How much money was awarded in case 4797637?

Cleaning: $400.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $242.93 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4797637?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4797637?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10213638-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 4797637?

Cleaning: $400.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $242.93 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4797637?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4797637?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10213638-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 4797637 — Cleanliness

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4797637 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4797637 — net $663.37 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Lock/key replacement	$242.93	Lock/key replacement
Cleaning	$400.00	Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$663.37
Bond	$1,142.93
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$663.37

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the parties’ names and identifying details.

The tenants must pay the landlords $663.37 from the bond calculated as shown in the table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the balance of the bond of $1,142.93 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: [The landlord/s]: $663.37 [The tenant/s]: $479.56

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.

The landlords claim the cost of lock changing and cleaning after the tenancy ended.

The tenants dispute the claims and claim the bond and exemplary damages.

There was a mediated order awarding the landlord their expenses connected with ending the tenancy early and they have been paid to the landlord from the bond. The tenants were paid $397.07 from the bond leaving bond in the sum of $1,142.93 being the total of the disputed claims. Locks

Tenants must, at the end of the tenancy, return all keys provided to them for the premises.

The tenants did not return all the keys that the landlord provided for the premises including keys for the front door.

There was a change of tenants followed by a renewal of the tenancy. One tenant remained throughout. It follows that if all the keys provided at the start were not returned at the end, the remaining tenant must be liable for the consequences of that. Any money award must be paid from the bond and so the liability of the new tenants for the locks becomes an issue for the tenants to resolve between themselves.

The landlords were justified in changing the locks on the front door because not all the keys for the door were returned at the end of the tenancy. The fact that the landlords took a few weeks over the Christmas period to get the locks changed is neither here nor there.

I have therefore awarded the claim for the cost of changing the locks in full. Cleaning

Section 40 (1)(e)(iii) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the Act) provides that tenants must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy at the end of the tenancy.

The landlords claim that the premises were not left reasonably clean and tidy at the end of the tenancy and claim $900 for the cost of cleaning.

The tenants question the genuineness of the invoice for the cleaning cost. After hearing from the landlords, I accept that they employed two students who carried out some cleaning to the premises. Their invoice understandably raised some concerns for the tenants, but I accept that cleaning work was done and charged for.

The tenants produced photographs of the ingoing report for the tenancy which began on 21 December 2023 and suggested that they show that there was no cleaning done after they left the premises. I don’t accept that. The photographs are poor quality and do not enable a comparison to be made with the outgoing photographs.

The invoice contains a narrative of the cleaning work and a breakdown of the charge. It refers to thorough cleaning of the bathrooms, the three bedrooms, the kitchen and microwave, the lounge and windows. It refers to two cleaners and a total of 30 hours at $30. There is no GST.

The issues for me to decide are is that a reasonable cost for the cleaning required and if not, what is a reasonable cost?

I note that the ingoing report refers to various marks on walls and blinds in the lounge and kitchen being dirty. The small garden area was also untidy, and the council bins were not empty and clean. Otherwise, the ingoing report appears to show the premises in a reasonably clean and tidy condition.

The outgoing report and photographs show that there were some areas of the premises that needed cleaning or additional cleaning including in the kitchen and bathrooms, but I accept that the tenants made a genuine effort to leave the premises clean and tidy. Some additional cleaning was needed but it was not substantial. I find that some of the landlord’s end of tenancy cleaning went beyond what the tenants were required to do.

I do not accept that 30 hours of cleaning was required even including an element of inter tenancy cleaning. I note that the cleaners were not professional cleaners and so they may have needed more time than usual to complete their cleaning. I note also that they have charged a modest hourly rate.

The correct approach, in my view, is to assess the extent of cleaning that the tenants were responsible for and then assess what professional cleaners would reasonably charge for that cleaning.

I have concluded that eight hours of cleaning was likely to have ben required to bring the premises to the standard of reasonably clean and tidy. An average professional hourly rate would be $45 which makes $360. There would likely be travelling and materials to add to that and so I have awarded $400 for cleaning. Tenants’ Application

The tenants claim exemplary damages in connection with the alleged falsity of the invoice. I have rejected that. In any case providing a false invoice or other false document is not an unlawful act under the Act. It may have other consequences, but the Tribunal cannot award exemplary damages for it. That claim must therefore be dismissed. Filing Fee

The tenants claim for exemplary damages has not succeeded and the landlords have been awarded a significant sum from the bond. I have therefore warded the landlords the filing fee. Suppression

Both sides seek name suppression. The landlords have been substantial successful and so they are awarded suppression. The tenants have raised issues in good faith and although they have had limited success, it would be unfair to prejudice them by publicising their names. I therefore grant them name suppression as well.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4797637 — net $663.37 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Lock/key replacement	$242.93	Lock/key replacement
Cleaning	$400.00	Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$663.37
Bond	$1,142.93
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$663.37