Tribunal rules Kāinga Ora tenant stays despite antisocial behaviour, shooting

A Kāinga Ora tenant with 25 complaints of antisocial behaviour, six formal warnings and police call-outs over an alleged shooting has retained his tenancy after the housing agency failed to substantiate any of the complaints.

It is the second Kāinga Ora property on the same street with noise disputes to come before the Tenancy Tribunal within weeks of each other.

In February, Open Justice reported the tribunal eviction of Danielle Leaf-Marsh for noise that amounted to “psychological torture” in a house on Parera Cres, Tikipunga, Whangārei.

In a recent ruling, the tribunal heard an application from Kāinga Ora about a resident a few doors down who had been causing issues for neighbours for more than a year.

There are 16 properties in the new subdivision on Parera Cres owned by Kāinga Ora. Photo / NZME

The tenant was moved to the property by Kāinga Ora in late 2023 due to complaints about his behaviour at a prior residence.

From December 2023 to August 2024, complaints at the Parera Cres address were minor and largely concerning loud music, but as September rolled around the complaints escalated.

According to a recent decision, a neighbour raised the alarm that gang members were going to the house, which was allegedly known for selling methamphetamine.

That same month, a neighbour was allegedly threatened by someone at the address who said they were going to “jump this fence and knock you out”.

In November, a neighbour reported a group of girls with bats threatening to abuse a person who lived there and the noise complaints continued to rack up around music, barking dogs and fireworks being let off after 11pm.

For the month of January, Kāinga Ora logged 13 complaints around alleged domestic violence and a shooting outside the property involving three men carrying pistols and an assault rifle.

Police confirmed to the tribunal a shooting had occurred but that the tenant was not engaging in the investigation.

“This is clearly a non-accidental shooting so there is a high risk of retaliation and ongoing violence of a similar nature from the parties involved,” police said in the tenancy decision.

The tenant advised Kāinga Ora his son had been shot but that he was alive.

Kāinga Ora filed an urgent application with the tenancy tribunal to have the tenancy terminated, which went to a hearing on February 15.

The property sits within the Tiaki Rise development in Tikipunga, Whangārei. Photo / Denise Piper

“The sheer volume of complaints over the entire year of the tenancy and the tenant’s failure to engage with the landlord in addressing the ongoing issues, combined with the escalation of the behaviour and the involvement of guns, has led the landlord to urgently seek termination out of concern for its neighbouring tenants,” the decision said.

The tenant gave evidence to the tribunal denying all allegations.

Tribunal adjudicator Geoffrey Baker found that because the complaints came from anonymous sources and no complainant was willing to give evidence, the application to terminate lacked corroboration.

“While numerous anonymous complaints have been received, there is insufficient proof, such as personal testimony or independent reports from the local authority’s contractor, to support the allegations,” the decision said.

The tribunal was also critical that despite receiving 25 complaints, Kāinga Ora had issued only six breach notices and only two of the complaints, dogs barking and threatening the neighbour, were able to be proved.

“On the evidence before the tribunal, the landlord has failed to persuade it on the balance of probabilities that the tenant has repeatedly breached the RTA [Residential Tenancies Act] in the manner complained of in the notices issued, except for those indicated above,” Baker said.

A resident who wished to remain anonymous told NZME they were now living with the threat of recurring gun violence because they believe Kāinga Ora failed to act in a timely manner.

“The buck lies with the neighbourhood to complain and seek action when there is an issue, but Kāinga Ora should allocate tenants with more discretion to begin with.

“Moving tenants into a neighbourhood that cares is, in theory, supposed to lift tenants up, but instead, if tenants are careless, it brings everyone down. Carelessness ruptures the neighbourhood. There’s no mana. We just want to enjoy our own homes without worrying about the next violent incident,” the resident said.

Regional Kāinga Ora director Jeff Murray believed the organisation had presented more than enough evidence to warrant an eviction.

“We are disappointed that the Tenancy Tribunal process has not resulted in termination of the tenancy.

“As many of the people who raised concerns about the tenant did not want to be identified, it was challenging to present evidence to the tribunal that meets the required standards to terminate a tenancy,” he said.

Murray said the organisation would not tolerate this type of disruption to neighbours and is considering options for terminating tenancies in these circumstances.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.