Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4953285 — Rent arrears at 16 Whakaute Lane, Manurewa, Auckland 2102
Decided 13 Nov 2024 · Published 13 Nov 2024 · Application 4953285
- Rent arrears
Order
- [The tenant/s] owes Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities $548.71 (“the debt”).
- [The tenant/s] must pay rent and the debt as follows: a. By weekly payments of $122.00, being $117.00 for rent and $5.00 for the debt. b. Payments will be every week , with the first payment on 19 November 2024 and continuing until the debt is cleared.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent, rent arrears.
- If the tenant fails to pay rent and rent arrears within 2 working days of the due dates: c. The balance of the debt will be payable immediately.
Reasons
- Both parties attended the hearing which was held by teleconference.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears and has provided rent records which prove the amount owing.
- Mr Ilalio stated that the debt arose because Kainga Ora made an error, and because it was not his error, he considers Kainga Ora should indemnify him against the consequences, being rent arrears.
- Mr Ilalio stated that the error that Kainga Ora made was that at the beginning of the tenancy he told a Kainga Ora worker that he could pay the rent himself directly, but that the worker insisted that Kainga Ora would fill out an Accident Compensation Corporation (“ACC”) form and have Mr Ilalio’s rent paid directly by ACC.
- Ms Thompson-Wise for Kainga Ora explained that her records show that on 5 December 2023, a Kainga Ora worker had Mr Ilalio complete an Assignment of Benefit form from Work and Income New Zealand (“WINZ”) because they thought Mr Ilalio’s income source was WINZ. However Mr Ilalio’s income source was not WINZ; it was ACC.
- Because of this no rent was paid in the initial period and a rent arrears debt accrued, which to Mr Ilalio’s credit he has since been addressing at a rate of $5.00 per week.
- Mr Ilalio made a forceful argument that he should not have to pay the debt because he considers the mistake to be Kainga Ora’s mistake.
- I am of a different opinion.
- It is not clear to me who was responsible for the mistake in passing and recording information at the beginning of the tenancy. The upshot was that Mr Ilalio did not pay rent for some time, and he received the benefit of that. No penalty is being sought against Mr Ilalio; Kainga Ora is simply seeking the payment of rent as it was due.
- To put it another way, the mistake that was made does not mean that Mr Ilalio should receive a windfall of having to pay no rent. In my view that would not be a just result of an innocent error.
- The landlord is seeking a monetary order and is not seeking a conditional termination.