Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5034170 — Rent arrears at 8 Haversham Street, Highbury, Palmerston North 4412
Decided 15 Jan 2025 · Published 15 Jan 2025 · Application 5034170
Mixed / unclear
- Rent arrears
- 14-day notice
Order
- Kate Vivian Baker owes Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities $1,549.00 (“the debt”) being rent arrears to 23 January 2025.
- Kate Vivian Baker must pay rent and the debt as follows: a. By 96 weekly payments of $100.00, being $84.00 for rent and $16.00 for the debt. b. A final payment of $97.00, being $84.00 for rent and $13.00 for the debt. c. Payments will be every Thursday, with the first payment on 23/01/2025 and continuing until 26/11/2026.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent, rent arrears, and the filing fee.
- If the tenant fails to pay rent and rent arrears within 2 working days of the due dates: a. The tenancy at 8 Haversham Street, Highbury, Palmerston North 4412 will terminate and the landlord will have immediate possession of the premises. b. The balance of the debt will be payable immediately.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing. The tenant did not attend the hearing.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy and rent arrears.
- The landlord has been informed by the tenant that “she would not be making any rent payments as she has claimed her sovereign rights and has been cleared of any liability for rent from IRD.”
- The landlord advised: “On 11 November 2024, we attended mediation with Ms Baker, where she re-affirmed her stance that she is not the person responsible for the tenancy and therefore the rent debt accumulated is not hers, in her view.”
- Pseudo-legal arguments about “personal sovereignty” providing an exemption from the laws of New Zealand have been raised in many contexts in our courts. They have been consistently rejected as untenable.
- The tenant’s claim is nonsense and her persisting with it threatens her home. The landlord wishes to give the tenant a final opportunity to start paying her rent, catch up her rent arrears and continue to live in her home of twenty-four years.
Should a conditional termination order be made?
- 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. See section 55(1)(a) and (1A) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- I am satisfied that it is appropriate that the tenant be given a final opportunity to start paying rent and pay the debt within the period specified in the order. I have agreed with the landlord’s request to grant 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. See section 64(4)(b) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.