Reason for eviction
Reason for eviction that was given: The owner wants to live in it himself.
Extremely unlikely. I will explain further in this newsletter.

Current Office/Flat situation
Just to clarify: The Mini-Kiwiland Shop is based in an industrial area on the first floor of a commercial building. On the ground level are three businesses. On the first floor was one residential flat and an office. The office was converted into a residential unit by placing a shower in one of the toilets. That's where I reside and where I started the Mini-Kiwiland Shop.

Owner and Property Manager
To avoid confusion: The owner "He" is using a professional property management agency "She".

Multimillionaire in worst condition flat?
The owner has obviously no intention of living in this office/flat. He is a multimillionaire who owns quite a few properties. Commercial as well as residential. The Mini-Kiwiland Shop office/flat is in very poor condition. No insulation, poor heating, asbestos, smallest kitchen unit (1.1 meter), no ability to sit outside, no balcony, no fire escape option, draughty etc. etc.
The flat next door is in better condition. He has much better options, where tenants' income won't be affected and who can easily find something else, while I can't. The property manager is fully aware that choosing the worst unit for the multimillionaire means closing down the Mini-Kiwiland Shop.

Easy abuse trick for property owners
The property manager is using a popular trick to get rid of tenants they don't like or have any kind of issue with: Saying the owner need the property for own use or to do renovations. It's impossible for tenants to fight this.
That's how the property manager got rid of the previous tenants next door. She lost a court case to evict them for not cleaning the shared hallway (!), so she claimed they needed to leave because of renovations. The tenants had to leave this way and no renovations were done that justified eviction.

New Location?
As many of you know, I have been trying to move out of this place for a long time. I desperately want to leave, but I have not been able to find anything. This place has become way too small for the size of the business. It's just not working. It prevents the Mini-Kiwiland Shop from growing further.
I simply haven't been able to find anything, because hardly anything comes available.
It's pretty much impossible to find something before the eviction day.
The business is too big for a common residential property. It is not even allowed. In a residential zone you are allowed to use 10m2 for retail and 30m2 for office. I need at least 200m2.
Downsizing is also not an option. That would mean less income. Too low to be able to afford the absurd rents these days. At this stage I simply can't go anywhere after eviction and the property owner is fully aware of this.

Legal Advice?
I have spoken to the Citizens Advice Bureau and a law firm, but they were clear: It is not possible to fight the trick that property managers are using to evict people they just don't like. I explained my situation and I was advised that I should approach WINZ for emergency housing.
I also approached the Tenancy Tribunal, but the trick that property managers are using to get rid of unwanted tenants can not be fought.

Horrific WINZ
The thought of going to WINZ is the last thing I want to do. I had been on a benefit for over 10 years and dealing with WINZ was an absolute nightmare. Depending on your case manager, you are mostly treated like a no-hoper, who does not want to work, unless you prove otherwise. I applied for hundreds of jobs. All unsuccessful. I was born in Wellington, but raised in the Netherlands. I have an accent and degrees that doesn't mean anything to NZ employers. I have been self-employed my whole life, so I don't have a proven work history and experience.
I suggested WINZ to become a truck driver, but they wouldn't let me get a drivers license for it, because I had studied IT for a year in the past, so I was only good for 'clean office jobs'. On the other hand I was heavily criticized for not having applied for a Garbage Collector vacancy.
My benefit got cut in half at one stage, because I hadn't applied for IT vacancies that required years of work experience for things I had never done. My case manager told me that the IT study for a year counts as working experience, so I should have applied regardless. I hadn't met my obligations, so needed to be punished by cutting my benefit in half. I complained to the manager about her unreasonable demands. This led to a trespass notice after I had called the case manager 'nasty'.
I have had many, many painful confrontations with arrogant, unreasonable and judgmental case managers, who love to punish those on a benefit whenever they can, just to show off their power. I have witnessed seeing them doing horrible things to others as well, who have good intentions.
WINZ is to me a horrific organization.

Do not start your own business!
Starting my own business again seemed to be the only option to get off the benefit, although WINZ made it quite clear, that it was not a good idea to become self-employed and had no intention of supporting it. I should just get a proper job.
I sold all my belongings (including a 20.000+ record collection, mostly 45's) to start the Mini-Kiwiland Shop with success.

