How much money was awarded in case 5056768?

Compensation: Garden Mowing: $960.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $2,800.69 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $422.05 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5056768?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5056768?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11645956-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5056768?

Compensation: Garden Mowing: $960.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $2,800.69 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $422.05 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5056768?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5056768?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11645956-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5056768 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5056768 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5056768 — net $2,289.74 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Rent arrears to 31/01/2025	$2,800.69		Rent arrears to 31/01/2025
Water rates	$422.05		Water rates
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00		Filing fee reimbursement
Compensation: Garden mowing		$960.00	Garden mowing
Total award	$3,249.74	$960.00
Net award	$2,289.74
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$2,289.74

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the names and identifying details of both parties.

[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $2,289.74 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,289.74 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately. The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $560.26 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The tenant/s] immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing on 14 March 2025.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy. 5056768, 51954552

The tenant applied compensation for labour, water pump hire and purchase, and electricity for Auckland flooding damage and compensation for lawnmowing.

I deal with the landlord’s application first. The landlord’s application

The tenancy ended on 31January 2025. The landlord provided rent records and water rates invoices which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.

The tenant did not dispute the amounts sought.

I order the tenant to pay the rent arrears of $2,800.69 and water rates of $422.05 to the landlord.

The landlord also sought one-third of the water rates back form the tenant. At the beginning of the tenancy, the landlord had voluntarily offered to pay one- third of the tenant’s water rates because the landlord wanted the tenant to continue irrigating the newly laid lawn. However, the landlord said that the water bills incurred by the tenant were significantly more than anticipated because the tenant had operated a commercial kitchen at the premises.

Section 11 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“RTA”) allows for the landlord to voluntarily incur more extensive obligations than those that are imposed on landlord by the RTA. This means that the agreement for the landlord to pay one-third of the tenant’s water rates is valid and enforceable.

There was no agreement between the parties that the agreement was conditional on reasonable use as assessed by the landlord.

Therefore, I decline the landlord’s claim to have the one-third water rates refunded. The tenant’s cross-application

The tenant sought compensation for the premises having been flooded from the January 2023 Auckland weather events.

The tenant claimed for water pump hire, water pump purchase, labour and power costs involved with the clean up.

The landlord said that the tenant had been asked to provide these details for over a year so that the landlord could lodge a claim with the insurance company.

At the hearing, I found that this was something that the tenant should pursue through the landlord’s insurance company. 5056768, 51954553

The tenant needs to work with the landlord so that the claim can be properly lodged. If the insurance claim is unsuccessful, the tenant can lodge another claim with the Tribunal. However, the tenant should know that for natural weather events, the landlord is not liable for the tenant’s items being damaged. Lawn mowing

The tenant sought compensation for having mowed the lawn themselves for 72 weeks.

The tenancy agreement stipulated that the rent included lawn care and garden care.

The landlord had previously used the services of a lawn mowing contractor. However, that stopped when the tenant had asked the landlord to stop using this particular contractor who was mowing the lawn without a catcher.

The lawn mowing stopped and the landlord did not reinstate the lawn mowing services since then.

The tenant had mowed the lawn on average of once every three weeks.

I find that three-weekly mowing is not unreasonable. Across 72 weeks, that would be 24 times when lawn mowing was done by the tenant instead of the landlord’s own contractor.

I order the landlord to reimburse the tenant $960.00 calculated at $40.00 per mowing.

Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim, I order the tenant to reimburse the landlord’s filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5056768 — net $2,289.74 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Rent arrears to 31/01/2025	$2,800.69		Rent arrears to 31/01/2025
Water rates	$422.05		Water rates
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00		Filing fee reimbursement
Compensation: Garden mowing		$960.00	Garden mowing
Total award	$3,249.74	$960.00
Net award	$2,289.74
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$2,289.74

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the names and identifying details of both parties.
[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $2,289.74 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,289.74 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately. The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $560.26 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The tenant/s] immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing on 14 March 2025.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy. 5056768, 51954552
The tenant applied compensation for labour, water pump hire and purchase, and electricity for Auckland flooding damage and compensation for lawnmowing.
I deal with the landlord’s application first. The landlord’s application
The tenancy ended on 31January 2025. The landlord provided rent records and water rates invoices which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
The tenant did not dispute the amounts sought.
I order the tenant to pay the rent arrears of $2,800.69 and water rates of $422.05 to the landlord.
The landlord also sought one-third of the water rates back form the tenant. At the beginning of the tenancy, the landlord had voluntarily offered to pay one- third of the tenant’s water rates because the landlord wanted the tenant to continue irrigating the newly laid lawn. However, the landlord said that the water bills incurred by the tenant were significantly more than anticipated because the tenant had operated a commercial kitchen at the premises.
Section 11 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“RTA”) allows for the landlord to voluntarily incur more extensive obligations than those that are imposed on landlord by the RTA. This means that the agreement for the landlord to pay one-third of the tenant’s water rates is valid and enforceable.
There was no agreement between the parties that the agreement was conditional on reasonable use as assessed by the landlord.
Therefore, I decline the landlord’s claim to have the one-third water rates refunded. The tenant’s cross-application
The tenant sought compensation for the premises having been flooded from the January 2023 Auckland weather events.
The tenant claimed for water pump hire, water pump purchase, labour and power costs involved with the clean up.
The landlord said that the tenant had been asked to provide these details for over a year so that the landlord could lodge a claim with the insurance company.
At the hearing, I found that this was something that the tenant should pursue through the landlord’s insurance company. 5056768, 51954553
The tenant needs to work with the landlord so that the claim can be properly lodged. If the insurance claim is unsuccessful, the tenant can lodge another claim with the Tribunal. However, the tenant should know that for natural weather events, the landlord is not liable for the tenant’s items being damaged. Lawn mowing
The tenant sought compensation for having mowed the lawn themselves for 72 weeks.
The tenancy agreement stipulated that the rent included lawn care and garden care.
The landlord had previously used the services of a lawn mowing contractor. However, that stopped when the tenant had asked the landlord to stop using this particular contractor who was mowing the lawn without a catcher.
The lawn mowing stopped and the landlord did not reinstate the lawn mowing services since then.
The tenant had mowed the lawn on average of once every three weeks.
I find that three-weekly mowing is not unreasonable. Across 72 weeks, that would be 24 times when lawn mowing was done by the tenant instead of the landlord’s own contractor.
I order the landlord to reimburse the tenant $960.00 calculated at $40.00 per mowing.
Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim, I order the tenant to reimburse the landlord’s filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5056768 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5056768 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions