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Landlord’s son ‘intimidates tenant’

Daniel Smith

A Hastings landlord has been told to pay her tenant compensation after the woman claimed she was intimidated by her son.

Janice Forsyth allowed her son to live in a property in front of the unit lived in by the tenant, in Longlands. The tenant told the tribunal he would turn spotlights on her windows, rev motorcycles, and use chainsaws late at night to intimidate her.

Forsyth has been ordered to pay $440 compensation for failing to prevent her son from interfering with the tenant’s right to peace and quiet.

The relationship between Forsyth’s son and the tenant had soured due to a disagreement over a shared space between the two properties.

Forsyth alleges the tenant stole a temporary fence and the police had to be called to retrieve it.

The tenant told the tribunal that in response to this, Forsyth’s son screwed corrugated iron to the side of the tenant’s car port, making it difficult for her to enter or exit her car.

Forsyth said the tenant placed eggshells and dog faeces on her son’s back porch.

In a tribunal hearing in July, adjudicator Tracey Lee-Lewis ordered Forsyth to pay her tenant $220 compensation and build a fence between the properties.

But since then, the relationship between the son and the tenant further deteriorated. In a second hearing in August, the tenant told the tribunal that Forsyth’s son had continued to interfere with her quiet enjoyment of the property. She said they continuously ‘‘baited each other’’, and that the tenant was short-tempered and would text and call her constantly.

Tribunal adjudicator Lee-Lewis, who also adjudicated this second tribunal hearing, said: ‘‘I find that the landlord has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent her son from interfering with the tenant’s reasonable peace, comfort and privacy.’’

However, the tenant was not blameless as she contributed to an unsustainable relationship, LeeLewis said.

The tribunal ordered Forsyth to pay her tenant a total of $440 in compensation.

The tenant has since moved out of the property.

Business

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2021-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282286733413975

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