Landlord Gordon Dickson, pictured here in his bio for the Southern District Health Board elections in 2019. Photo / SouthernHealth.nz
Landlord Gordon Dickson, pictured here in his bio for the Southern District Health Board elections in 2019. Photo / SouthernHealth.nz
A former political candidate rented out his “worn and tired” bach but didn’t leave as the tenants tried to move in. Instead, he slept on a mattress on the floor for days while he painted the interior walls.
The tenants were dismayed their landlord, Gordon Dickson, failed to vacate the premises, but it was Dickson who took them to the Tenancy Tribunal, filing a long list of allegations and seeking some $20,000 in compensation.
He complained of missing curtains, dirty windows, unraked leaves and a blocked drain, and accused the tenants of damaging the property and feeding wild cats - just to name a few of his allegations.
When contacted by NZME, Dickson said: “It’s a free country.” He did not answer follow-up calls or emails.
Originally from Otago, Dickson ran unsuccessful independent campaigns in both the Tauranga and Hamilton West byelections last year.
He also stood as a Labour candidate in the Selwyn electorate in 2014, and for a seat on the Otago Regional Council and Southern District Health Board in 2019.
Now his role as a landlord has featured in a Tenancy Tribunal decision released this month.
Dickson’s three-bedroom Ōhope Beach bach, built in the 1980s and carpeted with off-cuts from the dump, was so cold in winter the walls “cried” with water, the tribunal’s determination detailed.
He lived in the house before renting it to South African David Vorster and his partner Julie Strong in October 2020.
When the couple were trying to move in, Dickson stayed on, sleeping on a mattress on the floor for several days while he painted the interior walls with recycled paint he had collected from the rubbish dump.
The tribunal said the impact of the lack of insulation and heating on the tenants was "severe". Photo / 123RF
When he eventually vacated and moved to Dunedin, he left “Errol the handyman” in charge without formally appointing him or telling the tenants Errol was his agent.
Vorster said the property was in poor condition but they accepted the rental because they were under duress to find a place to live.
Meant for demolition
The bach had no insulation and the only source of heating was an old fireplace that blew smoke back into the house.
“During the cooler months of the year the house was cold and damp, the walls ‘cried’ with water running down them requiring the tenants to regularly wipe moisture away from the wall surfaces,” the tribunal said.
Dickson told the tribunal the bach was meant for demolition but he rented it out to the couple for more than a year, and has rerented it since.
After the couple’s tenancy ended in February last year, Dickson claimed compensation of $5379, before increasing it to $20,072.74 later on.
Vorster said they were simply trying to get their bond back when they filed a counter-claim in March, which included issues around their power and water charges, and lack of insulation, ventilation and heating.
They were shocked Dickson had taken them to the tribunal and that he had sought $20,000 in compensation, Vorster told NZME.
In a claim the tribunal described as “extensive” and “difficult to follow”, one of Dickson’s complaints was that the bach’s carpet had been left smelling musty.
The tenants said they had it professionally cleaned and the smell was already there when they moved in because of earlier flooding and a previous tenant who had a dog inside.
The tribunal agreed. “The carpet is old. Mr Dickson has replaced the carpet in rooms from off-cuts he finds at the rubbish dump,” it ruled.
His claim had duplicating and often incomprehensible items, like $2000 for “mail and parcel in BBQPittstop ongoing problem but no forwarding address supplied income loss”, the decision said.
There were no supporting documents for most of his allegations, which needed photographs of alleged damage and invoices for compensation.
He said the curtains and keys went missing after the tenants moved out, but the curtains were left in a box inside the house and the keys were placed in the mailbox for Errol, who confirmed receipt over the phone.
Dickson also said the tenants left the hot water cylinder on, a claim the tribunal dismissed as “spurious”. Tenants are not required to turn off the hot water cylinder and they were never asked to do so, it said.
Apart from a $75 reimbursement for power charges and $100 for the cost of removing wallpaper the tenants fixed to some exposed plywood in the lounge, all his claims were dismissed.
‘Intentional’
The tribunal said Dickson was an experienced landlord and his multiple failures - to lodge the bond, install insulation and proper heating - were intentional.
The way the tenants were charged their power and water bills was also “completely unsatisfactory”.
Behind the bach was a two-storey building which was also owned by Dickson and leased to other tenants. But the two properties shared the same address, power and water supplies.
Strong and Vorster were made to pay two-thirds of the power and water charges while the other tenant paid one-third.
This was on the basis that they were two adults and the other tenant was one, even though he often had three young adult children staying with him.
The tribunal said the allocation of charges created unnecessary stress for the tenants when the landlord should have installed separate meters for each dwelling.
Dickson did not attend the hearing in November because of his commitments in the Hamilton byelection.
The tribunal had already delayed the hearing three times at his request - including when he ran in the Tauranga byelection in May - and declined to adjourn it a fourth time.
He was ordered to immediately pay Strong and Vorster $5439.19 in compensation and damages.
The couple told NZME they are not hopeful they will see the money but are relieved to get their bond back.
