The property, which is the top two floors of a large house split into two tenancies, is owned by the landlord, Aquastar Holdings Limited. The company’s sole director and shareholder is Jasu Mati Bhana, however the landlord’s agent for this tenancy is her brother, Stephen Bhana.

MBIE’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team (TCIT) first visited the property in August 2023, after receiving a complaint from one of the tenants, and identified several problems, including rotting flooring on the upstairs deck, sagging ceiling panels, and missing roof flashing. 

The landlord was issued with an improvement notice in November 2023 to address multiple suspected breaches of the Act, including a failure to maintain the property and comply with Healthy Homes Standards.  The landlord did not undertake any of the work required by the improvement notice, and so TCIT filed an application with the Tenancy Tribunal.

Following a two-day hearing in November, the adjudicator found that the landlord failed to maintain the Perspex roofing in the entranceway, ceiling panels in multiple bedrooms, the stove, the upstairs decking and roof flashing, and breached the Healthy Homes Standards for heating and ventilation. The Tribunal also found Aquastar Holdings Limited failed to comply with an improvement notice, failed to provide a compliant Healthy Homes Statement and failed to advise tenants the property’s insurance statement was available for review.

The adjudicator, Rex Woodhouse, noted the breaches were likely to be intentional.

“The effect for the tenants are that they live in a tenancy that leaks and will likely be cold and draughty, and otherwise does not have the features that they [are] paying significant rent to receive.

“…in the circumstances I find it would be just to make an order of exemplary damages, particularly taking into account that the inspector has raised these issues over such a long period of time with the landlord, and the work has not been completed, even as at the day of the hearing [in November 2024].”

Rex Woodhouse also ordered Aquastar Holdings Limited to carry out a range of maintenance on the property by 28 January 2025.

“I am minded that the landlord's manager, Mr Bhana, has been the subject of previous adverse  orders around maintenance and other obligations under the RTA, and has received restraining orders for his own rental premises where he is landlord. I have no confidence that simply ordering exemplary damages would have any material influence in ensuring that no future breaches occur to this or other tenancies for this landlord.”

Brett Wilson, National Manager, Tenancy Compliance and Investigations, said Aquastar Holdings Limited own a number of rental properties in Rotorua and should be well aware of what they must provide for each tenancy.

“Jasu Mati Bhana and her agent for this tenancy, Stephen Bhana, consistently ignored multiple requests to address a range of issues with this property. As a consequence of these actions, their tenants have been forced to live for an extended period in a property that was badly maintained and described by one investigator as ‘shocking’.

“Failing to comply with an improvement notice is an unlawful act and MBIE will not hesitate to take Tribunal action if necessary, to ensure a fair outcome for tenants.”

The Tribunal has also issued the landlord with a three year-restraining order from committing further breaches of sections 13A and 45 of the Act.

Aquastar Holdings Limited have applied for a re-hearing in the Tenancy Tribunal and have also appealed the Tribunal’s decision in the District Court. Payment of the exemplary damages has therefore been stayed but all other parts of the order must be complied with, including completing the required maintenance work.

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