Tenancy Tribunal orders landlord Jake Sim to pay tenant $3500 for unlawful entries, breaching his peace
By Tara Shaskey, Open Justice multimedia journalist, Taranaki of
Photo:
123rf
A man leaving his home for work at 6.30am went to jump into his work van but unexpectedly found his landlord sitting in it, drinking a handle of beer.
The incidents were a part of a bigger tenancy issue in which Sim turned up at the property intoxicated and banging on the doors, and on other occasions, unlawfully let himself in.
According to a recently released decision, the concerned tenant began setting "traps" to catch Sim in the act and also changed the locks, which, legally, he was not allowed to do.
Eventually, because of Sim's "behaviour", the tenant, who can not be named, gave notice to end the tenancy late last year.
Even moving out was an issue as the pair disagreed on what day the tenancy ended.
The tenant said it was 17 November, while Sim said it was the 15th.
Sim broke into the house on the 15th and was then blamed by the tenant for the alleged theft of $3000 and two rings after his gun safe was allegedly forced open.
The tenant later complained to the Tenancy Tribunal, claiming compensation and exemplary damages for alleged unlawful entries by Sim and breaches of his right to quiet enjoyment of the premises.
A recently released decision stated the tenancy started on 4 April 2022, and while the tenant paid rent from that date, he was in the process of selling his own home and did not completely move into the rental until around June 2022.
The tenant told the tribunal that on 23 April that year, he went to the rental, the location of which was redacted from the decision, and found a treadmill set up and a TV mounted on a wall.
A half-empty handle of an alcoholic drink had been left beside the treadmill.
The tenant questioned Sim, and his reply was to the effect of "I can do what I like, I own the property".
The tenant reiterated that he was paying rent and Sim could not enter whenever he liked.
But sometime during the following week, the items were removed, again, without notice being given to enter the property.
According to the decision, Sim, who lived near the rental, had not been invited over and the tenant, who took a photo of Sim in the van to use as evidence, did not expect him to be sitting in his vehicle.
The tenant's partner told the tribunal that on other occasions, Sim turned up, often intoxicated, banging on the door and calling out to her.
"She said that she stopped answering the door to him. She also gave evidence of the nature of his comments and conversation; she described it as inappropriate and made her feel uncomfortable."
The tribunal accepted her evidence and found it was consistent with the tone of Sim's messaging.
The decision stated that the tenant began "setting traps" when he was going away to see whether someone was entering the property.
While the decision didn't detail the traps, it said that when the tenant found a closed bathroom door open on his return in April 2024, he approached Sim.
He said Sim admitted to taking "a sneaky look at the bathroom".
While Sim did not turn up to the tribunal hearing, he did provide written submissions in which he said he went into the house on that occasion to look at the shower drain, though there was no evidence of it being an emergency.
Around mid-2024, the tenant changed the locks to the house.
He acknowledged it was a breach of his obligations as a tenant but said he felt he had no other option.
The tribunal ruled it would not order him to pay exemplary damages, given the context in which the locks were changed.
As the tenancy came to an end and the tenant was in the process of moving out, Sim indicated he knew the locks had been changed.
He texted the tenant saying, "I can always get in".
Sim then said he had used a lock-picking kit to let himself in on November 14. Then, on November 15, when he believed the tenancy had ended, he climbed through a window.
The tenant claimed that when he returned to the premises on November 16 to finish moving, his gun safe had been opened and $3000 in cash and two rings were gone.
Messages from Sim showed that he denied opening the safe but said he had left the house unlocked.
"I will admit to breaking in but you are not allowed to change the locks without informing the owner," he texted the tenant.
"Can you give me an indication of what was taken and I'll personally pay it back."
While the tenant sought to recover the cash from Sim, the tribunal was not satisfied there was enough evidence to prove the money and rings were removed from the safe.
But it did find that the tenancy end date was 17 November and that Sim had entered the rental unlawfully on November 15 and four other occasions.
He also "displayed a persistent, cavalier attitude to the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment of the premises", the tribunal ruled.
He was ordered to pay the tenant, who was awarded name suppression, $2000 compensation and $1500 in damages.
-This story originally appeared in the
New Zealand Herald
.
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