point that the floor was difficult to access. Photos submitted to the tribunal showed takeaway food packaging, empty containers and fizzy drink bottles scattered across the bedroom.
The rubbish had also marked and stained the walls and was considered likely to have caused damage and deterioration to the carpet.
According to the recently released tribunal decision, the smell from the bedroom had spread beyond the room into the apartment's shared areas and the foyer on the same level. The landlord told the tribunal that the condition of the room was also making it more difficult to secure a new tenant, the New Zealand Herald has reported.
The landlord had initially issued the tenant with a 14-day remedy notice, giving him time to address the problem. An extension was granted over a weekend to allow the cleaning work to be completed.
However, when the room remained unclean, the landlord applied to the Tenancy Tribunal, alleging that the tenant was breaching his tenancy agreement and obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.
Tribunal adjudicator Theo Baker ordered the tenant to remove the rubbish, vacuum the bedroom and clean all surfaces. He was also ordered to reimburse the landlord $28 for the filing fee.
Both the landlord and tenant were granted name suppression.
Tenant says he was struggling to clean
During the hearing, the tenant acknowledged that he needed to clean the room but said he was finding it difficult to clear the accumulated rubbish and was experiencing a mental block.
Baker recommended that the tenant seek assistance rather than attempting to deal with the situation alone.
“It is strongly recommended that the tenant gets some help with cleaning his room,” Baker said.
“There are organisations who can provide a non-judgmental service”, the New Zealand Herald has quoted.
The tenant agreed to clean the room, allowing Baker to treat the matter as a consent order. As a result, no alternative monetary amount was imposed.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, the tribunal can issue a work order when it finds that a tenant has failed to meet their obligations. In certain circumstances, such an order can also allow a landlord to carry out the work and recover the cost from the tenant if the tenant fails to comply, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.
Warning over tenancy
The tribunal also considered whether the tenant's failure to address the condition of the room could eventually put his tenancy at risk.
A conditional termination order was not made because the landlord had not requested termination in the original application, and termination had not been included in the hearing notice.
“Termination was not mentioned in the notice of hearing that went to the parties. Therefore, I do not have the power to order a conditional termination at present,” Baker said, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.
However, the adjudicator issued a strong warning about what could happen if the tenant failed to meet his obligations.
“I also record that the tenant is in serious danger of losing his tenancy.
“If he does not meet his obligations, and the landlord follows the correct steps, it is not certain, but very likely that the tribunal would terminate on an application for termination.
“I encourage the tenant to seek help,” the New Zealand Herald has quoted.
The case highlights how serious cleanliness and rubbish-related tenancy issues can become when they affect a rental property's condition, shared spaces or other occupants, and how a problem that begins inside one bedroom can ultimately become a matter for the Tenancy Tribunal.
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