Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5135572 — Rent arrears
Decided 22 Oct 2025 · Published 22 Oct 2025 · Application 5135572
- Rent arrears
Party names are redacted in the official published order.
Order
- An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the parties’ names and identifying details.
- [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $1,787.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,860.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Reasons
- The matter was adjourned part heard on 11 February 2025 and was set down for hearing on 5 March 2025.
- Both parties attended the hearing on 5 March 2025 which took place by teleconference. DescriptionLandlordTenant Rent arrears to 25/02/2025$4,220.00 Compensation $600.00 Filing fee reimbursement27.00 Total award$4,247.00$600.00 Net award$3,647.00 Minus Bond$1,860.00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord$1,787.00
- On 11 February 2025 the tenant raised concerns that there were flooding and drainage issues in the back yard at the premises. The Tribunal adjourned the hearing for further evidence and directed that the applications 5122888 and 5135572 be combined and scheduled together.
- The Tribunal further ordered that “Until the next hearing date the tenant must pay the weekly rent by the due date with the next payment due on or before Friday 14 February 2025. If the tenant fails to make any payment within two (2) working days of the due date, the tenancy will terminate immediately, and the applicant shall have immediate possession of the premises.”
- The Tribunal made directions for filing of further evidence as follows: “If the tenant has a set off claim they want dealt with at the next hearing, they must file their evidence with the Tenancy Tribunal within 14 days of this order and send a copy to the landlord. If either party intends to produce any additional documents at the next hearing, they must send a copy to the Tribunal at least 2 days before the hearing.”
- The parties advised that the tenant failed to pay the rent on time and the tenancy terminated and the landlord acted to evict on 25 February 2025 and took possession on 1 March 2025. The claims
- The landlord sought bond refund, rent arrears and reimbursement of filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
- The tenant sought a set off against the amount of the arrears on the basis that there was flooding and drainage issues at the premises in the back yard which were not fixed for six months and that this impacted on the use of the premises for herself and her children. Interlocutory matters
- The 14-day time frame for filing evidence supporting the set off claim ended on 25 February 2025 and nothing was filed by the tenant before that date.
- Both parties filed additional evidence on 3 March 2025.
- At the hearing on 5 March 2025 the landlord submitted that the Tribunal should not consider the tenant’s set off claim as evidence was not filed until 3 March 2025.
- The tenant responded that the reason for the delay in filing her evidence was that she was urgently focussed on trying to obtain money to pay the rent to avoid eviction. She stated that she did not have time to file the evidence by the due date of 25 February 2025 being the same date the landlord sought eviction.
- Section 85 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 sets out the manner in which the Tenancy Tribunal jurisdiction is to be exercised and states the following: (1) “Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any regulations made under this Act, the Tribunal shall exercise its jurisdiction in a manner that is most likely to ensure the fair and expeditious resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants of residential premises to which this Act applies. (2) The Tribunal shall determine each dispute according to the general principles of the law relating to the matter and the substantial merits and justice of the case, but shall not be bound to give effect to strict legal rights or obligations or to legal forms or technicalities.”
- In Tenancy Tribunal the parties usually do not have legal assistance. Property managers are in the tenancy business and often familiar with Tribunal process and what is required for filing of evidence. Tenants are often not so familiar with this process.
- I accept the tenant’s submission that she was under considerable stress during the weeks before 25 February with seeking funds to pay the rent and not able to find time to file the evidence as directed.
- The landlord was aware of the tenant’s set off claim and filed evidence in response in anticipation of the evidence on 3 March 2025.
- Having considered the circumstances in this case I find that it is fair and expeditious to allow the tenant to pursue her set off claim.
- At the hearing on 5 March 2025 the Adjudicator offered the landlord an adjournment if further time was required to prepare for the hearing in light of the tenant’s evidence filed. The landlord declined an adjournment and sought to proceed.
Does the tenant owe rent arrears?
- This tenancy ended on 1 March 2025. The landlord seeks rent arrears to 25 February 2025 in the sum of $4220.00 and has provided a rent summary proving the amount claimed. The tenant does not dispute the rent arrears. The amount is ordered as sought. Has the landlord breached their obligation to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair?
- [The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached their obligations to repair and maintain the premises.
- Under section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, a landlord has obligations including that the landlord must provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair and comply with any relevant enactments in relation to buildings, health and safety.
- The Tribunal may award compensation to the tenant if a breach is proved on the balance of probabilities. The tenant seeks a set off against the amount of the rent arrears owed.
