What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4838151 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $13,820.44, calculated as shown in

How much money was awarded in case 4838151?

Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $16,920.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4838151?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4838151?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10384351-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4838151 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $13,820.44, calculated as shown in

How much money was awarded in case 4838151?

Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $16,920.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4838151?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4838151?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10384351-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 4838151 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4838151 — net $13,820.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$16,920.00	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$13,820.44
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$13,820.44

Order

[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $13,820.44, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,120.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
The tenants agree to pay the debt in order 2 with minimum payments of $50 per week. They also undertake to attempt to make other payments over and above the weekly payment to have the debt paid off earlier.
The first payment outlined in order 4 must be made on or before Friday 31 May 2024 and payments must continue every Friday until the debt is paid in full.
If the tenants fail to make any payment within 2 working days of the due date, the balance of the debt owing will be payable immediately and can be enforced through the District Court.
All other claims are dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
This was a fixed term tenancy due to end on 4 December 2024. In February the tenants vacated the property after being told by their property manager that they were to pay rent until a replacement tenancy was found.
The property manager then contacted the tenants and told them that the property had not been left reasonably clean and tidy and there was damage that needed to be remediated. They did not respond to him and as such the landlord filed the tribunal application for compensation in early March. Unfortunately, there were delays in the claims being heard.
Following the tenants vacating, there was no further substantive communication between the parties and although the landlord has been actively advertising the property, they have not yet found replacement tenants. They have even reduced the rent sought to make the property more attractive however the market is currently slow.
The landlord has offered to end the tenancy by agreement in 6 weeks on 5 July 2024 and the tenants have agreed to that date. This is because fixed term tenancies can only end by agreement or Tribunal Order. These parties had effectively agreed (as can be seen by their emails) to end the tenancy when a replacement tenancy was found. As one has not yet been found, the owner has now agreed to an earlier date to provide clarity and closure for them all.
Accordingly, I make an order terminating the fixed term tenancy on 5 July 2024.
The landlord seeks rent arrears to that date. I am satisfied 1 that the tenants were made aware of that condition (to pay rent) of vacating the tenancy early and as such are liable for the rent arrears to 5 July. They have agreed to pay a minimum of $50 per week towards the debt and undertake to make active additional efforts to discharge the debt over and above those payments. I make this order as agreed and direct that the bond be released to the landlord in part payment of the debt.
The landlord has also applied for compensation for cleaning, painting and carpet replacement due to the state of the property when the tenants vacated. The tenants disagree that they have any liability saying they left the home reasonably clean and tidy, and the damages claimed for were already in 1 Based on the email evidence between the tenants and property manager existence when they each moved into their rooms. They also say that some of the marks on the walls and carpets were due to mould which was created by a lack of maintenance and/or compliance with the Healthy Homes Standards.
This tenancy has been in place since 2019 and since that time there has been a number of tenants coming and going. The four named on this tenancy were the remaining four at the end but none were present at the beginning. They have all replaced other tenants over the years.

Are the tenants responsible for the damage to the premises?

In order to be successful in a claim for compensation for damage, the landlord must prove that damage occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).
I therefore start with the landlord’s evidential burden and that is to prove that the damage was more likely than not (this is the civil law standard of proof; on the balance of probabilities) caused during the tenancy and more than fair wear and tear.
The landlord did not provide photos of ingoing inspections, or the final inspection. They only evidence they had was the invoice from the repair person. I therefore cannot see the state of the property at the beginning of the tenancy, and I have no substantive evidence as to how it was left at the end.
Based on the evidence before me today, I do not find the landlord’s claim proven. The damage itself has not been established in evidence, let alone when or how it occurred.
Accordingly, the claims for damages and cleaning are dismissed. Filing fee
Because [The applicant/s] has succeeded with the claim for rent arrears I have reimbursed the filing fee. Suppression
Section 95A of the RTA requires the Tribunal to supress a party’s name or identifying details if that party was “wholly or substantially” successful. This includes being successful in their application or in their defence to an application. The tenants have been successful in defending the claim for compensation and the landlord was successful in prosecuting their claim for rent arrears.
Accordingly, I direct that all party identifying information be redacted from the published order.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4838151 — net $13,820.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$16,920.00	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$13,820.44
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$13,820.44

