20 Sep 2018

Meth eviction compo 'an absolute joke' - tenant

From Checkpoint, 5:15 pm on 20 September 2018

People unfairly evicted by Housing New Zealand (HNZ) during flawed meth testing may also be reimbursed for money they spent on emergency accommodation.

Today HNZ announced hundreds of tenants would be compensated for being booted out of their homes, but it was unclear whether all expenses would be paid.

HNZ will assess the evicted tenants on a case-by-case basis.

Rima and Pauline Herbert were evicted from their home in 2016, along with their three grandchildren (whom they have full custody of), after a meth testing report found traces of meth in their garage.

Mr Herbert said it could have been due to his daughter smoking meth when she visited on weekends, but the readings in the report were less than half the revised safety threshold. 

The extensive warnings and recommendations in the meth report led Mr Herbert to throw away $15,000 worth of household items.

The couple were then evicted, and they took the kids - one a new-born - to a hotel for about four weeks. It cost around $700 a week.

Rima has been paying that debt back to MSD ever since, but MSD has told Checkpoint this afternoon that it would consider "what help or remedial action can be offered in each case".