A Living Hell [22/07/2001] PRODUCER: PETER STEVENS REPORTER: ANNA KENNA Karen Intro: It was a shocker of a story that burst into the headlines a few weeks back. The story of a poor family living in a hellhole, a squalid garage infested with rats and cockroaches. The landlords, a West Auckland family, were fined a record $40,000 for renting out a property the court said was unfit for human habitation. But there's much more to this story. The landlords have a very different version of events. Anna Kenna has been finding out about their own 'living hell'. REPORTER: Do you think it was right of them to let you stay in a place like this? CARL MURPHY: No. ANNA (V/O): For the media, it was a story made in heaven - all the classic characters; the victims: a poor family forced to live in squalor; the villains: Asian landlords too ashamed to show their faces. And the heroes: the local council and their lawyer who brought the case to justice. And here they are, the landlords - the Law family of West Auckland - chastened and hurting. Daughter, Macy. MACY LAW: My mum has been crying most of the time. ANNA: Can you ask your mum how upsetting it was? TRANSLATION - mother cries. ANNA (V/O): The Laws were fined $40,000 but that’s not why they’re upset. They’re upset because they believe they’re the victims, unfairly exposed, they say, as uncaring landlords who exploited a poor family. But the Laws say if anyone’s been exploited it’s them. They say the Auckland property portrayed as a rat-infested dump, is very different to the property they rented out 4 years ago. Aik Gan Law, Kim Lan Lai and their three children actually lived in the place themselves when they first arrived in New Zealand. They took this home video which shows it in apparently good order. MARION LUBKE: It looked like brand new interior. ANNA (V/O): Marion Lubke and Norma van der Griend also saw the property 4 years ago and had wanted to rent it because they liked the look of it. MARION LUBKE: Pretty much white walls, it looked like brand new carpets, I can’t say if they were brand new but it was clean and tidy. There was really nothing wrong with it. ANNA (V/O): But today the place lies empty, condemned as insanitary and unfit for human habitation. James Law is home from Singapore to help his parents deal with the fallout. (I/V): So this is one of the number of different doors been on it. JAMES LAW: Yeah, probably the sixth or seventh door. Basically all these holes are made by this hand washing basin. ANNA: So the basin was ripped out and you think the holes were bashed in the wall. (V/O): Just the latest drama in a long line of problems the Laws have had since becoming landlords four years ago. They’d been living in this primitive water village in Brunei before coming to New Zealand and considered the housing stock of West Auckland palatial after what they’d been used to. They bought the Rathgar Road property just 3 weeks after arriving here. It consists of 2 dwellings, a 3-bedroom home in the front, which they rented out to Marion Lubke and Norma van de Griend, and a 4-bedroom unit, the so-called garage at the back. The back unit was let at $180 a week, to Moana Te Whata, who told the laws she was a single parent with 4 children. But later, they say without their knowledge, Carl Murphy moved in. NORMA VAN DER GRIEND: Then there turned up about 5 dogs on chains and on treadmills, and one dog got locked in the boot which my friend told the bloke off about, and he started to threaten her and the place just turned into a nightmare so we ended up having to leave because of that. JAMES LAW: We first got to know that he was living there when we receive a complaint from the neighbour. The neighbour complained about him, that someone is harassing them and then having dogs chained all around the place. MARION LUBKE: I was threatened by Mr Murphy. I had to call the police at one stage because I got so afraid. ANNA (V/O): The Laws say they were also scared of Carl Murphy and the dogs. For 4 years they claim they watched their property deteriorate, sometimes not getting rent for weeks, but too frightened to do anything about it. (I/V): Why didn’t you kick them out if they were such bad tenants? MACY LAW: My mum has been like trying to be understanding that she is a mother with 4 kids so we didn’t actually force them to pay the rent as soon as possible. Even though their rent is more than 3 weeks in arrears we had the right to kick them out, but we didn’t. ANNA (V/O): The events leading up to the Laws being prosecuted began a year ago when a council officer visited the property to investigate a drainage problem and noticed what he suspected was an unpermitted dwelling at the back. (TO CAM): When a council officer came to inspect the property, the tenants wouldn’t let him in. They wouldn’t let the Laws in either when they came to look over the property in response to the council complaint. Then virtually overnight, after more than 4 years living here, Moana Te Whata, Carl Murphy and the children moved out. The next day the Laws say they found the property trashed and fittings missing. JAMES LAW: So that washing basin there has been ripped off from here. This part has been ripped off and you can see the pieces on the floor. Someone must have used some sort of tools to punch on the walls. ANNA (V/O): Carl Murphy wouldn’t be interviewed for this programme but through his lawyer, he told 20/20 he and his family had no knowledge of the vandalism. (I/V): What did you think when you saw all that damage? JAMES LAW: We were shocked. MACY LAW: We were really upset and I told my parents that we should just report to the police and see what they can do. ANNA (V/O): The police found no sign of forced entry and didn’t take the case any further. JAMES LAW: See the big holes here. ANNA (V/O): But as well as the damage, there were other modifications - holes apparently cut in the walls of a bedroom. (I/V): They look as though they've been drilled don't they? JAMES LAW: They've been drilled nicely into a round circle. ANNA: So who’s plastered up those holes? JAMES LAW: The tenants. ANNA (V/O): Again, through his lawyer, Carl Murphy told us that some of the walls had to be repaired because of moisture damage. In an adjoining room the tenants apparently used for storage, more holes, and fragments of foil stapled to the walls. Also in here, clay balls commonly used in water-based plant growing. The Waitakere City Council wasn't able to inspect the property until after the tenants had moved out and it had been vandalised, but they say the damage wasn’t relevant to their decision to prosecute. Council lawyer, John Watson. JOHN WATSON: The only thrust in the case was that the building was insanitary; the way it was constructed was insanitary. ANNA (V/O): The council said the building was damp and mouldy and shouldn’t be lived in, that it had multiple structural problems, poor drainage and a concrete floor that was too low. Inside, they said the kitchen was unhygienic, the shower difficult to clean and no hand washing facilities. They took the Laws to court for breaching the Building Act, for letting people live in insanitary conditions. (TO CAM): The judge agreed and fined the Laws over $40,000. But while they accept there were problems with the building construction, they say that wasn’t their fault and that the penalty was far too harsh. (V/O): The Laws argue they didn’t build the place or convert it. They bought it in a private sale in which the vendor was careful to absolve himself of any legal comeback. (I/V): Some people would say you’ve broken the law, you've got to pay. The fact that you didn't understand the law is no excuse. MACY LAW: But the judgement has to be a reasonable one to tell us that we actually know that we have done something wrong. It doesn’t feel fair to put everything, like even take lies into consideration and put us into the blame. ANNA (TO CAM): The Laws say claims of rats, cockroaches and squalor were over the top. In the 4 years they say the tenants had lived there they’d never complained of such things. JAMES LAW: Even after they have moved out, they never complained about the dampness and the insanitary at all. ANNA: But they said to the court that they complained 10 or 20 times. JAMES LAW: Well that’s what they say. ANNA (V/O): But what the tenants said was central to the council’s case. Although Carl Murphy’s name wasn’t on the Tenancy Agreement, they called him to testify against the Laws. JOHN WATSON: Mrs Murphy signed the Tenancy Agreement but Mr Murphy gave evidence that he lived there for 4 years and this was accepted by the court. ANNA (V/O): 20/20s inquiries reveal Carl Murphy has criminal convictions, including burglary and shoplifting, and has used several aliases. As well as testifying in court he fronted up for media interviews. CARL MURPHY: We had a lot of leakage coming in the whole house. It was damp, cold, all the drama. REPORTER: Any rooms in particular which were really bad? CARL MURPHY: Well basically all the rooms were bad. When we first moved in there, the first year and a half maybe two years, we had a washing machine that was situated in the kitchen area and all our drainage that came out of the washing machine, went into the sink. REPORTER: The council said that there were rats and cockroaches and there was a lot of mould. CARL MURPHY: Yeah. ANNA (V/O): Murphy said he'd seen rats up to a foot long in the kitchen JAMES LAW: Where they said the rat has been coming from is from that hole there which was meant for the laundry fitting. There was a pipe there. ANNA (V/O): We called the experts in. Mark Cross, a pest control specialist said he couldn’t find signs of rats inside the house. As for the cockroaches, he did find signs of past problems but said it wasn’t a serious infestation. (I/V): So they never complained about rodents in here? JAMES LAW: No, they never complained about rodents, never complained about cockroaches, never complained about dampness, never complained about anything. ANNA (V/O): But Carl Murphy insisted he did complain, many times. KIM HILL (on radio): You asked the landlord to try and make it better? CARL MURPHY: Yeah, many times we complained to the landlord in the 4 years about things that had gone wrong with the house, to fix it up. ANNA (V/O): But Carl Murphy wasn’t so keen to appear for our cameras, despite several visits to his home. Later his lawyer sent a letter telling us Carl Murphy’s silence didn’t mean he or his family accepted any allegations against them. But the conviction of the Laws relied on more than the testimony of Carl Murphy. Council experts presented an appalling picture of the property but failed to point out to journalists that it had been recently vandalised. JOHN WATSON: The holes in the wall made no difference to the insanitary nature of the building. ANNA: But it made a lot of difference to the way the public saw the building and regarded the way the landlords had allowed people to live in it. JOHN WATSON: I can’t control how the public perceive the building. ANNA: A cynic might say that the council wished to portray the building in the worst possible light to justify the prosecution. JOHN WATSON: The building was portrayed on the basis of the facts put before the court, as proven in court, and that’s the facts that were put before the public. ANNA (V/O): But the Laws claim some of those facts were exaggerated. For example the council made much of the dampness and mould. JAMES LAW: It's been left untouched for over a year. I mean if there was any mould it should be here, all over the place, if it's that damp. ANNA: So you haven’t gone around and wiped the surfaces? JAMES LAW: No way. ANNA (V/O): In a media release they said the shower and toilet were separated by a sheet of corrugated iron. It’s actually gib board and corrugated plastic. The rat and cockroach problem - well they didn’t check that themselves - they took the tenants' word for it. As for the lack of hand washing facilities, well the reason for that is fairly obvious. To find out how bad the property was we commissioned our own inspection. Greg O’Sullivan from Prendos Ltd, is the president of the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors. O’Sullivan said some of the council’s findings were overstated and what he called picky, but his verdict overall... GREG O'SULLIVAN: If I did a report on this place I would say that it is good rough storage and actually not a place that human beings should actually live in. I have to be honest with that. ANNA (V/O): And that’s why the Laws were prosecuted. But given all the circumstances and their ignorance, was the penalty too harsh? Not at all say the council, who get $36,000 of the fine imposed by the court. JOHN WATSON: I accept that the Laws are new immigrants in the country, but as a citizen or a resident of New Zealand, you must comply with New Zealand laws. I believe, whereas they may be surprised to find themselves in the way of this prosecution, that they’re not in any way victims. ANNA (V/O): But the Laws feel like victims. It’s been a horrible introduction to a new country. Unknowingly buying a dodgy property, being prosecuted for renting it out, and then being exposed as supposedly callous landlords. (I/V): What’s it been like for you watching your parents go through this with their names splashed all over the paper? MACY LAW: We actually find them talking in the living room at 3 or 4 in the morning most of the time. They just couldn’t sleep. JAMES LAW: For the whole 12 months I have never really seen them being really happy because there’s something, a big pressure, a big storm in their heart. NORMA VAN DER GRIEND: I know there's a lot of bad landlords out there, but he’s just not one of them and I just don’t like seeing what's happening over it. MARION LUBKE: Maybe because the Laws are Asians they cannot speak up for themselves, and they’ve been taken for a ride I think. ANNA (V/O): The Laws are planning to appeal the judgement. To pay the legal bills, expected to be around $30,000, they’re going sell the Rathgar Road property. Their only income then will be from the sewing Kim Lan Lai does for an Auckland clothing factory. With 2 students to support she already works 60 hours a week. The money’s not great but one things for sure - it’s a far safer occupation than renting out houses.