How much money was awarded in case 4835980?

Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $3,914.29 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4835980?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4835980?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10212096-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 4835980?

Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $3,914.29 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4835980?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4835980?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10212096-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 4835980 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4835980 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of Taylor Reinforcing Limited at [Tenancy address suppressed] is

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4835980 — net $1,234.73 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$3,914.29	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Exemplary Damages	$500.00	Exemplary Damages
Net award	$1,234.73
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,234.73

The tenancy of Taylor Reinforcing Limited at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], immediately.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.

Taylor Reinforcing Limited must pay [The landlord/s] $1,234.73 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing.

Telephone calls were made to the tenant on the number provided at the allocated hearing time. All calls went to voicemail. The Tribunal may hear matters in the absence of a party where satisfied that notice of the hearing has been given. I am satisfied that notice has been given.

The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations, rent arrears, exemplary damages and refund of the bond.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

Where a landlord applies to terminate for breach, and rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the hearing date, the Tribunal must terminate the tenancy. See sections 55 and 56(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Rent is at least 21 days in arrears at the hearing date. The tenancy is terminated.

How much does the tenant owe?

The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy is $3,914.29.

The landlord claims the tenant abandoned the premises.

A tenancy is abandoned where the tenant leaves the premises without reasonable excuse and fails to notify the landlord, not intending to return or to meet their obligations.

A tenant commits an unlawful act if they abandon the premises when the rent is in arrears. Exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 61(5) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

This is a fixed term tenancy ending 4 September 2024. The tenant has abandoned the premises with rent in arrears. The landlord has carried out an inspection of the premises on 26 March 2024 and all tenant belongings have been removed. No excuse has been provided by the tenant for abandoning the premises. 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.

Exemplary damages are designed to punish and to deter. They are like a fine. In Auckland City Council v Blundell [1986] NZLR 732 the Court of Appeal (Cooke P) said: Exemplary and punitive [damages] are different words for the same thing. The damages are exemplary because they are meant to teach an example to the guilty officer and others. They are punitive because they are meant to punish. They are like a fine, though they go to the citizen who has been the victim of conduct.

Exemplary damages are awarded at the Tribunal’s discretion when one party has proved that the other party has committed a defined unlawful act. If that is proven, and before the Tribunal may award exemplary damages, it must take account of the factors set out in section 109 RTA.

The act of abandoning the premise is clearly an intentional act. The interests of this landlord and the parties to tenancies in general is to have the parties abide by their obligations. The effect of the unlawful act has been to leave the premises empty and the landlord without the rental income anticipated.

As a rule of thumb, the Tribunal considers an award of exemplary damages of one third of the maximum appropriate, where there are no other aggravating or mitigating circumstances. No factors of that nature apply in this matter and the tenant is ordered to pay exemplary damages of $500.00.

As [The landlord/s] has wholly succeeded with the claim I must order the tenant to reimburse the filing fee.

The landlord has applied for name suppression. The landlord has been wholly successful in this matter and suppression of the landlord name and details is ordered.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4835980 — net $1,234.73 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$3,914.29	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Exemplary Damages	$500.00	Exemplary Damages
Net award	$1,234.73
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,234.73

The tenancy of Taylor Reinforcing Limited at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], immediately.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.

Taylor Reinforcing Limited must pay [The landlord/s] $1,234.73 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing.

The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations, rent arrears, exemplary damages and refund of the bond.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

Rent is at least 21 days in arrears at the hearing date. The tenancy is terminated.

How much does the tenant owe?

The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy is $3,914.29.

The landlord claims the tenant abandoned the premises.

A tenancy is abandoned where the tenant leaves the premises without reasonable excuse and fails to notify the landlord, not intending to return or to meet their obligations.

As [The landlord/s] has wholly succeeded with the claim I must order the tenant to reimburse the filing fee.

The landlord has applied for name suppression. The landlord has been wholly successful in this matter and suppression of the landlord name and details is ordered.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4835980 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4835980 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions