Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4748309 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat 5B, 59 Boulcott Street, Wellington Central,
Decided 12 Feb 2024 · Published 12 Feb 2024 · Application 4748309
- Rent arrears
Party names are redacted in the official published order.
Order
- By consent, [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $2,356.15 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below.
- By consent, the Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,750.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Reasons
- [The landlord's representative] attended the hearing by teleconference on behalf of the landlord. [Most of the tenants], also attended the teleconference hearing. The phone number for [Tenant 1], the last three digits being [redacted], was called but went to voicemail. As [Tenant 1] was served, the hearing proceeded in his absence.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears, outgoings, refund of the bond and refund of the application fee.
- This was a fixed term tenancy that was to go to 18 February 2024. The tenants said that, after much struggling financially, they left the property around 10 or 11 November 2023 and told the landlord this. They say they had tried to get others to live at the flat to help with the rent and that this is the first time they have rented.
- The landlord said the parties agreed the end date for the tenancy would be 22 January 2024. The tenants said they reluctantly agreed to this.
- The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing to 22 January 2024, which is $12,171.43. After discussion, the parties agreed to an order being made where the tenants agreed to pay half the rent arrears amount owing, at $6,085.71, plus the filing fee of $20.44, less the bond of $3,750.00.
- Because [The landlord/s] has been successful with the claim I reimburse the filing fee.
- All parties requested name suppression. The landlord is entitled to suppression as they have been successful with the claim. Therefore, I order that the landlord’s name and identifying details are not to be published.
- Section 95A(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“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order that all or part of the evidence given or the name or any identifying particulars of any witness or party not be published.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 evidence from the tenants was that this was the first time they had rented and were students. They said they were unaware of their obligations and how things worked and tried to communicate as much as they could with the property manager about their financial difficulties, which increased after they say [Tenant 1] disappeared, leaving the rest of them to try to cover his rent. They said they have learned a lot from what has happened with this tenancy. In the circumstances and given the evidence, I find that the tenants’ interests here outweigh the public interest in publishing their names. Therefore, I order that the tenants’ names and identifying details are not to be published.