Evans under fire again over tenancy act breach

Tauranga City councillor Hayden Evans breached the Residential Tenancies Act when he failed to lodge a $1400 bond paid to him by tenants of his rental property in Ohauiti.
Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator John Smith described Mr Evans' breach as "deliberate and serious".
It resulted in "exemplary" damages of $400 being awarded to the tenants who brought the case to the tribunal. A further $300 in damages were awarded against Mr Evans for another infringement of the Act.
The $1400 bond should have been lodged with the Department of Building and Housing within 23 working days of his tenants paying the bond on January 20 this year.
However the Tenancy Tribunal decision showed Mr Evans only lodged the bond after Mr Smith directed him in writing in an order dated June 9.
Mr Smith instructed Mr Evans to lodge the bond by June 23, but the $1400 cheque sent to the Bond Centre was dated July 20.
This meant Mr Smith delayed releasing his decision on the July 10 hearing until August 5 - after the cheque had been processed.
Mr Evans' failure to lodge the bond until July 20 followed controversial disclosures in May that he owed council $11,000 in unpaid water and general rates - dating back two and-a half years.
His rates arrears were cleared a couple of weeks before the $1400 bond was lodged.
Mr Evans told the Tenancy Tribunal that he deliberately decided not to lodge the bond because his tenants were late paying their rent.
However Mr Smith said the landlord's rent summary showed payments were up to date at the time the bond should have been lodged. He agreed with the tenants' claim for damages and awarded them $400.
The tenants, Leena Reweti and Thomas Hohepa, also claimed for damages for Mr Evans requiring them to pay rent before the expiry of the period for which rent had already been paid - something prohibited under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Mr Smith awarded damages of $300 for this breach of the Act. He said Mr Evans was "not inexperienced" and had been a landlord for about six years.
"The landlord tried to obtain additional security beyond that lawfully available," he said.
Mr Evans told the hearing that his former wife normally managed the rentals, but she had not done so for about three years. He said a four-week bond did not provide sufficient protection for a landlord if a tenant defaulted on rent.
Once the $700 of damages was deducted from what Mr Smith ruled was owed to Mr Evans by the tenants, it left $827 payable to Mr Evans from the $1400 bond, leaving the tenants with $573.
The tenants missed their eighth rent payment of $800, but paid the next three instalments before the tenancy agreement was terminated on April 18.
Mr Smith said the tenants' belief that their rent was up to date was based on a misapprehension about the amount of rent paid in advance at the start of the tenancy.
Mr Evans claimed $540 cost of cleaning after the tenants had left, but Mr Smith reduced this to $240, saying the photographic evidence was minimal and of poor quality.
Mr Smith said the cleaner's invoice showed she charged her time at $45 including GST.
"The invoice was written by the landlord on one of his goods order forms. It is not signed by the cleaner. Although it includes GST, there is no GST number provided.
"The landlord says that this is the same rate the cleaner charges him. The rate is at the high end of the scale charged by cleaners," the decision said.
Mr Smith upheld $300 of Mr Evans' $350 claim for for repairs to patches of walls - two of which were conceded by the tenants. A $187 claim was accepted for household items.
Mr Smith ruled against Mr Evans' $2200 claim for repairs to the 150m unsealed driveway.
 He said the evidence had established that the steep top section of the driveway was difficult to negotiate. "From time to time, people had difficulty getting up the track without skidding, and in some cases had to be towed. The problem was not confined to this tenancy."