Tenants charged $650pw for Auckland rental with maggots and dog faeces under carpet

Renters who paid $650 per week for an Auckland property found maggots and faeces under the carpet were taken to the Tenancy Tribunal to replace it.

Jacqueline Gough and another tenant moved into the house in Albany Heights in February, paying $650 per week and signing up for a one year lease.

But after their first night in their new home, they woke up to find bites over their faces, torso, and arms, a recent Tenancy Tribunal decision says.

They were bitten again the following evening and then set off flea bombs to try to end their nighttime plight.

They pulled back the carpet and underlay and say they found live maggots and animal faeces.

When the property manager, Matt Robertson, came around he agreed to end the tenancy immediately and said they would not liable for any costs.

But the landlord then took the tenants to the tribunal, seeking $835 in rent, the $276 cost to load a container with the tenants' belongings in it and the $747 letting fee.

The claims, however, were unsuccessful.

"Mr Robertson is a representative of the landlord," Day said.

"He advised the tenants that the tenancy would end immediately and they would not be liable for rent. The tenants acted on this advice and moved out of the premises. Mr Robertson cannot later change his mind and claim for the rent that he advised the tenants they were not liable for. The tenancy had been terminated by agreement with no liability of the part of the tenants."

The landlord also sought $768 for the cost of replacing carpet, which the tenant should not have removed.

But Day dismissed that claim and said that the carpet was "laid in the 1970's and was therefore well outside its estimated useful life".

While the landlord's claims failed, so too did counter-claims from the tenants.

Day dismissed attempts by the tenants to get $140 for a cleaning fee, the $763 spent on hiring a container to move their belongings, $800 in claimed loss of earnings and $1099 spent on a new mattress after theirs got wet in the move.