What happens when you – or someone you invited – destroys the walls of your flat?
In the first edition of this brand new column, I speak to two students who have had to deal with the fallout of a rager turned rage room. Throughout this series I, a nosy neighbour on a relentless pursuit for the truth, aim to shed new light on the day to day lifestyle of students across Ōtepoti.
There is something about moving into your second-year flat that seems to compel one to ram their ket filled skull into a sheet of drywall. Freedom from parental supervisor, hall of residence administration and the absence of a frontal lobe is a potent cocktail. Sometimes self-expression takes the form of a Looney Tunes-esque, human shaped cut out between the bedroom and living room.
Lily versus Pisscasso
Recent graduate Lily told me about a 21st at her Dundas Street flat that spiralled spectacularly out of control. After turning their kitchen into a D-floor, one of their friends was having too “good of a time dancing.” He tripped and fell, leaving a sizable hole in the dry wall. Unphased by his clumsiness, the flatties covered up the damage with a nude fireman calendar they had lying round and carried on partying.
It was not a good night to be a wall, as less than an hour later Lily noticed a foot shaped hole in the living room. Then another in the hallway. And finally a third in the bathroom stuffed with a soaked toilet roll. This was no accident. Someone had seen the first hole and decided to replicate it for sport.
At that point, Lily called it. She stood on the couch, turned off the music and yelled at everyone to “get the fuck out” so loud that she lost her voice.
For months, the holes remained hidden from their landlord, behind a rotating gallery of firemen’s jugulars and a selection of printed photos of the flatmates. Lily said she dressed the remaining wall space in similar imagery to make the placement look “weirdly intentional.”
After months of interrogating their closest friends they discovered the culprit, a friend of a friend, who Lily daintily referred to as a “shit cunt.” This halfwit had observed their friend who originally fell into the wall, and thought it’d be pretty funny to make a couple of artistic replicas. After a long period of reluctance, Pisscasso was pressured to pay for the damages, calling in a tradie to do the dirty work.
While Lily and her flatmates kept the holes a secret from their landlord, Tenancy Services advises tenants to keep their property managers informed of any damages, no matter how it happened or who caused it. “We thought that we could trust all of our friends, but he clearly wasn't one,” Lily sighed. Learning is hard.
The Bunker Boys
To get a broader picture into the lifestyle of Dunedin students and the treatment of their walls, I spoke to another recent graduate, Finn.
In his Queen Street flat, Bunker, Finn helped run one of the biggest open hosts on last year's St Paddy’s day. The aptly named 14 man compound could easily be mistaken for one of those abandoned barracks lining Aotearoa’s coastline.
If you attended this host, you may have noticed the writing on the wall. Literally. The Bunker Boys had covered the interior and exterior walls with green spray paint. “We got way too excited for Saint Patty's Day,” Finn admitted. Looking back, he reckons that “[the paint] was a new charm for a bit, but we quickly realized that it was [...] our worst idea of the year.”
The landlord gave the boys two options to fix their mess. The cleanup costs would either need to come out of their bond, or they would have to repaint the place themselves. According to Tenancy Services, when a tenant or invited guest causes intentional damage to the property, the landlord can ask the tenant to repair the damage, or to pay the cost of replacement or repair. Taking the latter option, the boys grabbed a bunch of white paint and spent their final two weeks in Dunedin undoing their own handiwork. However, the chaos didn’t stop with the paint.
During the St Paddy’s festivities, multiple partygoers had stupidly decided to climb up onto the roof. When the coppers came to check in on the party, they told the tenants that they had to get everyone off the roof or else their speakers would be seized. The Bunker Boys happily complied. One of the attendees – unknown to any of the tenants – smashed one of the bedroom windows during his descent.
Finn and his flatmates asked the police and their landlord what to do. The answer was consistent: they were responsible for the people they invited over. Tenancy Services define careless damage as damage caused by a lack of attention, care or precaution. In these cases, the tenant will be liable for the cost of the damage up to four weeks’ rent or the landlord’s insurance excess – whichever is lower. So if the Bunker Boys couldn’t identify the culprit, they would need to foot the bill – and that they did. By the end of their tenancy, each Bunker resident lost $200 from their bond. The final nail in the coffin? The doors – or lack of.
Four interior doors had been battered down over the year – either because one of the boys had locked himself out of his room or because they had knocked on the cardboard-like doors a bit too hard. The landlord ended up replacing the doors himself when the boys moved out.
None of the boys seemed to mind the lack of privacy. Finn referred to it as an “open living situation”, something that the boys all “loved”. Maybe we should be taking notes. A life without doors could reform a culture of interconnection and transparency in an ever disconnected age. It’s true that a man with no pants fears no pickpocket.
Still, before you attempt your own structural renovations to a Castle Street palace, it pays to know your rights. If damage occurs – intentional or careless – you may be liable. If it’s fair wear and tear, that responsibility sits with the landlord. Communication is key. Finn’s parting advice for new tenants is that, if you have any issues, tell the landlord straight away.
If you believe your landlord has treated you unfairly, there are formal avenues available. You can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal, and OUSA Student Support and OUSA Residential Rep Zoe Eckoff are available to provide advice and guidance through the process.
So whether your walls were kicked in mid-mosh or you’re considering an avant-garde open-plan experiment, just remember: doors can be replaced, drywall can be patched, but getting your whole bond back is never guaranteed.
Smell ya later alligator.
