What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4631889?

The tribunal order states: Stephen Grigg to pay Cynthia Dai $483.33 from the bond, calculated as shown

How much money was awarded in case 4631889?

Costs (Power For 6 Months: $343.77 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $600.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant; Rent Arrears: $760.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4631889?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4631889?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9825041-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4631889?

The tribunal order states: Stephen Grigg to pay Cynthia Dai $483.33 from the bond, calculated as shown

How much money was awarded in case 4631889?

Costs (Power For 6 Months: $343.77 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $600.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant; Rent Arrears: $760.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4631889?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4631889?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9825041-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

1971 East Coast Road, Stillwater, RD 3, Silverdale 0993 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4631889 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4631889 — net $483.33 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Rent arrears (from 29 June 2023 to 17 July 2023	$760.00		Rent arrears (from 29 June 2023 to 17 July 2023
Costs (power for 6 months	$343.77		Costs (power for 6 months
Exemplary damages: (failure to lodge bond		$600.00	(failure to lodge bond
Filing fee reimbursement		$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Total award	$1,103.77	$620.44
Net award	$483.33
Bond	$1,520.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$483.33

Order

Stephen Grigg to pay Cynthia Dai $483.33 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,520.00 immediately apportioned as follows: Cynthia Dai: $483.33 Stephen Grigg: $1,036.67

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant has applied for a reduction in rent for two weeks, from when he moved out on 29 June 2023 to the end of his 28 day notice period, being 17 July 2023.
The tenant also applied for full refund of the bond, reimbursement of the filing fee and to have the 2 years power charges waived due to the landlord having not issued him with regular power invoices, issuing him one invoice for the two years of power consumption when he asked for his bond to be released following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 17 July 2023. The landlord provided rent records which prove the tenant failed to pay rent for the last two weeks of his 28-day notice period. These records prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
During the hearing the tenant accepted he owed two weeks rent for the period 29 June to 17 July 2023.

Is the tenant responsible for payment of 2 years power consumption?

The tenancy agreement states that while water usage is included in the weekly rent, power and gas consumption will be charged separately.
The landlord confirmed that the premises did not have a separate power meter but did have a check meter that records the power usage for the premise, which is then billed to the tenant at the same rate per unit of power as the landlord is charged by the power company.
The landlord has claimed $1,375.71 for power. The tenant did not receive monthly power invoices from the landlord, could not find a copy of the tenancy agreement and so incorrectly assumed power was included in the weekly rent he paid. He was surprised when the landlord refused to sign the form to have his bond returned to him because she claimed he owed her $1,375.71 for his power consumption for the period 20/10/2021 to 29/06/2023, in addition to two weeks rent arrears.
Section 39(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) confirms “the tenant is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises or to the tenant’s use of the facilities”. He has used the power being claimed by the landlord. However, it would be unreasonable to make an award for the full amount of power consumed, when s49 of the RTA places an onus on the landlord to “take all reasonable steps to limit the damage or loss arising from a breach of the tenancy agreement, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract”. By sitting on her laurels and not providing the tenant with monthly power bills, which is what a reasonable landlord would do, she failed to take all reasonable steps to limit her damage or loss.
Given the circumstances, I find it fair to give the tenant a discount of 1.5 years of power and award the landlord the value of 6 months power, being 25% or $343.77 of the $1,375.71 claimed. Failure to lodge the bond
Stephen Grigg claims the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord accepted that she had not lodged the bond until August 2023, just prior to the parties attending mediation. She confirmed she had given the tenant her personal bank details, instead of those of the property manager she usually uses to manage all of her tenancies, and that she forgot to lodge the bond as it is usually the property manager that does this for her. I find the landlord has 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.
I find it just to require the landlord to pay a sum in the nature of exemplary damages having regard to: (a) the landlord has indicated that she has other tenancies and is aware of the obligation she has as a landlord to lodge the bond with the Bond Centre within the statutory timeframe and she did not. She retained the bond money in her personal account for nearly 2years. She only lodged the bond just prior to the mediation when the tenant became aware that his bond had not been lodged; (b) The tenant had no security for his money that he had placed in trust for the security of the landlord should he fail to meet his obligations as a tenant when the tenancy terminates; and (c) It is in the interests of the tenant, against whom the unlawful act was committed, to receive a penalty payment from the landlord for this breach of the s19(1) of the RTA; and (d) It is in the public interest to penalise a landlord for such breaches as outlined above. See section 109(3)(a) to (d) of the RTA. Fail to give notice and breach of privacy and quiet enjoyment.
A landlord must not interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of the tenant in their use of the premises. See section 38(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The tenant claims that the landlord had the outside of the premise cleaned on one occasion when he was at work without giving him notice of this work being carried out and on another occasion the outside of the premise was painted when he was at work without giving him notice of this work being carried out and therefore breached his privacy and quite enjoyment as well as her obligations to give him notice that she was going to enter the premises.
Under s48(7) of the RTA, the landlord is not required to give the tenant notice to enter the land or the facilities. Therefore, no notice was required for the landlord or the house washers/painters to enter the land to clean or paint the house while he was at work. Therefore, there has been no breach of entry rights by the landlord.
The tenant was not at home when the house was washed or painted and did not suffer any breach of quiet enjoyment or breach of privacy.
The tenant’s claims for exemplary damages for these alleged breaches are dismissed. Reimbursement of filing fee
Because the tenant has substantially succeeded with his claim, I must reimburse the filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4631889 — net $483.33 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Rent arrears (from 29 June 2023 to 17 July 2023	$760.00		Rent arrears (from 29 June 2023 to 17 July 2023
Costs (power for 6 months	$343.77		Costs (power for 6 months
Exemplary damages: (failure to lodge bond		$600.00	(failure to lodge bond
Filing fee reimbursement		$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Total award	$1,103.77	$620.44
Net award	$483.33
Bond	$1,520.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$483.33

