What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4781250 about?

The tribunal order states: The landlord must carry out the following work to the premises, which must be

How much money was awarded in case 4781250?

Property Damage: $1,000.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4781250?

The primary dispute was State of repair.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4781250?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10092329-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4781250 about?

The tribunal order states: The landlord must carry out the following work to the premises, which must be

How much money was awarded in case 4781250?

Property Damage: $1,000.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4781250?

The primary dispute was State of repair.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4781250?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10092329-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

47A Domain Road, Glenfield, Auckland 0629 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4781250 — State of repair

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4781250 — net $1,020.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Exemplary damages: Failure to maintain	$1,000.00	Failure to maintain
Net award	$1,020.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$1,020.44

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4781250 — net $1,020.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Exemplary damages: Failure to maintain	$1,000.00	Failure to maintain
Net award	$1,020.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$1,020.44

Order

The landlord must carry out the following work to the premises, which must be completed by 7 April 2024: a. Satisfactory repair of kitchen floor by professional installer b. Replacement of all rotten decking c. Repair of wall in living room d. Repair of light at top of internal stairs
As an alternative to compliance with Order 2, the landlord must pay the tenant $1520.00 immediately.
Jade Property Management 2013 Limited As Agent For Yu-Ming Jan must pay [The tenant/s] $1,020.44 immediately.
The landlord must refund the tenant in full immediately all money paid towards fixed water charges.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The property is a 3-bedroom, 3 level house with two bathrooms. The tenant and his partner still reside there along with two flatmates. The tenancy began on 2 June 2021.
The tenants have had three main issues with the tenancy within the last 2 years. They say that nothing has been done about it. Failing to maintain: Back deck:
The tenants say that the deck is very old and has multiple issues. They first reported the issues in April 2022 when the tenant’s foot went through part of the decking.
The Tenant says there were multiple others which were either rotten or bending under his weight. In January this year (2024) the tenant’s foot went through one of the steps leading up to the top of the house. The tenant was not injured.
The tenants want preventative maintenance carried out and repairs.
I have sighted photographs of the deck taken in January this year which clearly show the deck in need of maintenance.
Since filing the application, the landlord has started repair work on the deck. The tenant says that a handyman replaced two bits of timber decking which was rotten. They accept that work is now being done on the back deck but says that it should have been done a lot sooner.
The landlord says that they were notified in April 2022 and arranged for a handyman to come and look at the deck. They could not recall the date the handyman turned up to look at the deck although say that he would have attended around the same time as the invoice was sent in June 2022.
The handyman then dealt directly with the tenant. The landlord says the handyman came several times to “clean up the deck”. During the hearing the landlord handed up her own photos dated February 2024.
During the house inspection on 7 February, she instructed the handyman to come and fix the deck. The landlord says that she did not notice the state of the decking during previous inspection in September 2023. Kitchen floor:
On 2 December 2022 the tenant reported that the kitchen floor had gaps and had started to rise and move. The damage continued getting worse. The tenant had reported this multiple times.
In July 2023 the property manager had arranged for a someone to come and assess the kitchen floor. The tenant says that all the handyman did was nail the floor back down. The nails were not flush and the problem not resolved.
The landlord says that the kitchen floor was fine with no problems. The flooring was brand new. During the inspection in April 2023 the landlord noticed that the kitchen flooring had issues. They took photos in April 2023 and reported to the owner. They say when she took photos in April 2023, she noticed some cracks in the kitchen flooring. She does not understand how the cracks occurred.
The landlord then received an invoice from the handyman dated 17 July for fixing loose floorboards in kitchen. The landlord provided photos taken in February 2024 which clearly show cracking within the floorboards.
The landlord did not contact the flooring company and ask them to attend and give an opinion on what caused the cracking and lifting. Leak in wall of the lounge:
The tenant’s heel brushed past the bottom of the lounge wall and ended up going through the gib at the bottom of the wall. The tenant stated during the hearing that he was unsure how long water had been leaking into the wall. He says that the carpet was discoloured around that area. The carpet was not wet.
The tenant says that he had reported this to the property manager soon after it happened. He also reported that the wall was damp and had mould within the wall. He only discovered this when his foot went through the wall. He says that nothing was done about this.
The tenant undertook his own moisture reading. He says that as of today the leak is fixed but there is still a hole in the wall. The tenant simply wants the hole fixed.
The landlord undertook an inspection on 4 September 2023 and took some photos. They have not yet fixed the wall. The landlord tried to suggest during the hearing that the tenant may be responsible for this damage. They have not lodged a counter claim against the tenant alleging careless or intentional damage.
Under section 45, a landlord must: • provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair
Breaching any of these obligations is an unlawful act for which exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $7,200.00. See section 45(1A) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
