Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5164892 — Rent arrears
Decided 8 Apr 2025 · Published 8 Apr 2025 · Application 5164892
- Rent arrears
- 14-day notice
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 tenant’s name and identifying details and the tenancy address.
- [The tenant/s] owes Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities $3,105.26 (“the debt”), which is rent arrears to 6 April 2025.
- [The tenant/s] must pay rent and the debt as follows: a. By fortnightly payments of $614.00, being $536.00 for fortnightly rent ($268.00 rent per week) and $78.00 per fortnight towards the debt, starting on Thursday 3 April 2025 and continuing every second Thursday after that until the debt is paid in full.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent, rent arrears, and the filing fee.
- If the tenant fails to pay rent and rent arrears within 2 working days of the due dates: a. The tenancy at [Tenancy address suppressed] will terminate and the landlord will have immediate possession of the premises. b. The balance of the debt will be payable immediately.
- If the tenant fails to pay the filing fee within 2 working days of the due date, the filing fee will be payable immediately.
- The Mediator’s Order in application 5007428 is replaced with this order.
Reasons
- Ms Leota, representing the landlord, and [The tenant/s] both attended the teleconference hearing.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy and rent arrears. The tenant wants to repay the debt to avoid immediate termination. The landlord was open to the making of a conditional termination order.
- The landlord said that the tenant has made consistent rent payments and payments towards the debt more recently.
- The tenant explained that her father passed away, her grandchildren who had been in her care, have moved back with their mother and there was some reduction in her work hours, as well as confusion about the documents she needed to provide to have her income assessed so as not to pay market rent. She confirmed that she recently negotiated increased hours at work, now has a permanent work contract and can pay rent and the debt consistently.
Should a conditional termination order be made?
- Where rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the date the application was filed, the Tribunal must make either a final or a conditional termination order. See section 55(1)(a) and (1A) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“RTA”).
- I am satisfied the tenant will pay the debt within the period specified in the order and is unlikely to commit any further relevant breach. I have granted a conditional termination order.
- The conditional termination order will lapse if it is fully complied with. If the tenant breaches the order, the possession order may be enforced for 90 days from the first breach. See section 64(4)(b) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- The Mediator’s Order in application 5007428 is replaced with this order. Suppression
- The tenant requested name suppression. Section 95A(4) RTA provides that the Tribunal may, on the application of any party to proceedings or on its own initiative, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest, order that all or part of the evidence given or the name or any identifying particulars of any witness or party not be published.
- From the evidence about the tenant’s personal circumstances, I am satisfied that the tenant’s interests outweigh the public interest in publishing her name. Therefore, I order that the tenant’s name and identifying details and the tenancy address are not to be published.