Mental Health Advice?
I was obviously devastated, angry, distraught and stressed that a property manager has the freedom to take everything away from me that I worked so hard for. I got in a dark place. I couldn't sleep and I could only think of how evil these people are and that they are supported by the law. Any thing I could do, would make me the bad guy. I didn't see any solution. I called the Mental Health line. I had no idea what to do. I was told that I just should accept the way things are. It's how things work in New Zealand. It's the law. I would always be able to receive benefits from 'helpful' WINZ, so everything will be fine in the end. No need to be stressed.
That did not comfort me at all.

So what's Next?
Things have become extremely uncertain for me. My intention for August is to continue to sell as I desperately need the money and I am still expecting shipments. I will obviously look for possible solutions, even though chances to continue The Mini-Kiwiland Shop are close to nihil. It could mean that there are delays in shipping orders. I will try to ship orders within 48 days however.
I will stop selling in September. That means no income anymore, but more time to figure out what to do.
This could all change. I have absolutely no idea, what the future will bring.

Many thanks for all your support!

Robert

As mentioned above, it is not likely that a multimillionaire wants to evict me, because he wants to live in a flat in poor condition, while he owns much better property with tenants that have income that will not be affected by eviction and that have much better chance of finding other accommodation.
The reason is not just financial. The owner could have easily increased the rent significantly if he wants to make more money.
The eviction seems purely personal. It is to punish me.

So, what could I have done that makes him want to destroy my business/income and make me homeless?

Here is the ONLY conflict that happened recently:

Do not park on Te Roto Drive!
In November last year I received a request from the property manager not to park my car near this commercial building, where I live. The businesses downstairs complained that there were not enough parking places for their customers.
The tenants of both flats upstairs always have parked several cars in front of the building on the public road and that has never been a problem.
There was indeed a parking problem when I received the request. A vaccination centre had been operating on Te Roto Drive and the Mitsubishi dealer across the street was building a new showroom. An average of 20 cars of this dealer had to be parked in the street for about a year and a half.
The vaccination centre had moved to Kapiti Road however at the time of the request not to park near the building, the Mitsubishi building was almost finished. There was only one month left.
The request came as a surprise, so I went to Chatwood Kitchens downstairs to ask what they thought what was going on. I received quite a hostile reception. They just said they wouldn't tolerate parking of tenants in front of the building and didn't want to discuss this at all. I had to talk to the owner about this, not to them. I had to leave.
I explained to the property manager that parking has never been a problem in the 13 years that I lived there and that the current parking problem would be resolved in one month anyway, when the Mitsubishi building was finished, so there was no need to change my parking habit.
After the building was finished the following month, the parking problem disappeared. There was plenty of parking space in front of the building, where the Mini-Kiwiland Shop was located. Nothing was discussed about this topic since then. Everything went back to normal.

Loud banging
Months later there was a loud constant banging inside the building after 6pm. It was coming from the Action Safety Shop below the Mini-Kiwiland Shop. I didn't think much of it at first. I though the shop was doing some building. The banging was quite loud and heavy though. It shook the whole office/flat of the Mini-Kiwiland Shop and it didn't stop.
I checked the situation downstairs, but nobody seemed to be present in the shop.
I called noise control, but they said that I should approach the owner, because it's a private property. The owner did not respond to any of my calls and messages.
I called the police and they came as they also received a phone call for a possible break-in. There was no break-in, but they did witness the loud banging that you could even hear from the outside as well. They also said that they couldn't do anything about this. I had to contact the shop in the morning.
The banging was so loud and heavy, that it was impossible to sleep. I had to stay awake the whole night and went outside to escape the noise and calm down every now and then.
Around 3pm I was so stressed that I even called the police with the idea to smash one of the windows of the safety shop, so the alarm would go off and the owner would need to come and stop the banging. The police told me that I would get arrested for this.
I went inside the Safety shop in the morning, tired and exhausted, to ask what that banging was about. The owner told me that he had placed the banging device against my flat on purpose, because I was still parking my car near the building and he would switch it on again every night until I park my car somewhere else.

