What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5125548 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5125548?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $4,597.34 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5125548?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5125548?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11417357-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5125548 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5125548?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $4,597.34 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5125548?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5125548?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11417357-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

26 Dale Road, Whenuapai, Auckland 0618, Rear House Tenancy Tribunal Case 5125548 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5125548 — net $1,024.34 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025	$4,597.34	Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$1,024.34
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,024.34

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 Yan Kai (Tom) Li and Jing Li at 26 Dale Road, Whenuapai, Auckland 0618, Rear House is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], at 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 February 2025.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,600.00 to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Yan Kai (Tom) Li and Jing Li must pay [The landlord/s] $544.34 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below: DescriptionLandlord Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025$4,597.34 Filing fee reimbursement$27.00 Total award$4,624.34 Minus bond- $3,600.00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord$1,024.34

Reasons

The Tribunal must consider an application filed by the landlord against the tenants. The landlord’s primary application is around termination of the tenancy.
Both parties appeared at the hearing in Waitakere today.

BACKGROUND

There is no dispute between the parties that there is a tenancy in place, the tenancy commenced in 2018,
The parties entered into an extension of the tenancy on a fixed-term basis. The agreement covered a three year period, with increasing rent annually. The last rent increase applied from 1 November 2023, when the rent became $1,060.00 per week. The fixed term then ended on 31 October 2024.
The landlord provided a rent ledger which I accept is correct, certainly the tenant has not able to provide any evidence of missed payments or inaccurate accounting.
The rent ledger records a long history of arrears, but for the purpose of this decision, the arrears that existed as of 2 November 2023 were $210.00 for example.
The evidence is that the tenant stopped paying rent in early October 2024, missing four rent payments. At the hearing today, the tenant advised that his tenancy was to end on 31 October 2024, and he needed a bond for the next premises.
In any event the rent arrears continued.
On 9 January 2025 the landlord applied to terminate the tenancy. The rent arrears at that time were $3,840.00, which equates to 25 days of rent arrears.

ANALYSIS

Section 55 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) applies. That provision confirms that if the tenant is more than 21 days in arrears on the day the landlord applies to terminate the tenancy, the Tribunal “shall” terminate the tenancy. Because the arrears were over 21 days of arrears as of 9 January 2025, the Tribunal orders termination of the tenancy.
The landlord has agreed that possession should return at 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 February 2025. That is reasonable and it is ordered.
What this means, is that the tenant must return the premises to the landlord at that time, reasonably clean and tidy.
In the event the premises are not returned reasonably clean and tidy come next Wednesday, which includes the exterior of the premises, then the landlord will be able to undertake any work needed to return the premises to a reasonably clean and tidy state, and then bring a further claim against the tenants to recover those costs..
At the hearing the tenant said that he withheld the rent because the tenancy was coming to an end, and he needed another bond, assuming that the bond paid to these tenants would cover that rent.
As I explained at the hearing this morning, the tenant cannot do that. While the tenant is in possession of the premises, rent must be paid as and when it falls due. The bond gets released when the tenancy has ended, and possession returns to the landlord.
I also note that the tenant believes that tenancy ended on 31 October 2024. While that statement is not consistent with the fact that he remained in possession of the premises, the Residential Tenancies Act confirms that when a fixed-term tenancy ends, the tenancy automatically rolls over into a periodic tenancy. What that means is that the tenancy could be ended by notice, but it was a tenancy nevertheless for which the tenant needed to pay rent.
The question then becomes the level of rent arrears.
The tenant withheld rent for the period starting 3 October 2024. On 2 October 2024 there was already rent arrears of $240.00 owed by the tenant.
There are 138 days between 3 October 2024 and the final date of the tenancy which is 18 February 2025.
The daily rental rate is $151.43 ($1,060 / 7 days).
Therefore the total rent that should have been paid over those 138 days is $20,897.34.
The landlord’s rent ledger records rent payments during that period as follows: a. 31 October, $1,700 b. 7 November, $1,060 c. 14 November, $1,060 d. 21 November, $1,060 e. 29 November, $1,060 f. 5 December, $1,060 g. 16 December, $1,060 h. 20 December, $1,060 i. 30 December, $1,060 j. 3 January, $1,060 k. 9 January, $1,060 l. 17 January, $1,060 m. 24 January, $1,060 n. 31 January, $1,060 o. 10 February, $1,060
The total amount of rent that was paid for that period is $16,540.00.
I record that at the hearing, the tenant went through his bank statements and was not able to identify any missed rent payments.
Deducting the rent that was paid ($16,540) from the rent due ($20,897.34), and adding the prior arrears amount ($240.00) means the arrears owing as of 18 February 2025 will be $4,597.34 and that is ordered.
The bond is to be released to the landlord to go toward that debt.

FILING FEE

Because the applicant has been wholly successful in their application, I must award the filing paid to commence the proceeding in the Tribunal, which is $27.00.

