How much money was awarded in case 5042988?

Property Damage: $155.25 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,427.14 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5042988?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5042988?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11486402-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5042988?

Property Damage: $155.25 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,427.14 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5042988?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5042988?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11486402-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5042988 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5042988 about?

The tribunal order states: The Tribunal orders suppression of the names and identifying details of all

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5042988 — net $1,582.39 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 21 May 2024	$1,427.14	Rent arrears to 21 May 2024
Damage to back door lock	$155.25	Damage to back door lock
Net award	$1,582.39
Bond	$2,200.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,582.39

The Tribunal orders suppression of the names and identifying details of all parties to the proceedings.

[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $1,582.39 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: [The landlord/s]: $1,582.39 [The tenant/s]: $617.61

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. [Ms R] represented the landlord. The guarantor of the tenant’s obligations did not attend.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears to 11 June 2024 totalling $3,092.14 and the cost to repair the back door lock.

The tenant accepts the cost to repair the back door lock and accepts that she owes rent but only until 21 May 2024.

How much is owed for rent?

On 18 May 2024 the tenant advised the landlord that she was ending her tenancy because of domestic violence. On 19 May, she emailed to [Ms R] a Family Violence Withdrawal Notice with the qualifying evidence as required by section 56B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the Act). However, she erroneously recorded the last day of her tenancy as 10 May 2024. Section 56B of the Act requires the tenant to give at least 2 days’ notice of the tenancy ending for family violence. Thus, the last day of her tenancy should have been recorded as 21 May 2024. [Ms R] asked the tenant to correct the error in the notice, but the tenant did not do so. The tenant said that she did not do so because she was going through a lot at the time, including obtaining protection orders and being in Women’s’ Refuge.

I accept that the date in the Withdrawal Notice was wrong, but I do not consider that this is sufficient to make the notice ineffective to end the tenancy. The notice and qualifying evidence were correct in all other respects and [Ms R] was fully aware that the tenant was requited to give at least 2 days’ notice and had in fact asked the tenant, on the day she received the notice, to change the date to 21 May. She was therefore aware that the date recorded by the tenant was simply an error and that she meant the tenancy was to end on 21 May. I am therefore satisfied that the incorrect date in the form was essentially a technical error. Section 85 of the Act directs me to exercise my jurisdiction according to the general principles of the relevant law and the substantial merits and justice of the case but not be bound to give effect to strict legal forms or technicalities.

I therefore find that the tenancy ended on 21 May 2024 (2 days after the landlord received the Withdrawal Notice) and the tenant is only liable for rent until that date. As mentioned, the tenant accepts the rent claimed until 21 May 2024.

[Ms R] also claims that the tenant did not tell her the code to the alarm system and therefore the tenancy did not end until ADT were able to go to the premises to change the code on 11 June. The tenant returned the keys on 18 May and she said that she gave the alarm code to [Ms R] then.

However, even if I accept that the tenant did not tell the landlord the alarm code, this does not make the tenant liable for rent as claimed by the landlord. The remedy available to a landlord if the tenant does not hand over keys or alarm codes at the end of a tenancy is to have the locks, keys and codes changed and claim the cost of doing so from the tenant.

The claim for rent until 11 June is therefore dismissed. The Tribunal application fee

The only claims that the landlord has been successful with are those that the tenant accepts. I therefore do not consider this an appropriate case to award payment of the Tribunal application fee. Suppression

Section 95A(1A) of the Act provides that the Tribunal must, in any proceedings that relate to withdrawal from a tenancy for family violence, order that the name and any identifying particulars of the parties not be published.

I therefore order that the names and identifying details of all parties be suppressed.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5042988 — net $1,582.39 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 21 May 2024	$1,427.14	Rent arrears to 21 May 2024
Damage to back door lock	$155.25	Damage to back door lock
Net award	$1,582.39
Bond	$2,200.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,582.39

The Tribunal orders suppression of the names and identifying details of all parties to the proceedings.

[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $1,582.39 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: [The landlord/s]: $1,582.39 [The tenant/s]: $617.61

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. [Ms R] represented the landlord. The guarantor of the tenant’s obligations did not attend.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears to 11 June 2024 totalling $3,092.14 and the cost to repair the back door lock.

The tenant accepts the cost to repair the back door lock and accepts that she owes rent but only until 21 May 2024.

How much is owed for rent?

The claim for rent until 11 June is therefore dismissed. The Tribunal application fee

I therefore order that the names and identifying details of all parties be suppressed.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5042988 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5042988 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions