A tenant was given six hours to leave his accommodation after a Ministry of Social Development administrative issue meant he couldn't pay rent.
Despite the tenant's mother offering to cover the rent for that week, landlord AJ Safe Homes said the termination notice still stood and the tenant had to leave immediately.
The Tenancy Tribunal has now condemned the MSD-approved property management company, saying it was meant to provide vulnerable people with accommodation, and ordered it to pay $4628 in compensation and bond refunds to the tenant.
"The public expect landlords who house vulnerable persons to be familiar with the law and act lawfully, not to evict people without the required notice and in circumstances that render them homeless," tribunal adjudicator Toni Prowse said in a decision released this week.
"This is particularly so when those people are on a list from MSD that can provide urgent accommodation. This amount should be punitive. It should be significant enough that it acts as a deterrent to others."
Prowse also found AJ Safe Homes had not lodged any bonds since 2024.
"They were offering homes to those most vulnerable and knew that the bonds were being paid by the state. This should have meant that they were extremely careful about lodging those bonds with the Bond Centre."
First property fell through
The tenant, whose name is suppressed, struggles with his mental health and relied on MSD payments to get by.
In late April, the tenant was looking for somewhere to live and registered with MSD for urgent accommodation.
The tenant and his mother told the tribunal they were contacted by AJ Safe Homes, which told them it had received his details from MSD, the decision said.
AJ Safe Homes said it had accommodation available, which the tenant agreed to take, signing a boarding house tenancy agreement.
MSD paid the $1600 bond and two weeks' rent to AJ Safe Homes.
According to the decision, on the day the tenancy was supposed to start, the tenant was contacted by a person referred to in the decision as Aje from AJ Safe Homes, who told him the property was no longer available because someone else was living there.
Instead, the tenant was offered another property managed by AJ Safe Homes and moved in a few days later.
At that stage, he had not signed a tenancy agreement for that property, but agreed his bond and rent paid for the original property could be transferred to the new one.
As the tenant did not have a tenancy agreement for the new property, MSD could not process his accommodation supplement until a new agreement was signed, which happened the following day.
Because the tenant had moved into a different address from the one MSD had originally been told about, an administrative error delayed processing of his rent and accommodation supplement, meaning he could not pay rent on June 3.
Tenant evicted with six hours' notice
On June 9, at 7.46am, the tenant received an eviction notice from AJ Safe Homes requiring him to vacate the premises by 2pm that day.
The tenant was told by email that "an agent will be on site today, and the locks will be changed" and "if anyone remains on site after this time, a trespass notice will be issued and an online report lodged with police through 105".
The accompanying eviction notice said it was being given because the tenant was 13 days in rent arrears.
The decision said the tenant's mother tried to contact AJ Safe Homes on all the numbers provided in the tenancy agreement and the eviction notice, but none were answered.
She emailed, explaining they were waiting for MSD to process the new agreement and that she could pay the rent if the eviction did not proceed.
AJ Safe Homes replied that the eviction would proceed at 2pm that day. The tenant then moved out.
The tenant later found out his bond had not been lodged with the Bond Centre and that AJ Safe Homes had used it for rent, cleaning and damage costs it alleged the tenant caused.
The tenant's mother told the tribunal she was advised the company had deducted a cleaning fee of $450, an advocate fee of $450 and damage charges of $525.
Prowse said the tenant had been deprived of his bond and, because MSD generally only assists with one bond, had to borrow money to secure alternative accommodation after being evicted.
She ordered AJ Safe Homes to pay $1000 for failing to lodge the bond, $2000 for ending the tenancy without lawful grounds, and refund the $1600 bond.
AJ Safe Homes did not attend the tribunal hearing, despite being notified of it.
Prowse found the tenant had signed a boarding house tenancy agreement when the arrangement was actually a room-by-room tenancy.
In her decision, Prowse said she was concerned by the landlord's conduct.
Given the nature of the breaches, she asked the Ministry of Justice to forward the decision to the MSD and the Compliance and Investigation Team at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment so the agencies could take any steps they considered appropriate.
Graham Allpress, MSD group general manager, client service delivery, said AJ Safe Homes was removed from its registered suppliers list in May 2026.
