What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4943013 about?

The tribunal order states: Mohan Seneviratne must pay [The tenant/s] $527.00 immediately, calculated as

How much money was awarded in case 4943013?

Compensation: Failure to provide com…: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4943013?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4943013?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11106595-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 4943013 about?

The tribunal order states: Mohan Seneviratne must pay [The tenant/s] $527.00 immediately, calculated as

How much money was awarded in case 4943013?

Compensation: Failure to provide com…: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4943013?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4943013?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11106595-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 4943013 — Tenancy dispute

Tenantcheck Insights

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4943013 — net $527.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: Failure to provide compliant tenancy agreement	$500.00	Failure to provide compliant tenancy agreement
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$527.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$527.00

Both parties attended the hearing on 11 November 2024. The tenant was supported by a friend. The landlord was supported by his wife.

This tenancy commenced on 17 February 2024 and ended on 21 May 2024. The tenant met the landlord through a friend who was moving out of the premises and gave him the contact details for the landlord. The tenant rented a shared room in a 2-bedroom apartment.

[The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached their obligations by failing to provide him with a compliant tenancy agreement and by breaching the obligations under section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The landlord disputes these claims.

As the claims are filed by the tenant the responsibility is on the tenant to prove the claims on the balance of probabilities. In other words, more likely than not.

Did the landlord fail to provide the tenant with a compliant tenancy agreement?

[The tenant/s] claims the landlord has not ensured the tenancy agreement is in writing and/or did not sign the tenancy agreement and provide a copy to the tenant.

The tenant further claimed that if the email claimed by the landlord as the “tenancy agreement” was such it is not compliant as it does not contain the requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

A landlord must ensure the tenancy agreement is in writing, signed and a copy provided to the tenant prior to the tenancy commencing. See section 13 Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Section 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 sets out the requirements of a tenancy agreement which must include the following: (a) the full name and contact address of the landlord; and (aa)the landlord’s contact mobile telephone number (if any); and (ab)the landlord’s contact email address (if any); and (b)the full name and contact address (where that is different from the address of the premises to which the agreement relates) of the tenant; and (ba)the tenant’s contact mobile telephone number (if any); and (bb)the tenant’s contact email address (if any); and (c)the address of the premises; and (d)the date of the tenancy agreement; and (e)the date of commencement of the tenancy (where that is different from the date of the tenancy agreement); and (f)the landlord’s address for service; and (g)the tenant’s address for service; and (h)whether the tenant is under the age of 18; and (i)the amount of any bond; and (j)the rent payable; and (k)the frequency of the rent payments; and (l)the place or bank account number where the rent is to be paid; and (o)a list of any chattels provided by the landlord; and (p)if the tenancy is a fixed-term tenancy, the date on which the term will expire.

The landlord must also include in the tenancy agreement an insulation statement, insurance statement and Healthy Homes statement as prescribed by section 13A (1A), (1CA) and (2).

A landlord who fails to ensure that the tenancy agreement includes the above information commits an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may order exemplary damages or compensation. In this case the tenant has applied for compensation.

The tenant stated that he requested a tenancy agreement from the landlord and did not receive this.

The tenant messaged the landlord on 19 February 2024 and asked for the contract. The landlord replied, “email is the contract”. Again, on 28 February 2024 the tenant messaged the landlord requesting the rent agreement and the landlord replied, “First email I sent is the rental agreement”. Copies of the communication were provided.

The landlord referred to an unsigned email sent to the tenant on Friday 16 February 2024 and claimed that this was the tenancy agreement.

The email provided contained some of the requirements of an agreement but is unsigned and did not contain the following: the full name of the tenant (only a nickname and no surname is recorded), the tenant’s mobile number, a contact address for the landlord, a specified address for service for either party, whether the tenant is under the age of 18, a list of the chattels provided by the landlord, an insulation statement, an insurance statement, a healthy homes statement.

The landlord claimed that the healthy homes and insurance information was in the apartment but was not provided to the tenant and was not provided to the Tribunal. The tenant stated that he had never seen this.

The landlord further claimed that in a previous case that he was involved in at the Tribunal the adjudicator had found that an email agreement was sufficient. A copy of this decision dated 16 March 2021 which related to different premises rented out by the landlord was located and provided at the hearing. At paragraph 12 of that decision the adjudicator records “This is concerning as the “tenancy agreement” e-mail falls well below the standards required in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.” Although that particular claim was not specifically in respect of the contents of the tenancy agreement, I consider that the landlord was given notice at that time that the email agreements he was using were not compliant.

Having considered the evidence I find that the tenant has proved on the balance of probabilities that the landlord breached his obligations to provide a signed compliant tenancy agreement to the tenant.

The Tribunal can order a landlord to pay such sum by way of damages or compensation as the Tribunal shall assess in respect of the breach of any provision of the Residential Tenancies Act.

Rather than out of pocket expenses the Tenants’ claim for compensation is in the nature of general damages for the inconvenience and stress of not being provided with a tenancy agreement despite asking for this. The Tribunal has jurisdiction to make such award pursuant to section 77(2)(n) of the Act: Eayrs v Hindmarsh, DC Wellington, TT223/93, 12 November 1993. Awards of compensation are generally modest. The result of the landlord’s breach was to create stress for the tenant and uncertainty as to the terms of the tenancy. The tenant also had no assurance that the landlord had complied with insulation and healthy homes requirements.

Having considered the factors in this case the landlord is ordered to pay the tenant the sum of $500.00 for the breach.

Did the landlord breach the obligations to maintain the premises?

Under section 45, a landlord must provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.

The tenant claims that the landlord failed to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair as there were bed bugs at the premises. The tenant sought compensation for the cost of paying to live with a friend whilst still paying rent for this tenancy.

The tenant provided photographs which he stated were of his arms and legs covered in what appeared to be insect bites. He stated that soon after he moved in the bites appeared. At first he did not know where they came from but then found bugs in his room. He provided photographs that he claimed were of bed bugs. The photos of the alleged bugs were not clear, but I accept on the evidence that the tenant was bitten by an insect. The tenant also provided copies of messages between himself and the landlord about the insect bites.

The landlord claimed that the tenant did not initially notify him of the problem until he discovered the tenant was sleeping on the couch. He stated that when he emailed the tenant to tell him he could not sleep in the shared area he replied that he had been bitten. The landlord did not accept that the bugs were in the premises prior to the tenant moving in and believed that they came with the tenant and his belongings. He claimed that once he became aware of the problem although he did not accept responsibility, he acted to remedy this with pest control. The landlord provided copies of multiple receipts for pest control products and both parties agreed that pest treatment had been used at the property.

The tenant claimed that the bugs were present in the premises before he moved in. The landlord claimed that the bugs arrived when the tenant moved in. Both of these are possibilities. Neither party provided any evidence from a pest control company and no other tenants of the premises gave evidence.

There is insufficient evidence regarding the origin of the bugs, I am satisfied that once the landlord became aware of the insects, he acted to remedy this. Having carefully considered the evidence provided I find that there is insufficient evidence provided to prove on the balance of probabilities that the landlord failed to maintain the premises.

Therefore, the claim in respect of the bed bugs is dismissed. Suppression and Filing Fee

Because the tenant has wholly succeeded with one of his claims, I have ordered reimbursement of the filing fee and suppress the tenant details in the order as applied for. See sections 102(4) and 95A(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4943013 — net $527.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: Failure to provide compliant tenancy agreement	$500.00	Failure to provide compliant tenancy agreement
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$527.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$527.00