How much money was awarded in case 5161351?

Cleaning: $149.50 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $109.25 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $8.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Up To 1/03/2025: $835.72 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5161351?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5161351?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11900213-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5161351?

Cleaning: $149.50 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $109.25 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $8.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Up To 1/03/2025: $835.72 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5161351?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5161351?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11900213-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5161351 — Cleanliness

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5161351 about?

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

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5161351 — net $229.47 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent up to 1/03/2025	$835.72	Rent up to 1/03/2025
Cleaning	$149.50	Cleaning
Lock replacement (room	$109.25	Lock replacement (room
Key replacement (front door	$8.00	Key replacement (front door
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$229.47
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$229.47

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

[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $229.47 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $900.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.

Reasons

The landlord’s representatives and the tenant attended the hearing by telephone.

The landlord has applied for rent due under a fixed term contract and costs for cleaning and lock replacement following the end of the tenancy. The law that applies to fixed term tenancies

A tenancy for a fixed term cannot be ended early or by the giving of notice (except in the case of tenant assault where the tenant has been charged, if the premises are unlawful, uninhabitable, or the tenant or a dependent are the victim of family violence 1 ) unless both parties agree, or the Tribunal makes an order allowing this.

This is because a tenancy agreement is a binding contract in which both parties agree to continue the tenancy until at least the end of the fixed term.

The Tribunal may make an order to reduce a fixed term tenancy on the application of either party, where: a. there has been an unforeseen change in the applicant’s circumstances; and b. there would be severe hardship to the applicant if the term is not reduced; and c. the applicant’s hardship would be greater than the hardship to the other party if the term is reduced. See section 66(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Decision

The parties signed a tenancy agreement for a fixed term from 1 March 2024 to 1 March 2025.

The tenant emailed the landlord on 8 January 2025 saying that exceptional circumstances had arisen, and he was giving 28 days’ notice to end the tenancy three weeks early.

The landlord replied advising that, as this was a fixed term tenancy until 1 March 2025, he would remain liable for rent and responsibilities for the room until that date unless a new tenant could be found to start paying rent prior to that date. 1 See sections 55AA, 56A, 56B, 58A, 59, 59A, 59B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Particular forms of notice or evidence may be required. See https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/ending-a-tenancy/

The landlord commenced advertising but was not able to find a new tenant prior to 1 March 2025.

The tenant mistakenly thought that he had the right to give notice to end a fixed term tenancy early if there were genuine exceptional circumstances. He felt he had acted fairly by giving the landlord as much notice of this as he could.

The tenant is incorrect that a tenant can themselves make the decision to choose to end a fixed term tenancy because of changed circumstances (whether exceptional or not).

A tenant must still either obtain the consent of the landlord or must make a formal application to the Tribunal. The tenant did not do either of those things.

The Tribunal can make an order to end a fixed term tenancy early if a tenant makes an application to the Tribunal (under section 66 RTA) and shows there were unforeseen circumstances and that they would suffer severe hardship greater than the landlord’s hardship. The Tribunal may still order that the tenant pay the landlord reasonable compensation for any loss.

The tenant did not apply or provide any evidence to the Tribunal or to the landlord prior to the hearing.

My decision is the tenant is liable to pay the rent due until the end of the fixed term. The landlord’s rent records prove this is $835.72 and the tenant did not dispute the amount. Cleaning and change of locks on room

The tenant consents to the landlord’s claims for room cleaning and replacing the locks.

Receipts were supplied and I award these amounts. Filing fee, bond, and suppression of names

I award the filing fee and suppress the landlord’s name as its claim is successful.

The bond is refunded to the landlord and the tenant undertakes to pay the additional amount owing directly to the landlord soon.

The tenant applied for suppression of his name, and this is granted. I accept that he genuinely believed he could end the tenancy early in the way he sought to do. He was mistaken but has otherwise acted reasonably by keeping in communication with the landlord. He consents to the cleaning and locks claim, and it appears the keys were misplaced rather than withheld intentionally. His ability to secure future tenancies may be unduly affected by publication so his interests outweigh the public interest in his identity.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5161351 — net $229.47 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent up to 1/03/2025	$835.72	Rent up to 1/03/2025
Cleaning	$149.50	Cleaning
Lock replacement (room	$109.25	Lock replacement (room
Key replacement (front door	$8.00	Key replacement (front door
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$229.47
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$229.47