How much money was awarded in case 5109508?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $5,477.61 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5109508?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5109508?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11551459-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5109508?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $5,477.61 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5109508?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5109508?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11551459-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5109508 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5109508 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 5109508 — net $5,504.61 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 12/3/25 – reduced by 1/3	$5,477.61	Rent arrears to 12/3/25 – reduced by 1/3
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,504.61
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$5,504.61

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the landlord’s name and identifying details.

The tenancy of Gaybraniyah Sandra Piata Brown-Khan at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], at

00pm on Wednesday 12 March 2025.

Gaybraniyah Sandra Piata Brown-Khan must pay [The landlord/s] $5,504.66 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing by MS Teams.

The tenant did not join the MS Teams hearing. The tenant was telephoned on the phone number provided but the phone call was answered by her sister who advised she was not available. I am satisfied the tenant was properly served with notice of the hearing. The hearing proceeded in her absence.

The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy, rent arrears and reimbursement of the filing fee. Termination

Rent was at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed. The tenancy is terminated. 1 Rent arrears

The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.

Where a party to a tenancy agreement breaches any provisions of the agreement or the RTA, the other party shall take all reasonable steps to limit damage or loss arising from that breach, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract. 2

This means that they must take actions to limit any loss from a breach by the other party.

When rent arrears occur, a reasonable landlord will mitigate that loss by applying to the Tenancy Tribunal to have the rent arrears paid, or the tenancy terminated. Where rent arrears are accumulating, ordinarily, the Tribunal would expect to see an application being brought within around 6-8 weeks, 10 at the most. There is then usually a short period before the hearing can take place.

In Huang v Ashworth 3 the District Court confirmed there is a duty to mitigate for rent arrears. The Court confirmed the test of what the landlord ought to do to mitigate its loss is a factual one and depends on whether the landlord took all reasonable steps to mitigate its loss; and more particularly, whether it acted reasonably having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

In Huang v Ashworth the Court reduced the rent arrears by a third to take into account a failure to mitigate loss.

At the hearing I raised my concern that the landlord had failed to mitigate their loss in respect of the rent arrears and outlined recent case law.

The landlord indicated there had been communication regarding rent arrears, but since May 2024 the landlord did not take any formal steps to mitigate its 1 See section 55(1)(a) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. 2 Section 49 of the RTA. 3 Huang v Ashworth [2024] NZDC 15726 loss by serving the tenant with a 14-day notice to remedy the rent arrears and did not promptly apply to terminate the tenancy.

The rent arrears to the termination date, 12/3/25 is $8,216.42. Having regard to the landlords’ failure to mitigate its loss. I consider that it is appropriate to reduce the rent arrears ordered by a third, which is consistent with Huang v Ashworth. Filing fee

Because the landlord has wholly succeeded with the claim, I must reimburse the filing fee. Suppression

The landlord sought suppression and as the application is successful, I have made an order accordingly.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5109508 — net $5,504.61 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 12/3/25 – reduced by 1/3	$5,477.61	Rent arrears to 12/3/25 – reduced by 1/3
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,504.61
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$5,504.61

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the landlord’s name and identifying details.
The tenancy of Gaybraniyah Sandra Piata Brown-Khan at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], at
00pm on Wednesday 12 March 2025.
Gaybraniyah Sandra Piata Brown-Khan must pay [The landlord/s] $5,504.66 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing by MS Teams.
The tenant did not join the MS Teams hearing. The tenant was telephoned on the phone number provided but the phone call was answered by her sister who advised she was not available. I am satisfied the tenant was properly served with notice of the hearing. The hearing proceeded in her absence.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy, rent arrears and reimbursement of the filing fee. Termination
Rent was at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed. The tenancy is terminated. 1 Rent arrears
The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
Where a party to a tenancy agreement breaches any provisions of the agreement or the RTA, the other party shall take all reasonable steps to limit damage or loss arising from that breach, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract. 2
This means that they must take actions to limit any loss from a breach by the other party.
When rent arrears occur, a reasonable landlord will mitigate that loss by applying to the Tenancy Tribunal to have the rent arrears paid, or the tenancy terminated. Where rent arrears are accumulating, ordinarily, the Tribunal would expect to see an application being brought within around 6-8 weeks, 10 at the most. There is then usually a short period before the hearing can take place.
In Huang v Ashworth 3 the District Court confirmed there is a duty to mitigate for rent arrears. The Court confirmed the test of what the landlord ought to do to mitigate its loss is a factual one and depends on whether the landlord took all reasonable steps to mitigate its loss; and more particularly, whether it acted reasonably having regard to all the circumstances of the case.
In Huang v Ashworth the Court reduced the rent arrears by a third to take into account a failure to mitigate loss.
At the hearing I raised my concern that the landlord had failed to mitigate their loss in respect of the rent arrears and outlined recent case law.
The landlord indicated there had been communication regarding rent arrears, but since May 2024 the landlord did not take any formal steps to mitigate its 1 See section 55(1)(a) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. 2 Section 49 of the RTA. 3 Huang v Ashworth [2024] NZDC 15726 loss by serving the tenant with a 14-day notice to remedy the rent arrears and did not promptly apply to terminate the tenancy.
The rent arrears to the termination date, 12/3/25 is $8,216.42. Having regard to the landlords’ failure to mitigate its loss. I consider that it is appropriate to reduce the rent arrears ordered by a third, which is consistent with Huang v Ashworth. Filing fee
Because the landlord has wholly succeeded with the claim, I must reimburse the filing fee. Suppression
The landlord sought suppression and as the application is successful, I have made an order accordingly.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5109508 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5109508 — 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