- The tenant claimed that there were flooding and drainage issues at the exterior of the premises and that the landlord failed to remedy this in a timely manner.
- The tenant provided the following in support of this claim: (a) Photographs and video taken on 28 August 2024 showing the back yard near the fence and shed flooded and the water knee deep on small children. (b) Photographs of the back yard dated 13 September 2021 showing flooding in similar places. The tenant stated these were taken while her mother was renting the premises prior to the current tenancy. (c) A photograph of the back yard dated 28 October 2024 showing the grass beside a concrete pad to be waterlogged. (d) Evidence of the photo and video evidence dated 28 August 2024 being sent to the landlord.
- The landlord provided the following in response: (a) Met Service rainfall data for [Event location suppressed] showing a higher- than-average rainfall for August and September 2024. The landlord stated that the four wettest days in 2024 were 28 – 31 August. (b) Confirmation that the landlord received the photos and video from the tenant on 30 August 2024. (c) A copy of a routine inspection report dated 12 September 2024. The landlord pointed out that the report photographs do not show pooling of water in the affected area. (d) Written submissions from the property manager disputing the tenant’s claims regarding the extent of the flooding. The submissions included a statement from the property manager saying “The owner and I visited the property the next day (13th September 2024) with [drain operator] (the owner/ operator of [redacted]). The owner made a note in his timeline on that day saying the following "Side lawn was fine, but the entire back lawn was very muddy. No surface pooling was observed at that time." (e) A copy of a report from the contractor [redacted] dated 25 February 2025.
- The report from [redacted] includes a timeline of their involvement as follows:
- The report findings record that many issues were found as follows:
- The report of [redacted] goes on to state that there was no soil contamination and further that the drainage issues appear to be a historic problem as there is evidence that the concrete is dropping at the back of the house.
- Having considered the evidence I find that the almost six month delay in the remedying the drainage issue from when the tenant notified the landlord in August 2024 until the repair was completed in February 2025 amounts to a breach by the landlord to maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair for the following reasons: (a) The timeline provided by the landlord’s contractor records a first visit by the contractor two weeks after the tenant notified the landlord of the problem. In October 2024 some investigation was undertaken and the problem identified. The contractor reports that the existing drainage system did not work properly. (b) The landlord claimed that the drainage issues in the back yard were caused due to the higher than usual rainfall. I accept that this highlighted the issue with the drainage but the evidence of the tenant and the contractor report indicates that it had been there previously. The photographs dated 2021 and the statement from the contractor that this is a historical issue indicate that it had been a problem prior to the August rain. Once the landlord was notified by the tenant of the drainage issues there was a responsibility to remedy the matter in a timely manner. (c) There is evidence that the problem continued as the owner commented on 13 September 2024 that the entire back lawn was very muddy and the photograph taken on 28 October 2024 shows the back lawn is still boggy. (d) There was a further delay of two months from October to December 2024 before a quote for the remedial work was provided and a further two month delay before the work was undertaken. There was no explanation provided for the two month delay for the quote. The explanation for the further delay until the work was completed was that the contractor was waiting for the ground to dry out, This supports the tenant claim that the back yard was boggy. The timeline does not record any contractor visit to the premises between October 2024 and February 2025. (e) The landlord claimed that the delays were due to the contractor and this may be so, however, the responsibility to maintain the premises is an reasonable state of repair lies with the landlord and the effect of the delays on the tenant was loss of amenity due to stress and limited use of the back yard.
- The Tribunal can order a landlord to pay such sum by way of damages or compensation as the Tribunal shall assess in respect of the breach of any provision of the Residential Tenancies Act (section 77(2)(n)). In this case any compensation ordered will be set off against the rent arrears owed by the tenant. The tenant stated that she has a high needs autistic child and the children could not use the back yard as she was concerned for their safety due to it not draining properly. She expressed frustration at the lack of communication regarding progress on the repairs. Having considered the factors in this case including the almost six month delay in remedying the drainage from first notification, the effect on the tenant and the fact that the issue was an exterior issue only, the Tribunal considers that modest compensation in the sum of $25 per week for the 24 weeks from first notification of the problem until it was resolved is appropriate. The amount of $600.00 will be set off against the rent arrears ordered. Suppression/Filing fee
- The Tribunal may on the application of any party or on its own initiative make a suppression order, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest. Section 95A (4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. The applicant has applied for suppression. Both parties have had some success with these proceedings. Having considered the factors in this case the Tribunal orders suppression of all parties’ identifying details.
- Because [The landlord/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.