‘Campaign of harassment’ for tenant who lived with door-sized hole in his wall

Friday, 9 May 2025

Landlord David Bradley admitted to spending his tenant’s bond and told the Tenancy Tribunal he couldn’t repay it because he no longer had the money.

His tenant lived for over a year with a door-sized hole in his bedroom wall, exposing him to the elements.

Bradley and property manager Gary Duffin waged a “campaign of harassment,” involving threats, bottle throwing and physical altercations.

A Wellington tenant who lived with a gaping hole in his bedroom wall and had violent run-ins with his landlord and property manager discovered his bond had never been lodged -- and his landlord had spent it.

When landlord David Bradley appeared before the Tenancy Tribunal in March, he told adjudicator K Lash he wasn’t aware of the compulsory requirement to lodge the bond, and said he couldn’t repay it because he’d spent it.

However, Lash didn’t buy it: Bradley had been a landlord since the 1980s, and knew the rules.

Bradley’s Mount Cook property consisted of six units. The landlord lived there, along with his property manager Gary Duffin, and the tenant, who was granted name suppression.

There were a number of issues during the three-year tenancy, including a broken oven, and a leak that seeped out from under the kitchen lino.

The tenant also had a door-sized hole in his bedroom, the result of a DIY project Bradley had abandoned after running out of funds.

Hole in the wall

The hole was in an external wall, exposing the tenant to the weather. It was also the sole source of natural light in the room, breaking the law that says bedrooms must have a window.

The landlord had hung a mesh door over the hole with string.

“Making a large hole in a bedroom wall and leaving it there for over a year and a half is not adequate maintenance,” Lash said.

When another tenant complained, Tenancy Services investigated the property, ordering Bradley to repair the hole. He installed a window into the hole, surrounding it with “makeshift jib and stuffing”, and painted it over.

The relationship between the tenant, his property manager and the landlord was fractious.

In one incident, the tenant claimed the pair threw bottles from Duffin’s unit down to his.

Bradley denied throwing bottles himself, but said Duffin had done so, and he’d told him to stop.

There were a series of physical altercations. In one, Duffin threatened the tenant with a stick and a knife, later claiming this was self defence.

Violent confrontation

In another, Bradley hammered on his tenant’s walls late at night, later saying he thought the tenant had killed a cat.

This led to a confrontation, which sent Bradley to the hospital with broken ribs and a black eye.

Bradley tried to evict his tenant several times, which Lash found to be unlawful.

In one text, the landlord told his tenant: “we are personalitys that will never get on” (sic).

“Get your thoughts together and start making some decisions soon or I’ll make them for you,” read another. “I require cooperation from the people I allow in this building.”

Lash noted the tenant had wanted to leave, but was prevented by his finances.

“Because he has not been able to leave, he has been subject to an unhappy and dangerous home environment.”

Evidence from others at the property showed the tenant was “abusive and violent”.

However, he was not the primary instigator, Lash said.

“The combined efforts of Mr Bradley and Mr Duffin… amounted to a campaign of harassment of [the tenant], designed to force him out of the premise.”

The tenant was awarded $1000 for the landlord’s failure to lodge the bond, $1000 for the hole in the wall, $800 for the non-functioning oven, $1500 for unlawful termination notices, and $1200 for harassment.