Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5065248 — Tenancy dispute at 8B Swan Street, Gore, Gore 9710
Decided 26 Mar 2025 · Published 26 Mar 2025 · Application 5065248
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Location
Gore
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
C Lamdin
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
No individual claim amounts were reconciled for this order. View the official Ministry of Justice PDF for full detail.
Order
- The landlord’s application is dismissed for want of service.
- This matter is determined as indicated by the orders above, but Maxwell Realty Limited As Agent For Clarke Foodstu[The landlord/s] is granted a period of 28 days within which, if service in accordance with section 91A(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 1986 is made, they can request that the application be brought back to the Tribunal and the matter will be re-opened.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing which was held by teleconference. The tenant did not answer either of the calls made to him at the scheduled time on the number provided to the Tribunal.
- This application to the Tenancy Tribunal has been “served” on the tenant by email and to an address in Richmond, Invercargill.
- On the tenancy agreement, the tenant has not included an email address as an address for service. Nor has the tenant provided the landlord with a forwarding address. The street address that the landlord has sent the application to, was not provided by the tenant, nor has it been confirmed as a service address by the tenant.
- Section 91A of the Residential Tenancies Act, 1986 sets out service requirements for landlords on tenants. This includes the tenancy address, which is a usual address for service that remains current for 2 months after the tenancy ends.
- Because more than 2 months has now elapsed since the end of the tenancy, the application must be served either personally on the tenant, on someone over the age of 16 living at address where the tenant now lives, or by post to an address provided by the tenant within two months before the application was made. See section 91A(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- The hearing cannot proceed until effective service has taken place.
- If the landlord cannot locate the tenant, despite making all reasonable efforts to do so, the landlord may apply to the Tribunal for a direction that the application is to be served by some other means likely to bring it to the tenant’s notice. Alternatively, the landlord may apply to the Tribunal for a direction that service be dispensed with. See section 91B Residential Tenancies Act 1986.