Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5196513 — Rent arrears
Decided 7 May 2025 · Published 7 May 2025 · Application 5196513
- 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 $1,152.00 (“the debt”), which is rent arrears to 12 May 2025.
- [The tenant/s] must pay rent and the debt as follows: a. By weekly payments of $159.00, being $144.00 for weekly rent and $15.00 per week towards the debt, starting on Thursday 8 May 2025 and continuing every Thursday after that until the debt is paid in full.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent, then rent arrears.
- 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.
Reasons
- Ms Gray, representing the landlord, and the tenant, 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.
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. 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order that all or part of the evidence given or the name or any identifying particulars of any witness or party not be published.
- The tenant explained that there were issues with non-payment of rent due to her rent being reassessed by the Ministry of Social Development (“MSD”). She said that MSD had been paying her rent directly, then stopped paying it completely and she did not find this out until she was told by her housing manager. She said she then sorted it out with MSD and has now arranged for the rent to be paid directly to the landlord by MSD again. The tenant said she is currently pregnant and has 5 other young children. In the circumstances, and given the evidence, I find the tenant’s 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.