Dunedin landlord Michael Moneybags maintains that the possums in his London Street property’s ceiling are not an issue that he needs to fix.
Upon receiving a 14-day notice from his tenants to get rid of the possums, Moneybags did not respond. After a month, he told the tenants “the possums are not my responsibility”. He then accused the tenants of letting the possums into the flat through a gap in the roof.
The tenants, who pay Moneybags $600 per week in rent, told the Tribune that Moneybags has always refused their requests for a cat. Moneybags said a cat would “make the property dirty and annoying the neighbours”. The possums can often be heard screeching in the middle of the night.
When asked whether the same logic applied to the possums, he said that because the colony of possums had been living in the ceiling for years, there was no issue. “They’ve been there since I bought the place,” he said. He then described the tenants as “snowflakes”.