What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4848082?

The tribunal order states: Aroha Babbington and Bradley Winikerei must pay Aaron Edwin Spence and

How much money was awarded in case 4848082?

Cleaning: $250.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $350.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $431.14 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $1,100.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $20.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $2,019.25 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $720.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4848082?

The primary dispute was Property damage. Related themes: Rent arrears, Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4848082?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10648556-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4848082?

The tribunal order states: Aroha Babbington and Bradley Winikerei must pay Aaron Edwin Spence and

How much money was awarded in case 4848082?

Cleaning: $250.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $350.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $431.14 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $1,100.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $20.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $2,019.25 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $720.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4848082?

The primary dispute was Property damage. Related themes: Rent arrears, Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4848082?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10648556-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

172 Aropaoanui Road, Tangoio, RD 1, Napier 4181 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4848082 — Property damage

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Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4848082 — net $4,310.83 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$720.00	Rent arrears
Oven replacement	$350.00	Oven replacement
Window repairs	$431.14	Window repairs
Cleaning	$250.00	Cleaning
Carpet replacement	$1,100.00	Carpet replacement
Lock/key replacement	$20.00	Lock/key replacement
Repairs	$2,019.25	Repairs
Filing Fee	$20.44	Filing Fee
Net award	$4,310.83
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$4,310.83

The landlords attended the hearing. Mr Winikerei attended. Ms Babbington did not attend.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy was to end on 14 March 2023 and rent was paid to that date.

The tenants were not able to remove their belongings or vacate the premises by that date and were away working.

Mr Winikerei suggests that the landlords had told them they did not want the tenants back in the premises after 14 March. However the evidence satisfies me that the tenants remained in effective occupation of the premises through to 28 March 2024 and should pay rent to that date (see s.60(1)).

A further 2 weeks’ rent is therefore payable by the tenants.

Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

After the intended tenancy end date on 14 March 2024 the tenants made considerable efforts to clean the premises before they vacated, including having the carpets professionally cleaned. The landlords were also there helping to clean.

What the evidence shows is that the landlords needed to clean up the outside bathroom where the tenants’ goat had been accommodated and spent a significant amount of money on cleaning supplies. Photographs provided by the landlords show that by 28 March 2024, the date the tenants are required to pay rent to and when the way they had left the premises needs to be looked at, the premises were mostly in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. The landlords had to do extra work to clean walls and the oven to bring them to a reasonable condition. That was work the tenants were responsible for and the landlord should receive some compensation for having to do it.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

A landlord must prove that damage to the premises 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 RTA.

Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). See section 49B(3)(a) RTA.

Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. See section 49B(1) RTA. Oven

The evidence shows that the oven was unable to be satisfactorily cleaned and the warmer drawer was damaged.

I am satisfied that the landlords were justified in deciding that the oven needed to be replaced. The replacement cost of $699.00 is proved.

The IRD depreciation tables give a depreciable life for ovens in residential tenancies of 8 years.

At the end of the tenancy the oven was approximately 4 years old and the compensation sum is calculated accordingly.

It is not disputed that 2 windows in the kitchen were broken. The report from the insurers confirms that the cost of window replacement is covered by the landlords’ insurance but as there were 2 broken windows, each attracting a $550.00 excess, the excess exceeded the replacement cost, which is proved by the invoice provided by the landlords.

The tenants should accordingly compensate the landlords for the replacement cost has proved by the invoice.

The tenants did the right thing by paying for the carpets to be commercially cleaned. Unfortunately, there were stains in the carpet that could not be removed by cleaning. The insurance assessor’s assessment was that the landlords were entitled to have the carpet in the two rooms affected by the stains, replaced.

The landlords paid an excess of $550.00 for each of the 2 claims and should reimbursed for that loss Keys

Mr. Winikerei confirms that during the tenancy the tenants lost the keys to the premises. The landlords are entitled to be reimbursed the cost for replacing the keys.

The landlords made a claim against their insurance for other damage to the premises. They have provided an adjustment spreadsheet prepared by their insurers.

That spreadsheet details the work required to repair the premises, as assessed by the loss adjuster. The work detailed is for repair of the entranceway, replacement of the bathroom floor, repair of a door jamb, wall patching in a bedroom, hardboard removal and replacement in the lounge, replacement of the laundry floor and replacement of the benchtop in the end room.

The spreadsheet records the total labour cost for completion of that work and the materials costs on an item by item basis. Separate allowance is made for travel charges, rubbish disposal, painting and electrical costs.

Of that repair work, the landlords do not claim against the tenants for repair of the lounge room wall, replacement of the laundry floor or replacement of the bench top in the end room.

As well as those deductions, I also need to take into account that the painting work will bring those parts of the interior of the premises to a better condition than they were at the start of the tenancy, which exceeds the tenants’ obligation.

Both parties invite me to assess the evidence I have heard about those matters today and given the information in the loss adjuster’s report, make a general assessment of what I believe to be fair compensation for the damage.

In completing that exercise, I have estimated that of the work described in the settlement adjustment spreadsheet, 50% is likely to be attributable to damage the tenants are responsible for ie. in the entrance area, replacement of the bathroom door jambs and patching the wall in bedroom 1.

To that, I have added the materials costs attributable to that work, the vehicle and rubbish disposal charges.

So far as the painting work is concerned, I have made an allowance for the fact that the painting in the lounge is not the tenants’ responsibility and that there will be an improvement from which the landlords will benefit.

I have assessed the part of the painting costs attributable to damage the tenants are responsible for, at $2500.00.

The whole of the electrical cost appears to me to relate to repair of damage the tenant is responsible for.

Those calculations give a total cost for repair of damage the tenants are responsible for, of $8,596.20. The spreadsheet shows that a settlement payment has been made to the landlords of $6,576.95. The difference represents the landlords’ loss, $2,019.25

I have taken into account betterment and depreciation. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations, and should not be better or worse off. In calculating depreciation, I have taken into account the age and condition of the items at the start of the tenancy and their likely useful lifespan.

As the landlords have had claims upheld I reimburse the filing fee.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4848082 — net $4,310.83 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$720.00	Rent arrears
Oven replacement	$350.00	Oven replacement
Window repairs	$431.14	Window repairs
Cleaning	$250.00	Cleaning
Carpet replacement	$1,100.00	Carpet replacement
Lock/key replacement	$20.00	Lock/key replacement
Repairs	$2,019.25	Repairs
Filing Fee	$20.44	Filing Fee
Net award	$4,310.83
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$4,310.83