What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5129411 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 5129411?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5129411?

The primary dispute was Mould & damp. Related themes: Exemplary damages, Leaks.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5129411?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11642110-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5129411 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 5129411?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5129411?

The primary dispute was Mould & damp. Related themes: Exemplary damages, Leaks.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5129411?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11642110-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

18 Margaret Avenue, Havelock North, Havelock North 4130 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5129411 — Mould & damp

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Tenant’s name and identifying details.
The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at 18 Margaret Avenue, Havelock North, Havelock North 4130 terminated at 11:59pm on 27 August 2024.
The landlord’s applications for rent arears and fixed term break fees are dismissed. 4.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. The landlord was represented by its property manager Ms Hall.
The parties entered into a tenancy agreement on 19 April 2024 for a fixed term from 24 April 2024 to 23 April 2025.
The tenant moved out on 27 August 2024.
The tenant seeks refund of the bond. The landlord seeks compensation for the tenant breaking the fixed term and for an Order that rent be paid until the point the Owner decided to sell rather than relet the premises.
At the date the tenancy began there were issues with the premises that needed to be addressed. They are recorded in an e-mail from Ms Hall to the tenant dated 1 May 2024. Those issues are recorded as: o “quote on bathroom vanity for chips to be repaired or vanity to be replaced o silicon and repainting of boards around bath o lights in third bedroom o hole inside of garage needs to be fixed so it is watertight o shrub cuttings and rocks to be removed o replace manhole board as it has a broken corner.”
The same day the tenant notified the landlord, “hot water pressure is terrible. Could we please look at this? I have bought a new shower head which I will put in this weekend but it's bad across the house so it won't make a big difference.”
After the property manager had arranged for a plumber to visit, the tenant notified the landlord on 6 May 2024, “They were there on Friday. They changed the shower head but a new hot water tank is going to be required. Pretty sure the one that is in there was converted from coal LOL. They said the quote for it should come through to you pretty quickly.”
The evidence suggests that the owner declined recommendations from 2 plumbers to replace the hot water cylinder and instead a diverter was installed, which the tenant says did not improve the hot water supply.
The time this process took is illustrated by a follow up e-mail from the tenant to the property manager on 1 July 2024, “I was wondering if you had a date for the hot water tank yet?” The property manager replied on the same day, “Frig I thought water cylinder had been sorted, leave with me following up again.”
At the property manager’s request, on 16 July 2024, the tenant listed the work that needed to be done to the premises, in order of urgency. That work was noted as: o “ hot water tank o chimney check and repair o area around shed o roof leak (photo below) o holes in shed o lights in spare rooms o bathroom vanity.”
It is of note that several of those items are those agreed as needing to be addressed at the start of the tendency.
The property manager replied to the tenant on the same day setting out the steps intended to remedy those issues.
