Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5027401 — Cleanliness at 227A Panama Road, Mount Wellington, Auckland 1062
Decided 29 Jan 2025 · Published 29 Jan 2025 · Application 5027401
- Cleanliness
Order
- [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $1,319.86 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,200.00 (3459006-008) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing today and was assisted by an interpreter.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee. Rent
- The tenancy was for a fixed term from 5 November 2023 to 4 November 2024. The tenant left without notice on or about 2 December 2023. The landlord says a replacement tenant was found from 10 January 2024.
- The landlord’s rent summary covers the period from 5 November 2023 to 9 January 2024 but does not include all the rent payments by the tenant. Bank statements were provided at the hearing, showing that the tenant paid the weekly rent of $800.00 on 20 November and 27 November 2023. WINZ paid rent of $1,600.00 and the bond of $3,200.00 on 3 November 2023
- The landlord claimed rent arrears in the sum of $4,722.04. By my calculation, the total rent due between 5 November 2023 and 9 January 2024 (9 weeks and 3 days at $800.00 per week) is $7,542.86. The tenant paid $3,200.00. This leaves rent arrears of $4,342.86.
- The landlord also claimed 10% as a “penalty” for late payment based on advice received from Tenancy Services. In the application form, she stated: “The tenant has broken a fixed term tenancy[,] so I need compensation for not having a long term tenancy and having to find another tenant[.] 10% of annual rent”.
- This could be a claim for exemplary damages for abandonment, or a claim for expenses incurred finding a new tenant. If the former, then the claim needed to be explicitly stated in the application form, but in any event, I doubt whether exemplary damages would be appropriate. It is unclear why the tenant left, and the landlord was able to find a new tenant quickly. As to expenses, there was no evidence presented to show that any costs were incurred. Cleaning and Rubbish
- At the end of the tenancy a 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.
- The tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy and did not remove all rubbish. The landlord showed the Tribunal photographs on her mobile phone. These showed some rubbish outside, including a fridge freezer, and some rubbish inside requiring carpet vacuuming and cleaning. The landlord provided bank statements showing payments of $50.00 for hiring a carpet steam-cleaner and $100.00 for labour. Filing Fee
- The application having succeeded, I award the filing fee.