Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4627771 — Rent arrears at 56 Moewai Park Road, Whitianga 3510
Decided 7 Sept 2023 · Published 7 Sept 2023 · Application 4627771
- Rent arrears
Party names are redacted in the official published order.
Order
- An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the landlord’s and tenant’s names and identifying details.
- The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at 56 Moewai Park Road, Whitianga 3510 is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], at 11:59pm on Tuesday 22 August 2023.
- [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $3,351.44 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below.
- 00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord$3,351.44
- [The landlord/s], is to retain the bond of $600.00 held by her on behalf of the tenant but not lodged with the Bond Centre.
Reasons
- [The landlord/s], attended the hearing by teleconference. [The tenant/s], the tenant, also attended the hearing by teleconference.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy, rent arrears, outgoings, refund of the bond and reimbursement of the filing fee.
- Rent was at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed. The tenancy is terminated. See section 55(1)(a) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing to 18 August 2023, which is $3,665.00. Weekly rent is agreed in the Tenancy Agreement to be $450.00 per week so daily rent is $64.28. A further 4 days rent @ $64.28 is payable from 19 August 2023 to 22 August 2023, for a sub-total of $257.12. Therefore, the tenant owes the landlord a total of $3,922.12 in rent to 22 August 2023, which is the end of the tenancy.
- The landlord is to retain the $600.00 held by her as a bond on behalf the tenant, but not lodged with the Bond Centre.
- The landlord claimed $143.39 for outstanding power bills. The landlord provided a list of amounts owing by the tenant for power but only provided 2 actual invoices from [redacted] to prove power used and owing – one for the period 12 June 2023 to 18 June 2023 in the amount of $52.23 and the other for the period 26 June 2023 to 2 July 2023 in the amount of $39.88, which comes to a sub- total of $92.11. The tenant disputed receiving many of the actual power invoices from the landlord but she did acknowledge receiving an invoice for $67.53 for the period 3 July 2023 to 13 July 2023. The 2 power bills with invoices from the power company that were provided by the landlord coming to $92.11, and the additional power company invoice acknowledged as received by the tenant for $67.53, can be proved and total $159.64. The landlord said the tenant had paid $150.76 towards the power so the tenant owes the landlord $8.88 for power bills that have been proved by the landlord with power company invoices.
- Because [The landlord/s] has been successful with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.
- Both parties requested suppression. The landlord has been successful with the claim and so is entitled to suppression as of right. Therefore, I order that the landlord’s name and identifying details are not to be published. See section 95A(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“RTA”).
- Section 95A(4) RTA provides that the Tribunal may, on the application of any party to proceedings or on its own initiative, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest, order that all or part of the evidence given or the name or any identifying particulars of any witness or party not be published.
- The tenant gave evidence that she has young children, suffers from mental health issues and lives in a small town in which things have become difficult for her due to issues between her and the landlord. In the circumstances and based on the evidence, I find that the tenant’s interests in this situation outweigh the public interest in publishing her name. Therefore, I order that the tenant’s name and identifying details are not to be published.