Re: Whether a landlord is liable for breaching the quiet enjoyment of one tenant for failing to enforce the terms of the tenancy agreement against a co-tenant

Zama v Feng [2020] NZTT
Wellington 4276448

This is a strange one. Bear with us.

Alessandro Zama took his landlord to the Tribunal alleging a number of breaches. On the face of it, many if not most certainly look vexatious to us (in
fact, the Tribunal dismissed his entire claim). However, one stood out as notable for landlords going forward.

 
Facts
  • In January 2020 Mr Zama joined an existing tenancy as a co-tenant;
  • The tenancy agreement has a no-pet clause; 
  • Unbeknownst to the landlord, two of Mr Zama’s co-tenants kept two cats at the premises. Mr Zama knew about the cats when he moved in;
  • In August 2020, the landlord became aware of the cats through a text message from Mr Zama;
  • Mr Zama issued a 14-day breach notice to the landlord for failure to enforce the no-pet provision in the tenancy agreement;
  • The landlord issued a 14-day notice to the pet-owning co-tenants to re-home the cats but subsequently changed his mind and allowed the cats to stay.
 
The law

Under s38(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord must not cause or permit any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy
of the tenant in their use of the premises. 

 

The claim

Mr Zama made a claim against the landlord for $2,000 compensation on the basis that the cats had disturbed his reasonable peace and had it not been the
landlord’s failure to enforce the no-pet provision the cats would not be at the property in the first place.

 

Outcome

The Tribunal dismissed...