I was truly shocked about this revelation. It came as a complete surprise. There had been no discussion with him about this topic at all and I wasn't aware of a 'new' problem as well. His shop is as wide as one car park, but apparently he wants at least three car parks for his customers on the public road. He also has a parking space at the back of the building, but that is private and secured. Tenants of the flats above are not allowed to park there.

I left the shop angry and called the police. The shop owner also called the police. He wanted a trespass notice for me, because I got angry with him 'for no reason'.

I explained the real reason to the police. Not only because the safety shop owner kept me awake the whole night, but also because he planned to do it again and the police had told me that I could not do anything for the risk of getting arrested and an eviction could follow.
The police officers were really surprised by the attitude of the safety shop owner and confirmed that my parking was totally acceptable and shouldn't be a problem for his customers.

They went back to the shop owner to ask him about the banging device that he failed to mention. The shop owner was not aware that the police were actually inside my office/flat to witness the banging, so he couldn't deny it. He was told not to switch the device on again and what I was doing, is no problem.

New threat
A few weeks later the safety shop owner came up to me and asked me why I was still parking my car near the building. I told him, because I live here. He told me that if I kept parking my car in front of the building he would take further action.
His threats were reported to the police.

I notified the property manager about his behaviour, but she claimed that it was not her problem. I also contacted the owner about his tenant, but he never returned my phone calls and text messages (since).

Last week I received the notice for eviction...

I was aware that the owner favours the businesses downstairs as opposed to the tenants upstairs. I have had several leakage issues, where nothing was done about until it affected the businesses on the ground level.

I have never received any communication, warning or explanation from the owner or the property manager about a possible problem or a possible eviction. It came as a complete surprise. I did confront the property manager about the real reason after receiving the notice.
Her response was: "He does things this way, because he has the right to..."

While I'm at it, I might as well mention further incidents that happened in the past to show what kind of people I'm dealing with and what I have had to go through. These have nothing to with the reason for eviction.

Do not complain!
Shortly after I moved in 14 years ago I complained about the old, rotting kitchen bench. The kitchen unit was much older than the building and was pretty much falling apart. The property owner warned me that if the owner needs to spend any money on the building, he would put up the rent. An early message to keep my mouth shut.

Being on a benefit and not being able to afford a rent increase I had to keep my mouth shut as I was afraid that a rent increase would make me homeless.

No electricity
In 2016 (before I started the Mini-Kiwiland Shop) my financial situation was so bad, that I could not afford to pay the electricity bill in the winter. My electricity got cut off and then I noticed that the light in the shared hallway for both flats got switched off as well. Apparently I had been paying for the lights in the hallway for that are on 24 hours a day for 7 years. I had no idea. I confronted the property manager. She wrote that she wasn't aware of this as well, but had no intention of doing anything about it.
Someone on a benefit that could not afford to pay for electricity needs to pay for lights in a hallway that is shared with tenants next door who all had jobs!
I calculated that the lights had cost me around $400 a year for 7 years.

Intimidation
Being on a benefit and the fear of a rent increase that I simply could not afford I just had to accept this situation. I did remove the light downstairs however. Sunlight during the day and street light during the night would give enough light in the hallway anyway. the light upstairs was essential, because there are no windows in the hallway on the first floor.

The three guys next door instantly objected and the property manager agreed. I had to place the light back near the entrance.
This was going too far for me. I refused.
The start of bullying and intimidation by the three young guys next door. Loud stamping on the stairs, banging on walls etc.

The guys discovered a new way to damage me financially. They do have their own light upstairs above their front door, but they never use it. It's connected to their electricity meter. The light in the electricity meter room on the other side their front door was apparently also connected to my meter. They kept the door of the meter room open and kept the light in that room switched on, so the light would shine on their front door.
I disconnected that light as well. The tension got higher and threatening.