Order

[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $13,820.44, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,120.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
The tenants agree to pay the debt in order 2 with minimum payments of $50 per week. They also undertake to attempt to make other payments over and above the weekly payment to have the debt paid off earlier.
The first payment outlined in order 4 must be made on or before Friday 31 May 2024 and payments must continue every Friday until the debt is paid in full.
If the tenants fail to make any payment within 2 working days of the due date, the balance of the debt owing will be payable immediately and can be enforced through the District Court.
All other claims are dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
This was a fixed term tenancy due to end on 4 December 2024. In February the tenants vacated the property after being told by their property manager that they were to pay rent until a replacement tenancy was found.
The property manager then contacted the tenants and told them that the property had not been left reasonably clean and tidy and there was damage that needed to be remediated. They did not respond to him and as such the landlord filed the tribunal application for compensation in early March. Unfortunately, there were delays in the claims being heard.
Following the tenants vacating, there was no further substantive communication between the parties and although the landlord has been actively advertising the property, they have not yet found replacement tenants. They have even reduced the rent sought to make the property more attractive however the market is currently slow.
The landlord has offered to end the tenancy by agreement in 6 weeks on 5 July 2024 and the tenants have agreed to that date. This is because fixed term tenancies can only end by agreement or Tribunal Order. These parties had effectively agreed (as can be seen by their emails) to end the tenancy when a replacement tenancy was found. As one has not yet been found, the owner has now agreed to an earlier date to provide clarity and closure for them all.
Accordingly, I make an order terminating the fixed term tenancy on 5 July 2024.
The landlord seeks rent arrears to that date. I am satisfied 1 that the tenants were made aware of that condition (to pay rent) of vacating the tenancy early and as such are liable for the rent arrears to 5 July. They have agreed to pay a minimum of $50 per week towards the debt and undertake to make active additional efforts to discharge the debt over and above those payments. I make this order as agreed and direct that the bond be released to the landlord in part payment of the debt.
The landlord has also applied for compensation for cleaning, painting and carpet replacement due to the state of the property when the tenants vacated. The tenants disagree that they have any liability saying they left the home reasonably clean and tidy, and the damages claimed for were already in 1 Based on the email evidence between the tenants and property manager existence when they each moved into their rooms. They also say that some of the marks on the walls and carpets were due to mould which was created by a lack of maintenance and/or compliance with the Healthy Homes Standards.
This tenancy has been in place since 2019 and since that time there has been a number of tenants coming and going. The four named on this tenancy were the remaining four at the end but none were present at the beginning. They have all replaced other tenants over the years.

Are the tenants responsible for the damage to the premises?

In order to be successful in a claim for compensation for damage, the landlord must prove that damage occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).
I therefore start with the landlord’s evidential burden and that is to prove that the damage was more likely than not (this is the civil law standard of proof; on the balance of probabilities) caused during the tenancy and more than fair wear and tear.
The landlord did not provide photos of ingoing inspections, or the final inspection. They only evidence they had was the invoice from the repair person. I therefore cannot see the state of the property at the beginning of the tenancy, and I have no substantive evidence as to how it was left at the end.
Based on the evidence before me today, I do not find the landlord’s claim proven. The damage itself has not been established in evidence, let alone when or how it occurred.
Accordingly, the claims for damages and cleaning are dismissed. Filing fee
Because [The applicant/s] has succeeded with the claim for rent arrears I have reimbursed the filing fee. Suppression
Section 95A of the RTA requires the Tribunal to supress a party’s name or identifying details if that party was “wholly or substantially” successful. This includes being successful in their application or in their defence to an application. The tenants have been successful in defending the claim for compensation and the landlord was successful in prosecuting their claim for rent arrears.
Accordingly, I direct that all party identifying information be redacted from the published order.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4838151 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4838151 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Dismissed claims

Order

Reasons

Are the tenants responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Dismissed claims

Order

Reasons

Are the tenants responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions