What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4692010 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] must pay Crystal Realty Limited and V & B Realty Limited

How much money was awarded in case 4692010?

Water Rates: $440.47 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4692010?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4692010?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9788590-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4692010 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] must pay Crystal Realty Limited and V & B Realty Limited

How much money was awarded in case 4692010?

Water Rates: $440.47 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4692010?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4692010?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9788590-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

249 Golf Road, Titirangi, Auckland 0604 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4692010 — Tenancy dispute

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4692010 — net $440.47 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Water rates	$440.47	Water rates
Net award	$440.47
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$440.47

[The tenant/s] must pay Crystal Realty Limited and V & B Realty Limited $440.47 (“the debt”), calculated as shown in the table below.

The tenant must pay the debt in order 2 at the rate of $10.00 per week.

The first payment must be made on Friday 9 February 2024 and payments must continue every Friday until the debt is paid in full.

If the tenant fails to make any payment within 2 working days of the due date, the balance of the debt owing will be payable immediately and can be enforced through the District Court.

Reasons

The hearing was held by teleconference on 13 December 2023. Both parties attended the hearing.

The landlord has applied for unpaid water rates and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

Is the tenant liable for water rates?

The tenancy commenced on 18 February 2021 and ended on 12 June 2023. The landlord claims water rates of $2,990.68 being the amount owed for the entire period of the tenancy and has provided water rates invoices in support.

The tenant believes she should not have to pay the charges because she was only informed of them after the tenancy ended and considered this unfair as she could not budget or afford to pay for them now. The tenant submitted that she had made several enquiries regarding the water charges during the tenancy but despite this she had not received a bill.

The landlord said the owner had provided WaterCare with the address for service of 249 Golf Road, Titirangi. The bills were sent to this address which was not discovered by the owner until the tenancy ended. The landlord submits that the tenant should pay the bill because she had used the water, the tenancy agreement required the tenant to pay all water charges (including wastewater consumption) and the tenant would have expected to receive water invoices from time to time.

There was an implied term in a tenancy agreement that the landlord would regularly give the water invoices to the tenants to allow payment. In the case of Woollams v Simpson (District Court, CIV 2005-004-1583, Judge McElrea, 16 March 2006), the Judge held: "[11] In my view, there is an implied term in this tenancy agreement that the landlord would provide accounts to the tenant at regular intervals so as to enable payment to be made. ... I imply such a term because it seems to me to be a necessary term to make commercial sense of the agreement. How can a tenant be expected to pay for a regular charge such as a quarterly charge unless it is told the amount of the charge from time to time? That makes nonsense of any attempt to budget, which presumably most tenants have to do, whether they be commercial or residential tenants."

In Woollams, the landlord gave all the water invoices to the tenants after the three-year tenancy ended. The judge decided that the tenants should only pay the last four months’ bills.

There was less delay in the present case (over 2 years) than in the Woollams case (three years), but the tenant gave evidence of her inability to budget to pay the charges as they arose and the same principle applied. The landlord breached the implied term by failing to send the tenant the water invoices for the period 18 February 2021 to 12 June 2023 as they were received (monthly) and therefore on similar logic as applied in Woollams, the tenant should only pay the last 4 invoices (water supplied from 22/02/2023 – 12/06/2023) being $440.47: Invoice 27 March 2023$133.84 Invoice 26 April 2023 $129.50 Invoice 26 May 2023$116.57 Invoice 26 June 2023 $60.56 Total $440.47

As the landlord has not been wholly successful with the claim, I decline to order the other party to reimburse the filing file and I decline the request for a suppression order. Taking into consideration the claim made against the tenant, which has not been fully established, I have ordered name suppression of the tenant.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4692010 — net $440.47 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Water rates	$440.47	Water rates
Net award	$440.47
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$440.47

Order

[The tenant/s] must pay Crystal Realty Limited and V & B Realty Limited $440.47 (“the debt”), calculated as shown in the table below.
The tenant must pay the debt in order 2 at the rate of $10.00 per week.
The first payment must be made on Friday 9 February 2024 and payments must continue every Friday until the debt is paid in full.
If the tenant fails to make any payment within 2 working days of the due date, the balance of the debt owing will be payable immediately and can be enforced through the District Court.

Reasons

The hearing was held by teleconference on 13 December 2023. Both parties attended the hearing.
The landlord has applied for unpaid water rates and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

Is the tenant liable for water rates?

The tenancy commenced on 18 February 2021 and ended on 12 June 2023. The landlord claims water rates of $2,990.68 being the amount owed for the entire period of the tenancy and has provided water rates invoices in support.
The tenant believes she should not have to pay the charges because she was only informed of them after the tenancy ended and considered this unfair as she could not budget or afford to pay for them now. The tenant submitted that she had made several enquiries regarding the water charges during the tenancy but despite this she had not received a bill.
The landlord said the owner had provided WaterCare with the address for service of 249 Golf Road, Titirangi. The bills were sent to this address which was not discovered by the owner until the tenancy ended. The landlord submits that the tenant should pay the bill because she had used the water, the tenancy agreement required the tenant to pay all water charges (including wastewater consumption) and the tenant would have expected to receive water invoices from time to time.
There was an implied term in a tenancy agreement that the landlord would regularly give the water invoices to the tenants to allow payment. In the case of Woollams v Simpson (District Court, CIV 2005-004-1583, Judge McElrea, 16 March 2006), the Judge held: "[11] In my view, there is an implied term in this tenancy agreement that the landlord would provide accounts to the tenant at regular intervals so as to enable payment to be made. ... I imply such a term because it seems to me to be a necessary term to make commercial sense of the agreement. How can a tenant be expected to pay for a regular charge such as a quarterly charge unless it is told the amount of the charge from time to time? That makes nonsense of any attempt to budget, which presumably most tenants have to do, whether they be commercial or residential tenants."
In Woollams, the landlord gave all the water invoices to the tenants after the three-year tenancy ended. The judge decided that the tenants should only pay the last four months’ bills.
There was less delay in the present case (over 2 years) than in the Woollams case (three years), but the tenant gave evidence of her inability to budget to pay the charges as they arose and the same principle applied. The landlord breached the implied term by failing to send the tenant the water invoices for the period 18 February 2021 to 12 June 2023 as they were received (monthly) and therefore on similar logic as applied in Woollams, the tenant should only pay the last 4 invoices (water supplied from 22/02/2023 – 12/06/2023) being $440.47: Invoice 27 March 2023$133.84 Invoice 26 April 2023 $129.50 Invoice 26 May 2023$116.57 Invoice 26 June 2023 $60.56 Total $440.47
As the landlord has not been wholly successful with the claim, I decline to order the other party to reimburse the filing file and I decline the request for a suppression order. Taking into consideration the claim made against the tenant, which has not been fully established, I have ordered name suppression of the tenant.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4692010 — Tenancy dispute at 249 Golf Road, Titirangi, Auckland 0604

At a glance

Award balance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4692010 — Tenancy dispute at 249 Golf Road, Titirangi, Auckland 0604

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Is the tenant liable for water rates?

Topics & place

Frequently asked questions

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Is the tenant liable for water rates?

Topics & place

Frequently asked questions