Under attack
One time the 'leader of the gang' next door came up to me when I went up halfway the stairs. He demanded aggressively that I have to fix the light in the hallway. I refused and fled to my flat. He chased me.
I managed to enter my flat in time and I held a screwdriver against him for protection and to prevent him from entering my flat. He stopped at the doorway and his girlfriend, who was with him, jumped in between us. She persuaded him to stop and leave. He was so furious, that he kicked the door closed (it opens to the outside) so hard, that a part of the door post broke off.
He left and I called the police. They came and an officer showed me a picture of the 'leader of the gang' on his mobile phone. "Is that him?".
I got told off by a police officer for holding a weapon against my attacker. He explained that "It is not allowed to defend yourself in this country". I should have just called the police while he was beating me up and wait for the police to arrive.
I informed the property manager about the incident. As a result I received an official warning for "anti-social behaviour". No explanation was given.

Reward the bullies!
The property manager was really annoyed by the conflict between immature boys (yep, that included me as well) over 2 light bulbs. She was even blaming me for escalating everything. I should have just let the boys next door do what they want. That way the bullying and intimidation will stop. The neighbours denied everything anyway. They know that you can get away with pretty much anything if you simply deny things and demand proof. Your pretty much a liar yourself these days if you don't have video proof.

The property manager wrote me that I should just ignore the guys next door, fix the lights and pay for it. As a reward I would not get a rent increase of $25.00 a week...
I disagreed. I don't think bullying should be rewarded. Successful bullying will give them a reason to continue and even take it to the next level. Bullies love it when they are in full power over their victims.

Motion Sensored Lights
I came with another idea: Why not have lights installed that are motion sensored?
The property manager agreed. The owner installed the cheapest versions that are easily overruled, so they are lit permanently however. The neighbours discovered this quickly, so the light were switched on 24 hours a day again. Every time I switched it off, they'd come out of the flat and switched it on again. Even when I switched it off after midnight. The leader would leave the door of his bedroom open, so he could see the light in the hallway coming through the gaps of the front door.
Tensions continued to rise again and I started to carry a screwdriver for protection. Every time I left the flat I wanted to make sure that the neighbours were not nearby. It got really scary.

Seeing the light
The property manager called the whole situation 'pathetic' and had no intention of taking further action.
During the next inspection she asked the 'leader of the gang' why he is not just using the light outside his own door if he is complaining about not enough light in the hallway. The only light that is connected to his meter. He explained that he and is working flatmates could not afford it.
That's when the property manager finally realized that I may have told the truth. She made the decision to have all the electricity in the hallway wired to the meter of the 3 working guys. Lights were not switched on ever.

This poorly managed situation turned the neighbours into my fierce enemies. I started the Mini-Kiwiland Shop afterwards, but they did everything to sabotage me.

No signage
I wanted to place signage outside at the entrance for the Mini-Kiwiland Shop, but strangely enough the owner would only allow it if the tenants next door agree. They 'leader' didn't obviously. I tried some signage, but it got destroyed within a day.

Draughty homes are good
Over a year ago I showed the property manager a gap at the windows through which sunlight came through. It made the room cold and draughty. The property manager explained to me that draught is actually a good thing. It keeps the mould out.
It is according to the law only a health issue for new tenants, not for existing tenants, so she had no intention of doing anything about it.

Privacy
During the last inspection the property manager was suddenly taking photos of my belongings, including the entire bedroom. I told her that was private, but she told me it wasn't. She explained that she can take photos of anything inside the property as long as I am not included in the picture or my address is not written on something in the photo. That's how things are done these days, so she could show the owner the way tenants live. She did the same with the neighbours.

Leakage
One time there was a leakage that soaked the only mattress I have. I informed the property manager about the leakage, but nothing was done about it. I noticed the owner outside a few weeks later and I confronted him about the leakage. He had fixed it himself, he told me. I hadn't see him before nor was I informed that he had fixed it. He never came to inspect it and it was still leaking. He then told me that he probably fixed the wrong room. Because I had told the leakage was above the mattress, he thought that there was a leakage in the Mini-Kiwiland shop room, because that's where I sleep in the winter. The bedroom is too cold and draughty during the winter. The shop had no leaks however. He said he would fix the leakage in the 'bedroom'.
He didn't.
During the next inspection I showed the property manager where the leakage was. The weight of the water made the ceiling come down and the asbestos tiles were starting to split. She said she could not see it leaking (it wasn't raining). She also said that from her experience leaks sometimes can't be find and you will just have to accept it.
No actions were taken.
The leakage got worse during the next storm. It got so bad that I warned the neighbours downstairs to prepare for water coming down their shop. They complained to the owner and the leakage got fixed instantly.

