Tenants evicted from Pāpāmoa house after one ran brothel, the other spat on landlord

The women signed a rental agreement for a two-bedroom beachfront property in Papamoa Beach Rd in December. Their landlords lived directly upstairs. Photo / NZME

Two women who rented the downstairs unit of a beachfront property have been booted less than three months into their tenancy, after one operated a brothel and the other spat on the landlord.

The tenants were taken to the Tenancy Tribunal by their landlords, who lived in the upstairs section of the Pāpāmoa property. A third tenant also lived on the same property under a separate boarding arrangement.

The landlords - a couple - claimed that throughout the tenancy, they were abused, threatened, and had their peace disturbed.

According to the Tribunal, the women first signed the rental agreement for the Pāpāmoa Beach Rd property on December 2 - chosen by the landlords because they "presented well" and had good references.

The pair told the landlords they operated a commercial cleaning business and had recently moved from Hamilton.

But days into the tenancy, it was clear no cleaning equipment was being stored at the property. Instead, the Tribunal found there were men coming and going in the small hours - looking for one of the women "who was conducting a service".

On one occasion, a male visiting the property entered the section of the property where the boarder was living, separate to the women's section of the property.

Shortly into the tenancy, the landlord also discovered that one of the tenant's references was their own mother, and this had not been declared.

Over the three-month period, multiple associates of the two women also came and went from the property.

In one incident on January 5, a friend of the women told the landlords he would visit the property with "100 patched gang members and smash you and your house".

The comment came after the landlords installed a security camera in an attempt to prevent unwanted visitors.

In another incident, the neighbouring boarder left a note with the pair asking them to cease intimidating her. An altercation ensued, leading to the occupants of the property next door hearing the racket and calling the police.

Those same neighbours were also earlier abused by the women, who had threatened to kill their dog.

A final incident occurred on January 31, when the landlord was upstairs and heard an altercation between one of the women and his own wife. The tenant was standing in the owner's private part of the property and was being asked to leave.

The landlord then yelled at the tenant to leave, and also yelled at her demanding payment of overdue rent. The woman responded by calling the landlord an "ignorant n****r" and spat in his face. The police were called and the landlord laid a complaint.

In a decision released last month, the Tribunal determined the woman's act of spitting on the landlord constituted an assault.

In investigating whether or not the other woman was running a brothel, the Tribunal conducted an online search of her phone number. It was discovered the woman was advertising sex services under the name Charli.

The police also provided information to the Tribunal on the number of vehicles coming and going from the property.

The Tribunal ordered the immediate eviction of the two tenants, as well as payment of the filing fee of $20.44.

The woman offering sexual services did not engage in the hearing, telling the Tribunal she was travelling for a bridal party. Her flatmate didn't attend either, but the Tribunal noted she did send abusive messages to the property managers during the hearing.