Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4971993 — 14-day notice at 43 Woodside Road, Massey, Auckland 0614
Decided 16 Nov 2024 · Published 16 Nov 2024 · Application 4971993
Landlord favoured
- 14-day notice
- Water Rates
Order
- Cherie Rosetta Brown owes Kāhui Tū Kaha Limited $437.90 for water arrears (“the debt”), calculated as set out in the table below.
- Cherie Rosetta Brown must pay rent and the debt as follows: a. By a weekly payment of rent of $88.00 on Tuesday 19 November 2024. b. By 21 weekly payments of $108.00, being $88.00 for rent and $20.00 for the debt. c. A final payment of $105.90, being $88.00 for rent and $17.90 for the debt. d. The payments referred to in paragraphs b. and c. will be every Tuesday, with the first payment on 26/11/2024 and continuing until 22/04/2025.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent, and then the debt.
- If the tenant fails to pay rent and/or the debt within 2 working days of the due dates: a. the tenancy at 43 Woodside Road, Massey, Auckland 0614 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 hearing was conducted on Microsoft Teams on 15 November 2024.
- Zoe Jaftha attended the hearing for the landlord by video link.
- The tenant attended for part of the hearing by telephone. She said that she had not received a notice of hearing and was not aware that the hearing would proceed. She had to return home to retrieve her papers which she thought would take 20 minutes. However, the Tribunal was unable to contact her again after the connection was lost.
- The application is a landlord application for termination of the tenancy, rent and water arrears, and payment over of the bond. Background
- The Tribunal first heard the application on 2 October 2024. Only the landlord attended. The tenant did not attend. The Tribunal ordered termination, rent and water arrears, and payment over of the bond.
- On 21 October 2024, the tenant applied for a rehearing of the application on the ground she was unaware of the hearing because she had not been given any notice of it.
- The matter was set down before me for rehearing consideration on 15 November 2024.
Should a rehearing be granted?
- I am satisfied that a miscarriage of justice may occur if a rehearing were not granted. The tenant did not attend the last hearing because her contact details changed, and the landlord’s application did not contain her new contact details.
- Importantly, rent is now up to date. Rent is set an affordable social housing rate of $88.00 per week. The Ministry of Social Development is assisting the tenant to pay the rent. Therefore, there can be some confidence that the tenant will reliably pay the rent in future.
- The tenant is liable to suffer significant hardship if she were to lose the tenancy.
- A rehearing is granted pursuant to s 105 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- I proceeded to rehear the matter and make a new decision. Current rent, water, and bond situation
- The tenant currently has a rent credit of $497.27 (based on paying rent every Tuesday). However, the tenant also owes water arrears of $583.17, and the bond needs to be replenished in the amount of $352.00.
- The landlord should apply the rent credit to the bond firstly. The balance can then be applied to the water arrears.
- Once $352.00 is applied to bond and balance of credit to the water arrears, the tenant still owes the landlord $437.90 for water.
Should a conditional termination order be made?
- At the time the landlord applied for termination of the tenancy on 19 August 2024, the tenant’s rent was 45 days in arrears.
- Where rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed, the Tribunal must make either a final or a conditional termination order. 1
- Ms Jaftha suggested the tenant could pay the remaining water arrears at $20.00 per week. The continuation of the tenancy would be conditional on rent and the weekly instalment of $20.00 per week being paid. 1 Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA), s 55(1)(a) and (1A).
- I consider that is appropriate. The tenant may wish to approach MSD for assistance with the $20.00 per week payment. If it is not paid, the tenancy will terminate automatically.
- 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. 2