What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4749930 about?

The tribunal order states: Work Smart Now Limited must pay [The tenant/s] $620.44 immediately,

How much money was awarded in case 4749930?

Property Damage: $600.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4749930?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4749930?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9872059-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4749930 about?

The tribunal order states: Work Smart Now Limited must pay [The tenant/s] $620.44 immediately,

How much money was awarded in case 4749930?

Property Damage: $600.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4749930?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4749930?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9872059-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 4749930 — Exemplary damages

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4749930 — net $620.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Exemplary damages: Failure to Lodge Bond	$600.00	Failure to Lodge Bond
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$620.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$620.44

Both parties attended the hearing.

The tenant claims the landlord failed to lodge the bond with the Bond Centre within the required period.

A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received (see s 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986). This applies whether the bond is paid in part or whole.

Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00 (see s 19(2) and Schedule 1A RTA.

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) RTA).

A bond is the tenants’ money and must be lodged with the Bond Centre within the statutory time limit to protect the tenants’ interests. Lodging a bond is not a conditional obligation but a mandatory one and it is in the public interest that landlords fulfil their obligations under the Act. If no penalty is imposed there can be no deterrent.

The failure to lodge the bond must be intentional for exemplary damages to be awarded. Therefore, damages will not be awarded where non-lodgement is a genuine oversight, rather than an intentional act (Chief Executive for Housing New Zealand v Walls [1993] NZTT Auckland 548/92).

However, the Tribunal may draw an inference of intent where the landlord claims to have simply forgotten, as a landlord should have systems in place to ensure this does not happen. Exemplary damages have been awarded where: the landlord has no explanation for the non-lodgement and has other tenancies (Jones v Ying [2001] NZTT Auckland 2783/01); the landlord is experienced (Hart v Allen Realty Ltd [2003] NZTT Auckland 2183/02); and where the landlord knew of the obligation from the bond form signed by the tenant (Fu v Florendo [2013] DC Manukau, CIV-2013-092-2373).

The landlord in this case, did not lodge the bond at all. It refunded to the bond to the tenants at the end of the tenancy, on the day they contacted Tenancy Services about whether the bond had been lodged. Prior to repaying the tenants, the landlord had also claimed additional compensation from them, implying that the bond would be refunded after they had paid the compensation. Those compensation claims were not pursued by the landlord. 1

The evidence establishes that the landlord was aware of the obligation to lodge the bond. Mr Chin claims that he lodged the bond for a previous tenancy and a subsequent tenancy at this property. He said that he forgot to lodge the bond on this occasion, and that it just “never got done”.

I find that an award of exemplary damages is appropriate in this case. I award $600 as it is the first claim of this kind against the landlord.

As the tenants were the successful party, I also award reimbursement of the Tribunal filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4749930 — net $620.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Exemplary damages: Failure to Lodge Bond	$600.00	Failure to Lodge Bond
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$620.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$620.44

Order

Work Smart Now Limited must pay [The tenant/s] $620.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below: DescriptionTenant Exemplary damages: Failure to Lodge Bond$600.00 Filing fee reimbursement$20.44 Total award$620.44 Total payable by Landlord to Tenant$620.44

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant claims the landlord failed to lodge the bond with the Bond Centre within the required period.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received (see s 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986). This applies whether the bond is paid in part or whole.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00 (see s 19(2) and Schedule 1A RTA.
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) RTA).
A bond is the tenants’ money and must be lodged with the Bond Centre within the statutory time limit to protect the tenants’ interests. Lodging a bond is not a conditional obligation but a mandatory one and it is in the public interest that landlords fulfil their obligations under the Act. If no penalty is imposed there can be no deterrent.
The failure to lodge the bond must be intentional for exemplary damages to be awarded. Therefore, damages will not be awarded where non-lodgement is a genuine oversight, rather than an intentional act (Chief Executive for Housing New Zealand v Walls [1993] NZTT Auckland 548/92).
However, the Tribunal may draw an inference of intent where the landlord claims to have simply forgotten, as a landlord should have systems in place to ensure this does not happen. Exemplary damages have been awarded where: the landlord has no explanation for the non-lodgement and has other tenancies (Jones v Ying [2001] NZTT Auckland 2783/01); the landlord is experienced (Hart v Allen Realty Ltd [2003] NZTT Auckland 2183/02); and where the landlord knew of the obligation from the bond form signed by the tenant (Fu v Florendo [2013] DC Manukau, CIV-2013-092-2373).
The landlord in this case, did not lodge the bond at all. It refunded to the bond to the tenants at the end of the tenancy, on the day they contacted Tenancy Services about whether the bond had been lodged. Prior to repaying the tenants, the landlord had also claimed additional compensation from them, implying that the bond would be refunded after they had paid the compensation. Those compensation claims were not pursued by the landlord. 1
The evidence establishes that the landlord was aware of the obligation to lodge the bond. Mr Chin claims that he lodged the bond for a previous tenancy and a subsequent tenancy at this property. He said that he forgot to lodge the bond on this occasion, and that it just “never got done”.
I find that an award of exemplary damages is appropriate in this case. I award $600 as it is the first claim of this kind against the landlord.
As the tenants were the successful party, I also award reimbursement of the Tribunal filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4749930 — Exemplary damages

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4749930 — Exemplary damages

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions