What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4821407 about?

The tribunal order states: The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,680.00 ([Bond number suppressed])

How much money was awarded in case 4821407?

Cleaning: $670.00 awarded to tenant; Property Damage: $2,400.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4821407?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4821407?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10361009-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4821407 about?

The tribunal order states: The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,680.00 ([Bond number suppressed])

How much money was awarded in case 4821407?

Cleaning: $670.00 awarded to tenant; Property Damage: $2,400.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4821407?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4821407?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10361009-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

2 Sunlands Drive, Manurewa, Auckland 2102 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4821407 — Exemplary damages

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Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4821407 — net $3,090.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: cleaning	$670.00	cleaning
Exemplary damages: maintenance	$2,400.00	maintenance
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$3,090.44
Bond	$2,680.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$3,090.44

Both parties attended the hearing, which took place on 19 April 2024.

The tenancy commenced on 25 March 2023 and terminated on 16 February 2024 as a result of the landlord giving 90 days’ notice for the purpose of extensive renovations. In fact, the landlord has decided to demolish the premises.

The tenant has applied for refund of the bond and exemplary damages. She referred to the Healthy Homes Standards and the state of cleanliness of the premises when she moved in.

In her application the tenant also sought a refund of overpaid rent. This was not discussed at the hearing. The tenant was given a further opportunity to file evidence in relation to this but said that she was not seeking any rent refund. Bond refund

The landlord refused to refund the bond, saying that the tenant owed it for unpaid rent on another property that she had signed an agreement for, but had not moved into. The bond centre has told the tenant that the bond has not been lodged.

The landlord cross-applied for payment of the bond on this property to cover unpaid rent on the new property.

The landlord provided evidence that the bond for this property was paid to the bond centre on 31 March 2023 along with a number of other bonds for properties managed by the landlord. I am satisfied that the landlord has lodged the bond, but unfortunately it has not been allocated to this tenancy.

The claims in relation to the new tenancy have been dealt with under another application filed by the landlord. I order that the bond of $2,680.00 for this property at 2 Sunlands Drive is to be refunded to the tenant. An separate order will be sent to the Bond Centre. If there is any difficulty obtaining the funds, the tenant may wish to provide a copy of this order to the Bond Centre as well. Section 45

The tenant claims that the landlord has breached a number of the landlord’s obligations under section 45.

The tenant says that the landlord breached the Healthy Homes Standards because the property was flea infested, and run down. She seeks compensation because she could not use a bedroom because it was stuffy and she could not open the window.

The tenant seeks exemplary damages because when she moved in, the windows were broken, she had to pay for the lawns to be mowed and for roach treatments. She also had timber and rubbish removed, including rubbish in the garage, which smelt.

The matters regarding cleanliness and maintenance do not fall under the Healthy Homes Standards, but all of these claims are within section 45. Failure by the landlord to comply with any of the obligations set out above is declared to be an “unlawful act” (see section 45 (1A)).

Section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the Act) sets out a number of obligations. The relevant ones are: (a) provide the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness; and (b) 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 (ba) comply with all requirements in respect of smoke alarms imposed on the landlord by regulations made under section 138A; and (bb) comply with the healthy homes standards;

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 interest of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) RTA.

The tenant produced photographs taken on the date the tenancy began. They show that although in some respects, the premises might be termed “reasonably clean and tidy” overall, there was still further cleaning required. There was grime/mould around some windows. The tenant’s evidence was that the carpet had fleas and a lot of pet fur. A picture of the clear canister of a vacuum cleaner showed a considerable amount of dog fur. The tenant also submitted an invoice for $150 for carpet cleaning.

The landlord produced an entry inspection report dated 25 May 2023. The photographs show that there were items left in the laundry cupboard.

In the photos of the bathroom, there are toiletries in the shower and around the bath. Items were left in the vanity and a towel was hanging in the bathroom. However, the date on these photos is 13 July, after the tenant had moved into the house.

Outside there is a stack of building materials on the lawn. The previous tenant had placed a temporary moveable fence around the house. The lawn closest to the house was mown, but in several photos there are a number of areas that are very overgrown. That said, a later report shows that the tenant did not attend to some of the areas behind the moveable fence.

The tenant said that she emailed the former property manager about these matters and he told her she had to attend to the matters herself. Her evidence was that she did not move in until 30 May while she attended to these matters.

I accept that some cleaning and lawn mowing was required at the start of the tenancy and I order compensation of $670, being the equivalent of one week’s rent. That covers her time cleaning and the carpet cleaning invoice as well as the delay in moving in while a flea bomb was activated.

The inspection report also noted several items that required maintenance: (a) A loose hinge on the kitchen window meant that the window could not be opened properly. (b) Two hinges on kitchen cupboards were broken. (c) Two missing latches from lounge room windows. (d) There was a crack in the lounge window (e) The blind mechanism was faulty so that they had to be opened by manually pulling them aside. (f) A dining room window could not open properly because of a faulty hinge (g) A broken bedroom door handle. (h) A missing latch on a bedroom window. (i) Two loose hinges on windows in bedroom 2. (j) A hole behind the door in bedroom 3. (k) A loose hinge on the window in bedroom 3.

The tenant’s evidence that none of these matters was corrected this was not disputed by the landlord.

I find that the landlord did not provide or maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair. The landlord was aware of these issues but took no action.

The tenant said that she could not open one of the bedroom windows and it meant that she could not ventilate her son’s room properly. That constitutes a breach of the Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) 2019 (HHS). The tenancy agreement contains no statement about compliance with HHS.

Because this matter falls within the landlord’s failure to maintain, which is the essence of the tenant’s complaint I have considered it within the other matters above.

The failure to maintain continued throughout the tenancy. I find that the landlord has committed an “unlawful act”. The landlord was aware of all of these issues and took no steps to remedy them. The tenant was affected by these issues. This landlord needs to be reminded of his responsibilities and there is public interest in making an order of exemplary damages. I have decided that an order of $2400.00 is appropriate in this case.

Because [The applicant/s] has largely succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee and granted her name suppression.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4821407 — net $3,090.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: cleaning	$670.00	cleaning
Exemplary damages: maintenance	$2,400.00	maintenance
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$3,090.44
Bond	$2,680.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$3,090.44