Sandra has a problem.
Sandra and her husband Terry live in a small house down a private right-of-way. They have been there for a few years, and like the location. It is
handy to Terry’s work, and Sandra can easily catch the bus to her part-time job as a teacher aide.
The neighbouring house on the road frontage is a rental, and some months ago new tenants moved in. Although the previous occupants were pleasant and
quiet, the new tenants are not. After they had lived there for just two nights Sandra heard them screaming at each other, obviously holding a noisy
and heated domestic argument. This has now become a regular occurrence. They also take drugs, get drunk regularly, fight, have large and intimidating
gang members visiting, play deafening music until the early hours, and regularly have the police calling on them.
“So what”, Sandra asked, “Can we do about it?”
“Find out who is the landlord”, she was told, “And ask them to take action”.
The landlords, she has now discovered, are Housing New Zealand.
Sandra spoke to the property manager there and voiced her concerns.
“We can discuss the problem with those tenants” she was told, “And help them to behave better. We have an overall aim of maintaining sustainable tenancies
and to help people remain in, or get back to, a state of well-being and assist them to lead happy, balanced, fulfilling lives.”
“But what about us?” asked Sandra. “If these people continue to carry on like this, will you get rid of them? They are causing havoc in the neighbourhood!”
“Like all landlords, we work under the Residential Tenancies Act,” said the manager. “There are provisions under that Act...