NAME SUPPRESSION

The Tribunal can order name suppression when a party has been wholly or substantially successful in the proceeding. In this case the landlord has applied for name suppression, which is ordered given the landlord has been entirely successful.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5125548 — net $1,024.34 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025	$4,597.34	Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$1,024.34
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,024.34

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 Yan Kai (Tom) Li and Jing Li at 26 Dale Road, Whenuapai, Auckland 0618, Rear House is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], at 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 February 2025.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,600.00 to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Yan Kai (Tom) Li and Jing Li must pay [The landlord/s] $544.34 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below: DescriptionLandlord Rent arrears as of 18 February 2025$4,597.34 Filing fee reimbursement$27.00 Total award$4,624.34 Minus bond- $3,600.00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord$1,024.34

Reasons

The Tribunal must consider an application filed by the landlord against the tenants. The landlord’s primary application is around termination of the tenancy.
Both parties appeared at the hearing in Waitakere today.

BACKGROUND

There is no dispute between the parties that there is a tenancy in place, the tenancy commenced in 2018,
The parties entered into an extension of the tenancy on a fixed-term basis. The agreement covered a three year period, with increasing rent annually. The last rent increase applied from 1 November 2023, when the rent became $1,060.00 per week. The fixed term then ended on 31 October 2024.
The landlord provided a rent ledger which I accept is correct, certainly the tenant has not able to provide any evidence of missed payments or inaccurate accounting.
The rent ledger records a long history of arrears, but for the purpose of this decision, the arrears that existed as of 2 November 2023 were $210.00 for example.
The evidence is that the tenant stopped paying rent in early October 2024, missing four rent payments. At the hearing today, the tenant advised that his tenancy was to end on 31 October 2024, and he needed a bond for the next premises.
In any event the rent arrears continued.
On 9 January 2025 the landlord applied to terminate the tenancy. The rent arrears at that time were $3,840.00, which equates to 25 days of rent arrears.

ANALYSIS

Section 55 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) applies. That provision confirms that if the tenant is more than 21 days in arrears on the day the landlord applies to terminate the tenancy, the Tribunal “shall” terminate the tenancy. Because the arrears were over 21 days of arrears as of 9 January 2025, the Tribunal orders termination of the tenancy.
The landlord has agreed that possession should return at 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 February 2025. That is reasonable and it is ordered.
What this means, is that the tenant must return the premises to the landlord at that time, reasonably clean and tidy.
In the event the premises are not returned reasonably clean and tidy come next Wednesday, which includes the exterior of the premises, then the landlord will be able to undertake any work needed to return the premises to a reasonably clean and tidy state, and then bring a further claim against the tenants to recover those costs..
At the hearing the tenant said that he withheld the rent because the tenancy was coming to an end, and he needed another bond, assuming that the bond paid to these tenants would cover that rent.
As I explained at the hearing this morning, the tenant cannot do that. While the tenant is in possession of the premises, rent must be paid as and when it falls due. The bond gets released when the tenancy has ended, and possession returns to the landlord.
I also note that the tenant believes that tenancy ended on 31 October 2024. While that statement is not consistent with the fact that he remained in possession of the premises, the Residential Tenancies Act confirms that when a fixed-term tenancy ends, the tenancy automatically rolls over into a periodic tenancy. What that means is that the tenancy could be ended by notice, but it was a tenancy nevertheless for which the tenant needed to pay rent.
The question then becomes the level of rent arrears.
The tenant withheld rent for the period starting 3 October 2024. On 2 October 2024 there was already rent arrears of $240.00 owed by the tenant.
There are 138 days between 3 October 2024 and the final date of the tenancy which is 18 February 2025.
The daily rental rate is $151.43 ($1,060 / 7 days).
Therefore the total rent that should have been paid over those 138 days is $20,897.34.
The landlord’s rent ledger records rent payments during that period as follows: a. 31 October, $1,700 b. 7 November, $1,060 c. 14 November, $1,060 d. 21 November, $1,060 e. 29 November, $1,060 f. 5 December, $1,060 g. 16 December, $1,060 h. 20 December, $1,060 i. 30 December, $1,060 j. 3 January, $1,060 k. 9 January, $1,060 l. 17 January, $1,060 m. 24 January, $1,060 n. 31 January, $1,060 o. 10 February, $1,060
The total amount of rent that was paid for that period is $16,540.00.
I record that at the hearing, the tenant went through his bank statements and was not able to identify any missed rent payments.
Deducting the rent that was paid ($16,540) from the rent due ($20,897.34), and adding the prior arrears amount ($240.00) means the arrears owing as of 18 February 2025 will be $4,597.34 and that is ordered.
The bond is to be released to the landlord to go toward that debt.

FILING FEE

Because the applicant has been wholly successful in their application, I must award the filing paid to commence the proceeding in the Tribunal, which is $27.00.

NAME SUPPRESSION

The Tribunal can order name suppression when a party has been wholly or substantially successful in the proceeding. In this case the landlord has applied for name suppression, which is ordered given the landlord has been entirely successful.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5125548 — Rent arrears at 26 Dale Road, Whenuapai, Auckland 0618, Rear House

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5125548 — Rent arrears at 26 Dale Road, Whenuapai, Auckland 0618, Rear House

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

BACKGROUND

ANALYSIS

FILING FEE

NAME SUPPRESSION

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

BACKGROUND

ANALYSIS

FILING FEE

NAME SUPPRESSION

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions