North Shore tenant’s $17,000 meth claim dismissed by Tenancy Tribunal

A tenant on the North Shore of Auckland has had a meth claim for thousands of dollars rejected by the Tenancy Tribunal.

The tenant made an application to claim over $17,000 from the landlord – which included all rent during his tenancy seven-month tenancy, moving costs, letting fees, carpet cleaning and meth test charges.

His claim for the Birkenhead property was dismissed by the Tenancy Tribunal Adjudicator as the meth reading was just 0.07 micrograms, which is seven times under the limit, well below the Ministry of Health guidelines of 0.5 micrograms/100cm2.

“There is no separate reading for anyone location in the premises and therefore the best evidence is that the levels tested do no exceed 0.5 micrograms,” the Tenancy Tribunal Adjudicator said.

The tenant was offered another opportunity to present a legal case which he turned down.

“I was happy with the result,” the property manager said.

New methamphetamine contamination guidelines, being developed by Standards New Zealand, are expected to be ready early next year.