A delay of this magnitude to undertake repairs of these essential items relating to health and safety is unacceptable. I have carefully considered the photographs provided by the tenant in support of the application and see no evidence of these issues being attributable to the tenants. Tenants should not need to chase their landlords for compliance.
Landlords are liable for defects that they have knowledge of. They must repair defects within a reasonable time once they acquire such knowledge. As the author of Residential Tenancy Law in New Zealand explains: The landlord’s obligation of repair is not absolute. A landlord does not have to foresee a latent and unobservable defect before it causes damage... A landlord therefore must repair within a reasonable time after knowledge of the need for repair: “...the obligation of the landlord, under s 45, is to investigate and repair a defect brought to its attention within a timeframe which is reasonable in the circumstances and as to what that time is, I think, depends not only on the gravity of the problem but also on the objective evidence of the attempts made by the landlord to investigate, and put right, whatever the problem might be...”
I find it just to require the landlord to pay a sum in the nature of exemplary damages because I am satisfied that the landlord committed the unlawful act intentionally, and that, having regard to: (a)the landlord was aware of the above maintenance issues and their obligation to properly remedy the breaches of the RTA and the tenancy agreement in a timely manner; (b)the effect of the unlawful act on the tenants has been significant; (c)the interests of the tenant against whom the unlawful act was committed to receive a penalty payment from the landlord for these breaches of the landlord’s obligation to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair having regard to the age and character of the premises and the period during which the premises are likely to remain habitable and available for residential purposes and their loss of amenities; 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.
Accordingly, I find that the landlord’s failure to attend to these maintenance issues in a timely manner is a breach of section 45(1)(b). I find they have 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. Rent increase:
The tenant says that in September 2023 they were notified about a rent increase. The original rent amount was $660.00. The rent then increased to $680.00 in December 2022. The landlord then notified the tenant in September 2023 that the rent would increase to $760.00 per week effective from December 2023.
The tenant says that a fair market rent for the property is in the region of $700.00 per week for a property in good condition.
The tenant says that they pay a high rent for the property and feels that it should be maintained properly. In its current form the tenant says that the property is a health and safety issue.
The landlord stated that $760.00 per week is a fair market rent. They say that it is a 4-bedroom house and that the market rent is between $750.00 and $800.00 per week. No formal rental appraisal done on the property. The landlord does not know if the study is big enough to be used as a bedroom.
The Tenancy Services market rent tool showing that the median weekly market rental for a four-bedroom property in Glenfield, Auckland, is $820, with the range being from $740 (lower quartile) to $880 (upper quartile).
I do not consider I am qualified to appraise the rental value of the premises myself. I do not have any current appraisals from a suitably qualified valuer.
Clearly, market rent determinations are by no means a perfect science. They are a highly subjective, and at times speculative exercise. I am also not privy to private negotiations between Landlords and Tenants.
Section 25 of the RTA provides that the Tribunal may make an order reducing the rent to an amount that is in line with the market rent. The Tribunal must be satisfied that the rent payable or to become payable for the tenancy exceeds the market rent by a substantial amount.
Market rent is defined as: the rent that, without regard to the personal circumstances of the landlord or the tenant, a willing landlord might reasonably expect to receive and a willing tenant might reasonably expect to pay for the tenancy, taking into consideration the general level of rents ... for comparable tenancies of comparable premises in the locality or in similar localities and such other matters as the Tribunal considers relevant.
The onus is on the tenant to establish that rent to become payable, not only exceeds market rent, but also exceeds it by a substantial amount.
The personal circumstances of landlord and tenant are not relevant to the Tribunal's assessment and nor is the percentage of the proposed increase.
Having regard to all of the evidence I consider a rent between $750.00 and $800.00 per week is reasonable, and I accordingly leave the rent at $760.00/week. Work Order:
Where the Tribunal finds the landlord has failed to comply with any of these obligations, it may make an order for the landlord to carry out the work. See section 78(1)(e) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
If the work order is not being made by consent of both parties, the Tribunal must also make a monetary order as an alternative to compliance with the work order. This provision does not apply to any work order, or part of a work order, in relation to smoke alarms, insulation, a failure to comply with a standard of fitness under section 120C Health Act 1956, or a failure to comply with any health or safety legislative requirement. See sections 78(2) and 78(2AA) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.
The Tribunal must, on the application of a party that has wholly or substantially succeeded in proceedings, order that the party’s name or identifying particulars not be published, unless the Tribunal considers that publication is in the public interest or is justified because of the party’s conduct or any other circumstances of the case – section 95A Residential Tenancies Act.
The tenant applied for non-publication of their names and identifying details. He has substantially succeeded in the proceedings. I do not consider that publication is in the public interest or is justified because of the tenant’s conduct or any other circumstances of the case.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4781250 — State of repair at 47A Domain Road, Glenfield, Auckland 0629

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4781250 — State of repair at 47A Domain Road, Glenfield, Auckland 0629

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