Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4899407 — Rent arrears at 41A Awa Street, Otahuhu, Auckland 1062
Decided 4 Jul 2024 · Published 4 Jul 2024 · Application 4899407
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
Order
- Fuaperetania Lauvi must pay Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities the sum of $2,074.86, being the unpaid portion of the sum of $5,380.00 the parties agreed, and as was recorded in a sealed Mediator’s Order (4621813), that the tenant would pay, calculated as follows:
- The tenant must pay the debt of $2,074.86 by making fortnightly payments of $812.00, being $321.00 for fortnightly rent and $491.00 towards the debt. These payments shall begin on 17 July 2024 and continue each fortnight until the debt has been paid in full.
- All money paid will go first to monthly rent, then to the debt.
- If the tenant fails to pay the debt by midnight on the due dates: a. The tenancy at 41A Awa Street, Otahuhu, Auckland 1062 will terminate and the landlord will have immediate possession of the premises; and b. The balance of the debt will be payable immediately.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing. The tenant did not attend. The Tribunal gave the tenant notice of the hearing. The tenant has not communicated with the Tribunal to explain why she would not attend the hearing. The hearing proceeded in her absence.
- On 27 July 2023, the parties agreed, as recorded in a sealed Mediator’s Order (4621813), that the tenant would pay the landlord the sum of $5,380.00, being rent arrears to 16 August 2023, by making monthly payments. The final payment of the debt should have been made on 15 November 2023. However, $2,074.86 of the debt remains unpaid.
- The landlord has applied for a conditional termination order.
Should a conditional termination order be made?
- Where rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed, section 55(1)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the “Act”) provides that the Tribunal must order termination. Section 55(1A) of the Act provides that the Tribunal may make a conditional termination order if it is satisfied that the tenant will pay rent arrears within a period specified by the Tribunal and a further breach of the type referred to in section 55(1)(a) to (c) of the Act is unlikely.
- I am satisfied that rent was at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was made. The landlord advised that the parties have reached a verbal agreement that the tenant pay the sum of $491.00 fortnightly towards the rent arrears and that the tenant has been, for the most part, complying with this agreement. The landlord provided rent records in the form of a rent ledger showing that the tenant had indeed been complying with the arrangement, for the most part. On that basis, I consider a further breach of the kind referred to in section 55(1)(a) of the Act is unlikely and I grant the application for a conditional termination order.
- The conditional termination order will lapse if it is fully complied with. If the tenant breaches the order, the possession order may be enforced for 90 days from the first breach in accordance with section 64(4)(b) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.