The daughter of a man who died on his bed in New Plymouth has spoken about her shock when his property manager took a portion of his bond money.
Ashleigh Marshall found out her father John had died through an employee at property managers Quinovic who found his body in 2015.
She was living in Australia at the time of his death.
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Ms Marshall told Stuff she was "absolutely stream rolled" when her father's property manager took $320 in bond money to replace a damaged mattress that he had died on.
She took the case to the Tenancy Tribunal last year, claiming she had not given her permission to the property manager to take the bond.
Her Tenancy Tribunal submission argued that Quinovic was only entitled to bond money if Mr Marshall had intentionally damaged the apartment or left it in an unreasonable condition.
But she said the property managers couldn't prove this, as the damage and uncleanliness only happened because her father died.
She also said she did not agree to the bond money being used for those purposes, though she accepted the part that would be used for owed rent.
The property manager didn't send the bond form to Ms Marshall to sign, and she argued this was intentional though the property manager disputed this.
The tribunal adjudicator said that Ms Marshall had been advised the landlord wanted to claim rent, a new mattress and cleaning money from the bond.
"In the reply email Miss Marshall made no mention of the claim at all, but asked questions about a bank statement and Mr Marshall's belongings. This would have been the time for Miss Marshall to say she disagreed, but she did not do that. I find Ms Hartigan's assumption an agreement had been reached was reasonable."
The adjudicator said there was no suggest that Ms Marshall was misled or coerced. They said she could have asked her own questions about the bond and found advice from the Bond Centre and Tenancy Services, but she did not do so.
Ms Marshall's submission was dismissed and there were no changes to the bond money.
Newshub.
