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It was "completely unacceptable" for an Auckland landlord to take a rifle to a rental where young children lived, the Tenancy Tribunal says.

Tenants Sara Piacun, Leroy Henriksen and their three children under 12 were left so "highly distressed, scared and worried" by the unexpected visit of their landlord they decided to end their rural Waitākere, West Auckland, tenancy.

On September 21, the couple discovered a strange car parked in their driveway.

It was the day after the tribunal had ruled in the tenants' favour, dismissing landlord Marc Whinery's allegations his tenants were using drugs, storing stolen property and had misrepresented themselves in relation to their references.

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After asking their neighbour about the car, Piacun and Henriksen called out and went looking for the owners of the car, with Henriksen carrying an axe.

In four hectares of bush and scrub behind their house, they found Whinery, his wife and their children.

Whinery had a bolt action rifle with him.

He told the tribunal he wanted to enjoy "the bush block" with his family before the property was sold.

Whinery said he had his rifle with him in case he saw a wild pig.

The tribunal detailed how a "verbal altercation" resulted in the tenants calling the real estate agent and the police. It escalated, with Whinery leaving before the police arrived.

123rf An Auckland landlord bringing a rifle and ammunition to his rural Waitākere property was a serious threat to the tenants, tribunal says (file photo).

The neighbour told the tribunal Whinery only put the rifle away after his tenants asked him to.

However, Whinery said he had put the rifle in the boot of the car after taking off the bolt mechanism.

At no time was it loaded as he had the magazine in his pocket, the tribunal heard.

But it said Whinery had interfered with the tenants' peace, comfort and privacy by going onto their property with a rifle and ammunition, arguing with them, swearing at Piacun and mocking her.

"I consider the act of bringing the gun and ammunition to the property to be a serious threat to the tenant and that the landlord did so to trouble, distress and intimidate the tenant," adjudicator T Prowse said.

The tribunal said it did not accept Whinery's version of events and he had intended to go to the tenants' property with a rifle to "intimidate" them.

With Whinery armed with a rifle and Henriksen with an axe, the tribunal reflected it could not think of a more dangerous situation.

"It is lucky that the confrontation ended as peacefully as it did," it said.

"I accept the tenant's submission that this was a deliberate decision by the landlord to show that he had some 'power' after losing his tribunal claim," the adjudicator decided.

The tribunal awarded the tenants a total of $3260 in compensation for the number of open homes, the September incident and for exemplary damages.