Asbestos
The leakage caused the ceiling with asbestos tiles to come down in the middle. To a point that they could break off. I wrote the property manager that it is a health concern. She explained that asbestos is not a health concern unless you are exposed to it for 40+ years and when it starts dripping. Most buildings in Kapiti have asbestos, so she didn't see the problem.
I went to city council for advice, but got told a completely different story. The city council was shocked about the careless attitude of the property manager. Especially as she has a property business with an office in Paraparaumu Beach.
The owner knocked on my door a few weeks later. He wanted to see the damage to the tiles and nail them back to their place. He always comes unannounced and expect entrance at any time, but this time it was inconvenient, so I asked him to come back another time. He got offended and never returned to do anything about the tiles.

Fire Exit
This place never had a fire exit on the first floor for either flat. It's a death trap. It is hard to open windows. Two years ago each flat finally got a fire exit window installed. They appear to be of low quality. They are exactly like the other opening windows, but with hinges on the side instead of the top.
I open windows when I need to dry laundry inside. I don't have a dryer and it is not possible outside. The window with the hinges on the side wouldn't close however. The weight of the window caused the hinges to bend. The owner came and got angry with me for causing damage to his window. I was not allowed to open the window anymore.
It turned out that exactly the same thing happened with the fire exit window at the neighbours. It also could close again after opening, because of the poor quality window. Yet, the owner still blamed me for damaging it. He placed a blocker, so the window could only open a few centimeters.
A fire exit window with a blocker...

Even if you manage to get out during a fire, you still need to walk over fragile corrugated sheets and jump 3 meters to the floor. A tenant in a flat on the first floor around the corner got evicted by city council, because there was no escape option with stairs, while that place had a balcony. This one hasn't.
I never made an issue out of this, because I simply had nowhere else to go if the place was forced to close by city council..

Late payment
At one point I received an e-mail that I hadn't paid rent. No specifications. I wrote back that it was impossible. I had set up an automatic payment and I always make sure there's enough money.
I didn't receive any response.
Four weeks later I received another e-mail that I was owing rent. This time the amount was $75 higher. It began to become quite intimidating. And again: no specifications and again I replied that it is impossible.
This time the property manager responded with "What are you talking about?". As if I knew that I hadn't paid rent. She sent me an scan of her computer system that I had missed paying rent MORE THAN TWO AND A HALF YEARS ago!
She had added more than $10 costs to the first reminder and $75 for the second reminder without any specifications.
I still could not believed it, but you can't go back so far with online banking at Kiwibank, so I mailed Kiwibank for a clarification of what happened so long ago. They confirmed by e-mail, that there was no problem at the time and that I had paid the rent as I had always done.
I wrote her that I did pay according to Kiwibank and that she should check her own bank statements before making all these accusations.
She never responded.
Just one of the many examples of how unprofessional this agency is.

Superior Religion
At one time the property manager explained me that her religion is superior to all other religions and that all other religions know that her religion is superior and that makes the other religions scared of hers.
As an example she told me that that's the reason why Muslim countries do not dare to attack Israel. Because the Muslims are aware that her religion is superior and they are afraid of hers!
I was totally shocked by this! I could not believe what I had just heard. Is this another example of letting me know that she is in power and untouchable and that I should be afraid of her, because her religion is superior?
I don't know if she thought I am a Muslim. I'm not, but this is extremely offensive to ALL religions of course!
I could not respond. Not because I am afraid of her religion, but the power of any property manager is enough to get me evicted if I would say anything that could offend her religion.
It's just another example of how power-obsessed this property manager is and that she can get away with anything. She is not only protected by the law, but also her religion.

Especially when you are on a benefit, you do not have any rights. Any claim will work against you. Rich property managers and owners are fully aware of this and are gladly taking advantage of the weak to get richer.
And I'm afraid this is not my first bad experience with property owners. I had similar problems with property owners before I moved into this place, but I won't bore you with more stories. I'm surprised you made it this far!

Robert