How much money was awarded in case 5121975?

Cleaning: $383.19 awarded to landlord; Rubbish Removal: $51.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5121975?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5121975?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11548302-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5121975?

Cleaning: $383.19 awarded to landlord; Rubbish Removal: $51.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5121975?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5121975?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11548302-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5121975 — Cleanliness

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5121975 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 5121975 — net $434.19 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Cleaning	$383.19	claim for cleaning as part of this hearing so the parties can have their dispute resolved. The landlord is claiming $875.00 for cleaning, $51.00 in rubbish rem…
Rubbish removal	$51.00	Rubbish removal
Net award	$434.19
Bond	$3,720.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$434.19

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

[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $434.19 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,720.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: [The landlord/s]: $434.19 [The tenant/s]: $3,285.81

Reasons

Three of the six tenants attended today’s hearing. This is a tenant application they are seeking their bond to be paid back to them.

The landlord attended the hearing. He has not filed a counterclaim, but it is clear from the correspondence between the parties that there is a dispute over the bond.

This was a tenancy of two years ending on the 24 November 2024. A dispute over the bond arose, because the landlord says that the tenants did not leave the property in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. The landlord says that the house and sleepout were unclean and it took him and his wife over 25 hours to clean up the property. The landlord says that he gave the tenants a cleaning guideline to work to and was disappointed to find the property in the state it was left. The landlord says that the oven was dirty and had to be replaced, but he is not seeking the cost of that. He is also not seeking the cost of a broken cupboard door and lamp shades and carpet cleaning.

The tenants filed their application on the 3 January 2025. The landlord has not filed a counterclaim for the costs sought.

When a landlord has a claim after the tenancy ends and the tenants seek the repayment of the bond then the landlord must file a counterclaim. If the landlord does not do that then the bond is released to the tenant. See s22B(2) RTA

Despite that provision it is clear that there is a genuine dispute over the cleanliness of the property, and I consider that it is fair and expeditious to deal with the landlord’s claim for cleaning as part of this hearing so the parties can have their dispute resolved. The landlord is claiming $875.00 for cleaning, $51.00 in rubbish removal and $33.19 for cleaning products.

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The tenants accept that certain areas may have required some additional cleaning to bring the property up to a reasonably clean and tidy standard. However, they say that they worked off the landlord’s cleaning guideline and the work on the guideline including cleaning the shower in the specific way that the landlord wanted.

The Tenants obligation is to leave the property in a reasonably clean and tidy state and free from rubbish. Reasonably clean means clean to the standard an average, reasonable bystander would consider reasonable 1 , not commercially 1 Housing New Zealand v Holloway TT Auckland TT215/93, 8 February 1993 at 8. clean 2 , spotless hotel or motel standard. 3 Reasonably clean is not necessarily to the standard a landlord considers acceptable for a new tenant. 4

What is reasonably clean, and tidy is an “objective assessment to be made after consideration of all of the evidence” Ace Property Management Ltd v Owens DC Wellington CIV -2008-085-1441,17 December 2008.

Having considered all the evidence including photographs provided by both the landlord and the tenants on the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy I am satisfied that some additional cleaning was required in some areas, notably the kitchen, laundry and the bathrooms.

The Tribunal deals with cleaning costs on a daily basis and I consider that 10 hours of cleaning @$35.00 per hour together with the cost of the cleaning products sufficient to compensate the landlord for the time spent cleaning in order to bring the cleaning up to a reasonable standard.

Landlords should expect that they may need to do some extra cleaning in between tenancies especially when the tenancy is for two years and there are six tenants.

It appears that some of the tenants may have left up to two weeks before the last tenant and may not have seen the state of the property at the end of the tenancy. The last tenant was present at the hearing today and he accepted that there was some areas that needed cleaning, and he had run out of time to clean everything.

I accept the landlord’s evidence that he needed to dump items left by the tenant’s including non-recycling that was left in the recycling bin and incurred a cost for this.

The amounts ordered are proven.

As both parties have been partially successful, I grant them both name suppression as requested.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5121975 — net $434.19 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Cleaning	$383.19	claim for cleaning as part of this hearing so the parties can have their dispute resolved. The landlord is claiming $875.00 for cleaning, $51.00 in rubbish rem…
Rubbish removal	$51.00	Rubbish removal
Net award	$434.19
Bond	$3,720.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$434.19

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of both parties’ names and identifying details.
[The tenant/s] to pay [The landlord/s] $434.19 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,720.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: [The landlord/s]: $434.19 [The tenant/s]: $3,285.81

Reasons

Three of the six tenants attended today’s hearing. This is a tenant application they are seeking their bond to be paid back to them.
The landlord attended the hearing. He has not filed a counterclaim, but it is clear from the correspondence between the parties that there is a dispute over the bond.
This was a tenancy of two years ending on the 24 November 2024. A dispute over the bond arose, because the landlord says that the tenants did not leave the property in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. The landlord says that the house and sleepout were unclean and it took him and his wife over 25 hours to clean up the property. The landlord says that he gave the tenants a cleaning guideline to work to and was disappointed to find the property in the state it was left. The landlord says that the oven was dirty and had to be replaced, but he is not seeking the cost of that. He is also not seeking the cost of a broken cupboard door and lamp shades and carpet cleaning.
The tenants filed their application on the 3 January 2025. The landlord has not filed a counterclaim for the costs sought.
When a landlord has a claim after the tenancy ends and the tenants seek the repayment of the bond then the landlord must file a counterclaim. If the landlord does not do that then the bond is released to the tenant. See s22B(2) RTA
Despite that provision it is clear that there is a genuine dispute over the cleanliness of the property, and I consider that it is fair and expeditious to deal with the landlord’s claim for cleaning as part of this hearing so the parties can have their dispute resolved. The landlord is claiming $875.00 for cleaning, $51.00 in rubbish removal and $33.19 for cleaning products.
At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The tenants accept that certain areas may have required some additional cleaning to bring the property up to a reasonably clean and tidy standard. However, they say that they worked off the landlord’s cleaning guideline and the work on the guideline including cleaning the shower in the specific way that the landlord wanted.
The Tenants obligation is to leave the property in a reasonably clean and tidy state and free from rubbish. Reasonably clean means clean to the standard an average, reasonable bystander would consider reasonable 1 , not commercially 1 Housing New Zealand v Holloway TT Auckland TT215/93, 8 February 1993 at 8. clean 2 , spotless hotel or motel standard. 3 Reasonably clean is not necessarily to the standard a landlord considers acceptable for a new tenant. 4
What is reasonably clean, and tidy is an “objective assessment to be made after consideration of all of the evidence” Ace Property Management Ltd v Owens DC Wellington CIV -2008-085-1441,17 December 2008.
Having considered all the evidence including photographs provided by both the landlord and the tenants on the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy I am satisfied that some additional cleaning was required in some areas, notably the kitchen, laundry and the bathrooms.
The Tribunal deals with cleaning costs on a daily basis and I consider that 10 hours of cleaning @$35.00 per hour together with the cost of the cleaning products sufficient to compensate the landlord for the time spent cleaning in order to bring the cleaning up to a reasonable standard.
Landlords should expect that they may need to do some extra cleaning in between tenancies especially when the tenancy is for two years and there are six tenants.
It appears that some of the tenants may have left up to two weeks before the last tenant and may not have seen the state of the property at the end of the tenancy. The last tenant was present at the hearing today and he accepted that there was some areas that needed cleaning, and he had run out of time to clean everything.
I accept the landlord’s evidence that he needed to dump items left by the tenant’s including non-recycling that was left in the recycling bin and incurred a cost for this.
The amounts ordered are proven.
As both parties have been partially successful, I grant them both name suppression as requested.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5121975 — Cleanliness

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5121975 — Cleanliness

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