What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4426284 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

How much money was awarded in case 4426284?

Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Property Damage: $1,500.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4426284?

The primary dispute was State of repair. Related themes: Healthy homes.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4426284?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9566843-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4426284 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

How much money was awarded in case 4426284?

Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Property Damage: $1,500.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4426284?

The primary dispute was State of repair. Related themes: Healthy homes.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4426284?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9566843-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

43A Nigel Road, Browns Bay, Auckland 0630 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4426284 — State of repair

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Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4426284 — net $2,000.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Exemplary damages: Failure to maintain	$1,500.00	Failure to maintain
Exemplary damages: Breach of HHS	$500.00	Breach of HHS
Net award	$2,000.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$2,000.00

Both parties attended the hearing.

An earlier hearing was held, and an order of the Tribunal dated 13 April 2023 provides for a work order, compensation and lack of amenity in relation to the deck. The order also directed that the landlord obtain a further Healthy Homes assessment.

The order provided that the following work should be carried out by 30 April 2023: (a) Install a new lock on the back door; (b) Install a compliant rangehood in the downstairs kitchen; (c) Employ a registered builder to investigate the cause of the mould; (d) Employ a registered builder to check the safety of the deck and carry out any work required to ensure it is safe.

The hearing was adjourned to another date and the final hearing was held on 11 October 2023. Failure to maintain

[The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached their obligations under section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Under section 45, a landlord must provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.

Breaching any of these obligations is an unlawful act for which exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $7,200.00. See section 45(1A) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The landlord has failed to maintain the premises. I find they have committed an unlawful act.

Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interests of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

As directed the landlord obtained a report from a licenced building practitioner which confirms that the deck the tenants had complained of since the beginning of the tenancy was unsafe, not just due to not complying with the current building code but because of the rotting support structure. While the landlord obtained this report there was no evidence that any of the remedial work has been carried out.

The landlord also obtained a report from a builder in respect of the cause of the mould. The report found that there was a humidity level of approximately 20% on the bathroom baseboards which suggested possible water intrusion or insufficient ventilation. The report also records that the building exhibits signs of settlement, leading to rainwater runoff being directed towards the external walls.

In summary the report states that “compared to other houses and the second floor of this building, the ground floor exhibits significantly higher humidity levels.”

The landlord has failed to adequately maintain the premises and only acted in relation to the deck and mould after the Tribunal made a work order even though the tenant had complained some time ago. Even after obtaining specialist reports the repair work has not been carried out.

There has been unreasonable delay in the landlord addressing maintenance issues and as a result the tenants have lived in unsatisfactory living conditions. The landlord did not fully comply with the work order within the timeframe given. It is in the public interest for landlords to maintain the premises within a timely manner. That has not happened in this situation.

I consider that it is reasonable for the tenants to be awarded $1,500.00 for this breach. Healthy Homes standards

[The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached the landlord’s obligations under section 45(1)(bb) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA), which requires compliance with the Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) 2019 (HHS). [The tenant/s] considers that the landlord has failed to comply with the HHS ventilation standard.

Compliance dates for the HHS vary depending on the tenancy. For this tenancy the rental must comply within 90 days of the new tenancy which started on 26 June 2022. The compliance date for this property was 22 September 2022.

The landlord has failed to comply with the HHS ventilation standard and draught stopping standard. I find he has committed an unlawful act.

The ventilation standard sets out minimum expectations around windows and doors, and in particular the area of doors and windows that are openable. The standard also requires that each kitchen and bathroom have extractor fans installed with a minimum defined extraction capacity.

The draught stopping standard requires that residential premises be free from unreasonable gaps and holes that are not an intentional part of the building, which allow draughts to arise.

The HHS does provide exemptions in specific circumstances.

Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $7,200.00. See section 45(1A).

In this case I have determined that the landlord obtained a Healthy Homes assessment on 18 January 2022. This was five months before the commencement of this tenancy. The first assessment reported that the premises did not comply with the Healthy Homes standards in respect of heating, kitchen and bathroom ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage (gutters, downpipes and drains) and smoke alarms. Somehow the second assessment reported that the property complied with all standards even though there was no rangehood in the downstairs kitchen.

The Tribunal directed that the landlord obtains another assessment. That assessment dated 15 April 2023 confirmed that the premises did not comply in respect of ventilation and draughts. The landlord carried out the work required to comply and an updated assessment took place on 8 May 2023 confirming that the property now complied.

I also note that the landlord did not sign the Healthy Homes statement contained in the Tenancy Agreement which was signed by the parties on 22 June 2022.

I find Premium Rental Property Management Limited Carlos Yu committed an unlawful act.

Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interest of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) RTA.

Considering those factors, I have determined that a reasonable award for this breach is $500.00.

I make no award for reimbursement of the filing fee as this was awarded in the order dated 13 April 2023.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4426284 — net $2,000.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Exemplary damages: Failure to maintain	$1,500.00	Failure to maintain
Exemplary damages: Breach of HHS	$500.00	Breach of HHS
Net award	$2,000.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$2,000.00