The photograph sent by the tenant to the property manager about the roof leak shows very obvious water damage to the walls of the premises, with what appear to be “blisters” in the wallpaper where water is trapped behind. The tenant’s evidence, supported by photos is that they got worse each time it rained after that.
On 1 August 2024 the property manager visited the premises. She and the tenant pulled back some of the wallpaper and a photograph taken at the time shows significant mould indicating historic and ongoing water damage. The only available power points in the affected room was on that wall, which the tenant did not consider safe to use, instead running extension cords from other outlets.
On 12 August 2024 the property manager advised the tenant, “Report has only just come through from superior roofing, this has been sent to the owner and he is going to talk to them directly. I'll come back to you ASAP once I know re roof.” The tenant replied, “Thanks it's pretty bad now with the rain everything has gotten worse the wall is completely saturated. If I turn on the heat took too long the house smells like rot with the position of the heat pump. I can't use the plugs because the wall’s so wet.”
The tenant and the property manager discussed other rental options.
The tenant says that he heard nothing further so decided that he needed to vacate the premises. He gave notice of his intention to do so on 15 August 24 and vacated on 27 August 2024.
The tenant’s evidence is that he heard nothing more until 2 days before he moved out, when it was assessed that the roof needed replacing. That work was done after he moved out. Analysis
The starting point is that the parties had entered into an agreement for a one year fixed term. The Tribunal must determine is whether these circumstances entitled the tenant to end the fixed term early.
The Tribunal may make an Order ending a fixed term early under s.66 where, “.....because of an unforeseen change in the applicant’s circumstances, the severe hardship which the applicant would suffer if the term of the tenancy were not reduced would be greater than the hardship which the other party to the tenancy would suffer if the term were reduced.”
The ongoing and unremedied problems with the premises and particularly the effects of the leaking, constitute unforeseen changes in the tenant’s circumstances as occupant of the premises. In my view the hardship caused to the tenant in requiring him to remain in the tenancy with those unremedied issues and while the roof was repaired/ replaced would be potentially hazardous and severe. The landlord on the other hand was able to utilise the tenant’s absence from the premises to undertake necessary repair work following which the owner elected not to relet the premises but to sell them.
The evidence satisfies me on balance too, that the landlord breached its obligations to the tenant. The evidence shows that the premises were rented with repair and maintenance issues outstanding which breached the landlord’s obligation under s.45(1)(b) to provide the premises in a reasonable state of repair. Failure to adequately remediate those issues and the other issues that arose during the tenancy (hot water supply and water leaks) also breached that obligation.
I understand that some of the delay in in attending to necessary work may have been through unavailability of tradespeople. My view of the evidence is that those breaches were nevertheless sufficiently fundamental to entitle the tenant to cancel the fixed term agreement.
I accordingly find that the tenancy should terminate on 27 August 2024, the date the tenant vacated. The tenant does not seek compensation or exemplary damages for the effect of those issues on his use and enjoyment of the premises of the premises, while paying full rent.
There is no dispute that the tenant met his obligation to return the premises to the landlord in reasonably clean and tidy condition.
It follows that: a. the landlord’s claim for fixed term break fees and ongoing rent must be dismissed; and b. the tenant’s bond should be refunded.
No Order is made in respect of the filing fee.

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Tenant’s name and identifying details.
The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at 18 Margaret Avenue, Havelock North, Havelock North 4130 terminated at 11:59pm on 27 August 2024.
The landlord’s applications for rent arears and fixed term break fees are dismissed. 4.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. The landlord was represented by its property manager Ms Hall.
The parties entered into a tenancy agreement on 19 April 2024 for a fixed term from 24 April 2024 to 23 April 2025.
The tenant moved out on 27 August 2024.
The tenant seeks refund of the bond. The landlord seeks compensation for the tenant breaking the fixed term and for an Order that rent be paid until the point the Owner decided to sell rather than relet the premises.
At the date the tenancy began there were issues with the premises that needed to be addressed. They are recorded in an e-mail from Ms Hall to the tenant dated 1 May 2024. Those issues are recorded as: o “quote on bathroom vanity for chips to be repaired or vanity to be replaced o silicon and repainting of boards around bath o lights in third bedroom o hole inside of garage needs to be fixed so it is watertight o shrub cuttings and rocks to be removed o replace manhole board as it has a broken corner.”
The same day the tenant notified the landlord, “hot water pressure is terrible. Could we please look at this? I have bought a new shower head which I will put in this weekend but it's bad across the house so it won't make a big difference.”
After the property manager had arranged for a plumber to visit, the tenant notified the landlord on 6 May 2024, “They were there on Friday. They changed the shower head but a new hot water tank is going to be required. Pretty sure the one that is in there was converted from coal LOL. They said the quote for it should come through to you pretty quickly.”
The evidence suggests that the owner declined recommendations from 2 plumbers to replace the hot water cylinder and instead a diverter was installed, which the tenant says did not improve the hot water supply.
The time this process took is illustrated by a follow up e-mail from the tenant to the property manager on 1 July 2024, “I was wondering if you had a date for the hot water tank yet?” The property manager replied on the same day, “Frig I thought water cylinder had been sorted, leave with me following up again.”
At the property manager’s request, on 16 July 2024, the tenant listed the work that needed to be done to the premises, in order of urgency. That work was noted as: o “ hot water tank o chimney check and repair o area around shed o roof leak (photo below) o holes in shed o lights in spare rooms o bathroom vanity.”
It is of note that several of those items are those agreed as needing to be addressed at the start of the tendency.
The property manager replied to the tenant on the same day setting out the steps intended to remedy those issues.
The photograph sent by the tenant to the property manager about the roof leak shows very obvious water damage to the walls of the premises, with what appear to be “blisters” in the wallpaper where water is trapped behind. The tenant’s evidence, supported by photos is that they got worse each time it rained after that.
On 1 August 2024 the property manager visited the premises. She and the tenant pulled back some of the wallpaper and a photograph taken at the time shows significant mould indicating historic and ongoing water damage. The only available power points in the affected room was on that wall, which the tenant did not consider safe to use, instead running extension cords from other outlets.
On 12 August 2024 the property manager advised the tenant, “Report has only just come through from superior roofing, this has been sent to the owner and he is going to talk to them directly. I'll come back to you ASAP once I know re roof.” The tenant replied, “Thanks it's pretty bad now with the rain everything has gotten worse the wall is completely saturated. If I turn on the heat took too long the house smells like rot with the position of the heat pump. I can't use the plugs because the wall’s so wet.”
The tenant and the property manager discussed other rental options.
The tenant says that he heard nothing further so decided that he needed to vacate the premises. He gave notice of his intention to do so on 15 August 24 and vacated on 27 August 2024.
The tenant’s evidence is that he heard nothing more until 2 days before he moved out, when it was assessed that the roof needed replacing. That work was done after he moved out. Analysis
The starting point is that the parties had entered into an agreement for a one year fixed term. The Tribunal must determine is whether these circumstances entitled the tenant to end the fixed term early.
The Tribunal may make an Order ending a fixed term early under s.66 where, “.....because of an unforeseen change in the applicant’s circumstances, the severe hardship which the applicant would suffer if the term of the tenancy were not reduced would be greater than the hardship which the other party to the tenancy would suffer if the term were reduced.”
The ongoing and unremedied problems with the premises and particularly the effects of the leaking, constitute unforeseen changes in the tenant’s circumstances as occupant of the premises. In my view the hardship caused to the tenant in requiring him to remain in the tenancy with those unremedied issues and while the roof was repaired/ replaced would be potentially hazardous and severe. The landlord on the other hand was able to utilise the tenant’s absence from the premises to undertake necessary repair work following which the owner elected not to relet the premises but to sell them.
The evidence satisfies me on balance too, that the landlord breached its obligations to the tenant. The evidence shows that the premises were rented with repair and maintenance issues outstanding which breached the landlord’s obligation under s.45(1)(b) to provide the premises in a reasonable state of repair. Failure to adequately remediate those issues and the other issues that arose during the tenancy (hot water supply and water leaks) also breached that obligation.
I understand that some of the delay in in attending to necessary work may have been through unavailability of tradespeople. My view of the evidence is that those breaches were nevertheless sufficiently fundamental to entitle the tenant to cancel the fixed term agreement.
I accordingly find that the tenancy should terminate on 27 August 2024, the date the tenant vacated. The tenant does not seek compensation or exemplary damages for the effect of those issues on his use and enjoyment of the premises of the premises, while paying full rent.
There is no dispute that the tenant met his obligation to return the premises to the landlord in reasonably clean and tidy condition.
It follows that: a. the landlord’s claim for fixed term break fees and ongoing rent must be dismissed; and b. the tenant’s bond should be refunded.
No Order is made in respect of the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5129411 — Mould & damp at 18 Margaret Avenue, Havelock North, Havelock North 4130

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5129411 — Mould & damp at 18 Margaret Avenue, Havelock North, Havelock North 4130

At a glance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions