Kirsty Maree and her children have been forced into living in a tent after her landlord built a non-compliant retaining wall. Photo: Stuff / David White
An Auckland mother has been forced to live in a tent with her two young children after her house was red stickered when a defective retaining wall built by her landlord's contractors put it at risk of collapse.
Four days before Christmas, Waiuku's Kirsty Maree was told by a council inspector she had 48 hours to vacate her home, or she would face a $200,000 fine.
She rushed to move all of their belongings into storage, and desperately needing somewhere for her seven and 10-year-old to sleep, she put a call-out on social media for a tent.
Maree has been searching rental listings, but with everything shut down for the holiday period, the blue tarpaulin tent set up on the lawn has remained her home.
She's been doing her best to keep up a brave facade for the sake of her children.
"I've been trying not to let them see me upset, but Christmas Day just wasn't the same and I couldn't pretend or put up a happy face.
"I had promised them we would go camping this year, but not like this."
Photo: Stuff / David White
Council staff have changed the locks on her home, but Maree continues to pay the power bill so that she can use a fridge set up in a shed. Fortunately, there is also an outhouse.
Maree's house was a 100-year-old villa with a distinctive bright green roof, on a large property overlooking a busy roundabout near Waiuku's township.
The owner and landlord, Paramjit Mehami, was developing two further dwellings and a dairy on the site, but the project was halted late last year.
In December, a notice was posted by council inspectors saying that a 1.5m retaining wall associated with the development had been insufficient to support Maree's home.
A bigger, more substantial retaining wall had been proposed, but subsequent earthworks which were left exposed for months had destabilised the wall, leaving the property at risk of collapse.
"The excavations are large and very deep and have been left open and unfenced, causing a further risk that a person may be injured or killed should they fall into the excavation," the notice said.
The villa where excavations are large and very deep and pose a risk to people, Auckland Council says. Photo: Stuff / David White
Mehami told Stuff he had lost half a million dollars on the failed development. He said he had given Maree's bond back and there was nothing further he could do for her.
"What can we do? Because they said they needed a tent, we already sent them money..."
"[She] has money coming from welfare... The tenant can ring welfare, and they can find a house."
Mehami said the situation had happened because his builder had "disappeared" and failed to do an "inspection" of the retaining wall.
In addition to the villa being red stickered, two new structures that were part of the development have also been demolished.
Maree said she was disappointed by the way she had been treated by her landlord. She said she had asked him for her bond back so many times that he had now blocked her phone number.
Angela Maynard of the Tenants Protection Association said that a tenant in Maree's situation ought to apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for exemplary damages and have the case considered by an adjudicator.
Maynard said that typically landlords would need to find their tenant accomodation if repairs were needed to a house which made it temporarily impractical for a tenant to stay there.
If the house was to undergo major refurbishment, or it was to be demolished, a 90-day notice period would still be required before terminating the tenancy.
Maynard also encouraged anyone who found themselves living in a tent to apply to Work and Income for emergency accomodation.
Maree said she had made an application to the Tenancy Tribunal but expects it will take months before she will get a hearing.
"No amount of money could make up for what's happened. What matters to me is accountability."
This story was first published by Stuff.