Order

Stephen Grigg to pay Cynthia Dai $483.33 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,520.00 immediately apportioned as follows: Cynthia Dai: $483.33 Stephen Grigg: $1,036.67

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant has applied for a reduction in rent for two weeks, from when he moved out on 29 June 2023 to the end of his 28 day notice period, being 17 July 2023.
The tenant also applied for full refund of the bond, reimbursement of the filing fee and to have the 2 years power charges waived due to the landlord having not issued him with regular power invoices, issuing him one invoice for the two years of power consumption when he asked for his bond to be released following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 17 July 2023. The landlord provided rent records which prove the tenant failed to pay rent for the last two weeks of his 28-day notice period. These records prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
During the hearing the tenant accepted he owed two weeks rent for the period 29 June to 17 July 2023.

Is the tenant responsible for payment of 2 years power consumption?

The tenancy agreement states that while water usage is included in the weekly rent, power and gas consumption will be charged separately.
The landlord confirmed that the premises did not have a separate power meter but did have a check meter that records the power usage for the premise, which is then billed to the tenant at the same rate per unit of power as the landlord is charged by the power company.
The landlord has claimed $1,375.71 for power. The tenant did not receive monthly power invoices from the landlord, could not find a copy of the tenancy agreement and so incorrectly assumed power was included in the weekly rent he paid. He was surprised when the landlord refused to sign the form to have his bond returned to him because she claimed he owed her $1,375.71 for his power consumption for the period 20/10/2021 to 29/06/2023, in addition to two weeks rent arrears.
Section 39(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) confirms “the tenant is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises or to the tenant’s use of the facilities”. He has used the power being claimed by the landlord. However, it would be unreasonable to make an award for the full amount of power consumed, when s49 of the RTA places an onus on the landlord to “take all reasonable steps to limit the damage or loss arising from a breach of the tenancy agreement, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract”. By sitting on her laurels and not providing the tenant with monthly power bills, which is what a reasonable landlord would do, she failed to take all reasonable steps to limit her damage or loss.
Given the circumstances, I find it fair to give the tenant a discount of 1.5 years of power and award the landlord the value of 6 months power, being 25% or $343.77 of the $1,375.71 claimed. Failure to lodge the bond
Stephen Grigg claims the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord accepted that she had not lodged the bond until August 2023, just prior to the parties attending mediation. She confirmed she had given the tenant her personal bank details, instead of those of the property manager she usually uses to manage all of her tenancies, and that she forgot to lodge the bond as it is usually the property manager that does this for her. I find the landlord has 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.
I find it just to require the landlord to pay a sum in the nature of exemplary damages having regard to: (a) the landlord has indicated that she has other tenancies and is aware of the obligation she has as a landlord to lodge the bond with the Bond Centre within the statutory timeframe and she did not. She retained the bond money in her personal account for nearly 2years. She only lodged the bond just prior to the mediation when the tenant became aware that his bond had not been lodged; (b) The tenant had no security for his money that he had placed in trust for the security of the landlord should he fail to meet his obligations as a tenant when the tenancy terminates; and (c) It is in the interests of the tenant, against whom the unlawful act was committed, to receive a penalty payment from the landlord for this breach of the s19(1) of the RTA; and (d) It is in the public interest to penalise a landlord for such breaches as outlined above. See section 109(3)(a) to (d) of the RTA. Fail to give notice and breach of privacy and quiet enjoyment.
A landlord must not interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of the tenant in their use of the premises. See section 38(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The tenant claims that the landlord had the outside of the premise cleaned on one occasion when he was at work without giving him notice of this work being carried out and on another occasion the outside of the premise was painted when he was at work without giving him notice of this work being carried out and therefore breached his privacy and quite enjoyment as well as her obligations to give him notice that she was going to enter the premises.
Under s48(7) of the RTA, the landlord is not required to give the tenant notice to enter the land or the facilities. Therefore, no notice was required for the landlord or the house washers/painters to enter the land to clean or paint the house while he was at work. Therefore, there has been no breach of entry rights by the landlord.
The tenant was not at home when the house was washed or painted and did not suffer any breach of quiet enjoyment or breach of privacy.
The tenant’s claims for exemplary damages for these alleged breaches are dismissed. Reimbursement of filing fee
Because the tenant has substantially succeeded with his claim, I must reimburse the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4631889 — Rent arrears at 1971 East Coast Road, Stillwater, RD 3, Silverdale 0993

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4631889 — Rent arrears at 1971 East Coast Road, Stillwater, RD 3, Silverdale 0993

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for payment of 2 years power consumption?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for payment of 2 years power consumption?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions