A landlord whose rental was trashed wants more support for property investors.

A Te Aroha landlord is calling the tenancy tribunal "unfair towards landlords" after his "worst tenant" was ordered to pay only $50.44 on top of the bond after creating $25,000 worth of damage.

Peter Spitters, 72, applied for compensation, refund of the bond and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy after a tenant smashed holes in the wall, ruined the carpet and broke several doors and windows.

"There's holes all over the walls and you can see where they tried to patch them up, they kicked one of the doors in and there's stains all over the carpet and child drawings on the walls," Spitters said.

He claimed compensation of $1,092.50 to replace all the internal doors, $497.65 to replace all the skirting boards and $3,450 to plaster all of the walls.

However, the tenant was only ordered to pay $50.44 for damages and the Bond Centre was order to pay the $820 bond to Spitters.

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MARK TAYLOR/STUFF Te Aroha landlord Peter Spitters' tenants destroyed the interior of a unit, which will cost him $25,000 to fix.

While the damages to property would cost Spitters $25,000 to fix, he said he only claimed for $5,040.15 for the main damages. He said he is shocked by how little the tenant has been ordered to pay and is planning to oppose the order.

"Knowing that the tenants often don't pay the awarded damages anyway, I kept my claim to a very minimal," Spitter said.

"I only claimed for the doors as all of these were smashed off the hinges and broken, and repairs to the walls. As I was going to renovate the kitchen and bathroom, I didn't claim for any of the smashed cupboards.

Spitter has been a landlord for 35 years, currently owning around 12 properties in the Te Aroha area. He has sent two cases to the tenancy tribunal in March 2017 and July 2017 with both tenants having to pay a sizable reimbursement.

MARK TAYLOR / STUFF The carpet in the lounge and bedrooms were stained and the oven had never been cleaned.

"I have never had an outcome like this before where the damages were so severe and the judge has ruled it was not intentional therefore the tenant is not liable for the damages.

"What frustrated me the most was that [the tenant] came out of the hearing laughing because she had got away with it.

"She even admitted to locking herself out of the house and using a crowbar to open the window and she only had to pay $50. She then put a farm fencing staple into the window sill and split the timber sill.

"She also admitted that the hard-wired scope heater fell off the wall. She disconnected the live wire, and put insulation tape over the wires and put it in the wall and plastered over this. The badly patched up hole was considered to be wear and tear and although there were about 12 other holes in the lounge no compensation was allowed for any of these either."

The property is one of several in a block that Spitters owns and the tenancy began in October 20, 2009. The woman had been paying $270 a week for a two-bedroom unit with a garage attached.

Spitters said, after his tenant started a relationship with an older man, it all went "down hill" and they started having regular parties and fights broke out in the house.

SHARNAE HOPE/STUFF Te Aroha landlord Peter Spitters said he has had a few issues with tenants, but this case is the worst.

With ongoing health issues, Spitters stopped regularly inspecting the house, but never thought it would get this bad.

Eventually he said he had had enough and gave her 90 days notice to renovate the house.

Under the Tenancy Act the landlord has to produce evidence to prove that the tenant has caused the damages during the tenancy.

Spitters did not take any photos before the tenancy, as proof that the tenant did cause the damages. Neither the landlord nor the tenant could give an accurate account of when inspections took place either.

The Judge said Spitters also claimed he had discovered the damages on October 5, 2019, however, during the hearing it soon became apparent he knew of the damages well before that date.

"Peter Spitters has substantially succeeded with the claim. I have reimbursed the filing fee," the Judge said, in the tenancy tribunal order.

Spitter said the lack of support for property investors has made him consider selling his rentals. He said he's going to get all his tenants to resign one-year contracts, so this situation doesn't happen again.