MOTION TO INCREASE RENT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 67, 6 April 1937, Page 4

MOTION TO INCREASE RENT

Magistrate Decides Against Napier Landlord ORDER REFUSED A decision of interest to landlords was given by Mr J. Miller, S.M., in the Napier Magistrate's Court this morning when an application under the Fair Rents Act to increase the rent of a dwelling in Wellesley road, Napier, was dismissed. The complainant was John Vigor Brown and the defendaut Ressie Sourden, and the Beuch upheld a contention on behalf of the defendant that the speeial circumstances necessary for a magistrate to increase the basic rent were not apparent in the argument advanced by the complainant. Mr L. W. Willis appeared in support of the application and My Schierning), representing the Lahour Department. for the defendant. Mr Willis said that the landlord owned three four-roomed cottages in Wellesley road, Napier, of which th© defendant occupied one. The houses were admittedly rather old, but were in good condition, and all were of a simrlar standard. That occupied by the defendant was perhaps slightly better than the others, as it contained a hotwater cistern. At the time of the earthquake the houses were damaged, and the landlord had them repaired at some expense- After this Mrs Sourden moved into the one in question at a rental of 15/- a week. Some time after, her busband became unemployed, and as a temporary meaeure of relief only the landlord agreed to reduce the recent to 10/- a week. After some improvement in the resources of the family this was raised to 12/6 a week, but further increase on the original amount was prevented by the intervention of the Fair Rents Act. By this act the basic rent could only be raised by. the order of a stipendiary magistrate, and the landlord found himself in the position that his temporary assistance to his tenant had been th© means of barring him from the' rent to which he was entitled. The Court was therefor© aske^ to make an order increasing the rent-. For the defendant, Mr Schierning quotecf Section 7 of the Fair Rents Act, which stipulated that a landlord could not raise the basic rent— that is, £5e rent payable at May 1, 1936— unless there were speeial circumstances ro warrant it. He felt that in the present case there were no speeial circumstances. In delivering his deeision, the Magistrate upheld Mr Schierning 's contention that the circumstances of the case were not sufficient to warrant an increase in the rent payable. He therefore dismissed the application.