Auckland landlord fined $2000 for not having smoke alarms

An Auckland landlord has been fined $2000 for failing to install smoke alarms in a rental property.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment successfully took Arie Peter Sterk to the Tenancy Tribunal for the breach last week.

Sterk has also been restrained from committing the same offence for six years, or will face further legal action.

Steve Watson, MBIE’s national manager of the tenancy compliance and investigation team, said it served as a reminder to all landlords that failing to comply with tenancy laws would not be tolerated.

“By failing to meet his legal obligations, Mr Sterk deprived his tenant of a warm, dry, and safe home, and put them at risk if there had been a fire,” said Watson.

“It is important landlords realise not installing smoke alarms correctly isn’t only a legal compliance issue, but something that can have a very real effect on tenants.

“When a landlord rents a property, they must have at least one working smoke alarm on each level, either in each bedroom, or within three metres of the bedroom door.”

The best thing a landlord could do was download the compliance checklist from the Tenancy Services website (www.tenancy.govt.nz) to ensure they were fully compliant with their obligations, Watson said.

Not installing smoke alarms can cost landlords exemplary damages of up to $4000.