A state housing tenant who endured years of intimidation from an unruly neighbour’s wild parties with blaring music, loud yelling, trespassing and people urinating on her fence has been awarded thousands in compensation.

The Tenancy Tribunal recently ruled Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities must pay the Auckland tenant $3000 for ongoing breaches of her quiet enjoyment of her premises. It’s the second time in just over a year the government agency has been directed to pay damages to the same tenant.

The tenant has been a client of Kāinga Ora for 25 years but her problems began in 2019 with the arrival of a disorderly neighbour in the North Shore suburb of Northcross.

The case first ended up in the Tenancy Tribunal in April 2022 where it was ruled the agency had failed to take all reasonable steps to stop the neighbour’s disruptive behaviour and the tenant was awarded $5000.

The tribunal ruled anti-social behaviour including loud parties and music at early hours, loud shouting, abusive language, intimidation, trespassing, urinating on the tenant’s fence, the neighbour’s dog defecating on her lawns and people living in the neighbour’s garage without permission was proven.

Kāinga Ora claimed, at the time, it was in the process of relocating the troublesome neighbour but more than a year later the behaviour continued unabated.

A flood of 90 complaints were received from the tenant between July 2021 and February 2022, after the organisation was given a 14-day notice to stop the issues.

But the problem didn’t go away.

When the tenant made her second application for compensation in November 2022, after suffering more months of noisy misery, Kāinga Ora again argued it was in the process of relocating the neighbour.

However in March 2023, when the second hearing was held, the tenant testified the bad behaviour had escalated.

Kāinga Ora has accepted a Tenancy Tribunal decision ruling it failed to address the ongoing behaviour of an unruly neighbour and was ordered to pay a tenant a further $3000 in compensation on top of the $5000 it had to pay in 2022 due to the same issues. Photo / RNZ

Audio recordings and police reports were produced, along with evidence the installation of a CCTV security camera to provide protection and ensure future objectionable behaviour was recorded had only added fuel to the fire.

“This perfectly legal action has been met with further harassment from the neighbour,” adjudicator J.R. Smith said in a decision released in May after the second hearing.

Kāinga Ora acknowledged receiving the tenant’s numerous email complaints, the majority regarding noise, due to the neighbour’s garage being right next to a bedroom of the tenant.

“The landlord acknowledges that some of the complaints have also related to abusive behaviour, such as pulling the middle finger and swearing at the tenants.”

Kāinga Ora submitted noise was not an interference with the tenant’s quiet enjoyment and provided noise control reports which showed enforcement officers either found no noise or no excessive noise when attending complaints.

The disorderly neighbour had been offered a number of opportunities to relocate but declined them all and was issued a 90-day termination notice in December 2022.

Smith acknowledged Kāinga Ora’s actions but noted it had ultimately failed to fix the situation.

“I have listened to audio which does demonstrate the problems the tenants are facing.”

As the noise happened on a daily basis, for extended periods of time, Smith determined it was unreasonable.

“I am also satisfied, having listened to the evidence provided, that the behaviour in question has also included swearing, shouting, and abusive language.”

The agency had a legal obligation to ensure all tenants, including the one in this case, were able to enjoy their home without undue interference from neighbours and had failed to follow through with the eviction notice.

“For this reason, I find that the landlord has failed to take all reasonable steps to stop the tenant’s neighbour from interfering with her reasonable peace, privacy and comfort in her use of the premises,” Smith said.

“I very much hope that the landlord will take concrete steps to finally resolve this situation in the very near future.”

Jones said the unruly neighbour had now agreed to voluntarily relocate, for a third time after reneging on two previous occasions.

“A suitable home has now been found for the neighbour and she will be moving shortly.”

Kāinga Ora regional director Taina Jones said it accepted Smith’s findings and acknowledged the stress the tenant experienced.

Jones also conceded the problems had dragged on longer than appropriate.

“We want Kāinga Ora homes and the communities they are in to be enjoyable places to live in and are committed to strengthening our approach to responding to disruptive behaviour when it occurs.”