What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5198811 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton,

How much money was awarded in case 5198811?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $420.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5198811?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5198811?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11748548-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5198811 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton,

How much money was awarded in case 5198811?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $420.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5198811?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5198811?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11748548-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8041 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5198811 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5198811 — net $187.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$420.00	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$187.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$187.00

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8041 is terminated, and possession is granted to [The tenant/s] landlord/s], immediately.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $260.00 (3053565-019) to [The tenant/s] landlord/s] immediately.
[The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay [The tenant/s] landlord/s] $187.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing via remote teleconference. An attempt was made to contact the tenant on the telephone number provided. The attempt was unsuccessful.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations, rent arrears and refund of the bond.
With any claim before the Tenancy Tribunal, the Tribunal applies the usual civil law standards and expectations. That includes a requirement that the applicant, establish their claims on the balance of probabilities. The balance of probabilities means more likely than un-likely, or in mathematical terms, has a fractionally more than 50% likelihood.
The Tribunal does not need to be certain or very sure about any claim, only that what is claimed is likely. This obligation is referred to as the “burden of proof”. Independent witnesses, corroborating documents and photographs are an important part of discharging this burden.
As noted by the District Court in Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy 1 in practical terms this means that:... [L]ike anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or Court, it is incumbent upon the tenant to provide the evidence necessary to prove the case. If the tenant fails to do that, then their application will be dismissed whether it has merit or not because it is up to the tenant to provide the necessary evidence. It is not up to the other parties, and it is certainly not up to the Tribunal to extract evidence.
The parties signed a house sharing agreement on 23 April 2019 which records: This agreement is between the Head Tenant and Flatmate The flatmate and the head tenant agree to share premises on the following terms: a. The agreement starts on 24 April 2019 and will continue on a weekly/fortnightly basis b. The rent is $130.00 per week/fortnight and is to be paid weekly/fortnightly in advance by the flatmate to the head tenant/landlord c. A bond of $260.00 payable to the head tenant. A written receipt will be given to the flatmate. d. The flatmate cannot assign the right to live in the flat e. If the head tenant receives notice from the landlord, the head tenant will give a copy of the notice to the flatmate immediately. 1 Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02 f. This agreement can be terminated by 14 days’ notice given by either party in writing. g. The flatmate shall not keep in pets on the premises without the head tenant’s permission h. The flatmate must not remove any chattels or fixtures from the premises that do not belong to the flatmate i. At the end of this agreement, the head tenant will return the bond to the flatmate immediately. The head tenant can deduct from the bond any cost which is outstanding and is the responsibility of the flatmate j. In the event of any dispute, the parties agree that the dispute will be determined by the Disputes Tribunal.
The address of the property is recorded as room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch. The landlord’s position
The landlord says that the tenant shares the house with 3 other people. Everyone living there has signed a house sharing agreement.
The landlord advertised the room on Trademe as a room for rent. The tenants only need to provide 14 days’ notice to move out.
Most importantly, the landlord does not live there has never done so. The tenant pays $140.00 each week for rent and pays this directly to the landlord. The rent includes power and internet.
The landlord received a bond from the tenant and lodged this money with the bond centre. The bond centre records confirm the same. Jurisdiction
Questions of jurisdiction are fundamental and must be decided before the Tribunal can go on to make any other findings in a case. Put simply, if there is no jurisdiction, then the Tribunal cannot proceed to hear the case.
The Tribunal can only consider disputes in relation to residential tenancies which fall within the Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”) between a landlord and a tenant or between a landlord and the guarantor of a tenant.
The RTA sets out the relevant definitions.
A landlord in relation to any residential premises that are the subject of a tenancy agreement, means the grantor of a tenancy of the premises under the agreement. A tenant, in relation to any residential premises that are the subject of a tenancy agreement, means the grantee of a tenancy of the premises under the agreement.
A residential premises means any premises used or intended for occupation by any person as a place of residence, whether or not the occupation or intended occupation for residential purposes is or would be unlawful.
A tenancy, in relation to any residential premises, means the right to occupy the premises (whether exclusively or otherwise) in consideration for rent; and includes any tenancy of residential premises implied or created by any enactment; and, where appropriate, also includes a former tenancy.
A tenancy agreement, in relation to any residential premises, means any express or implied agreement under which any person, for rent, grants or agrees to grant to any other person a tenancy of the premises.
There is a statutory presumption that the RTA will apply to all residential tenancies, unless specifically excluded by the RTA. Parties cannot contract out of the RTA.
The Act sets out several cases which are excluded from the RTA. 2 Outcome as to jurisdiction
As noted above the landlord maintains that they have never resided at the tenancy address. In my view, notwithstanding the house sharing agreement, this is essentially a room-by-room tenancy to which the Tenancy Tribunal has jurisdiction.
I consider the premises were not principally used as a place of residence for the landlord or a member of the landlord’s family for the duration of the tenancy.
I consider the landlord has provided sufficient evidence that the tenants occupy the premises on a room-by-room arrangement, whereby they share part of the premises. I consider it was not used principally as the landlord’s place of residence.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

Where a landlord applies to terminate for breach, and rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the hearing date, the Tribunal must terminate the tenancy. See sections 55 and 56(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Rent is at least 21 days in arrears at the hearing date. The tenancy is terminated.

How much does the tenant owe?

The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing. 2 See section 5 of the RTA
Having sighted the landlord’s rent ledger I am satisfied that the tenant is responsible for the rent arrears.
Because [The tenant/s] landlord/s] has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5198811 — net $187.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$420.00	Rent arrears
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$187.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$187.00

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8041 is terminated, and possession is granted to [The tenant/s] landlord/s], immediately.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $260.00 (3053565-019) to [The tenant/s] landlord/s] immediately.
[The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay [The tenant/s] landlord/s] $187.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing via remote teleconference. An attempt was made to contact the tenant on the telephone number provided. The attempt was unsuccessful.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations, rent arrears and refund of the bond.
With any claim before the Tenancy Tribunal, the Tribunal applies the usual civil law standards and expectations. That includes a requirement that the applicant, establish their claims on the balance of probabilities. The balance of probabilities means more likely than un-likely, or in mathematical terms, has a fractionally more than 50% likelihood.
The Tribunal does not need to be certain or very sure about any claim, only that what is claimed is likely. This obligation is referred to as the “burden of proof”. Independent witnesses, corroborating documents and photographs are an important part of discharging this burden.
As noted by the District Court in Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy 1 in practical terms this means that:... [L]ike anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or Court, it is incumbent upon the tenant to provide the evidence necessary to prove the case. If the tenant fails to do that, then their application will be dismissed whether it has merit or not because it is up to the tenant to provide the necessary evidence. It is not up to the other parties, and it is certainly not up to the Tribunal to extract evidence.
The parties signed a house sharing agreement on 23 April 2019 which records: This agreement is between the Head Tenant and Flatmate The flatmate and the head tenant agree to share premises on the following terms: a. The agreement starts on 24 April 2019 and will continue on a weekly/fortnightly basis b. The rent is $130.00 per week/fortnight and is to be paid weekly/fortnightly in advance by the flatmate to the head tenant/landlord c. A bond of $260.00 payable to the head tenant. A written receipt will be given to the flatmate. d. The flatmate cannot assign the right to live in the flat e. If the head tenant receives notice from the landlord, the head tenant will give a copy of the notice to the flatmate immediately. 1 Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02 f. This agreement can be terminated by 14 days’ notice given by either party in writing. g. The flatmate shall not keep in pets on the premises without the head tenant’s permission h. The flatmate must not remove any chattels or fixtures from the premises that do not belong to the flatmate i. At the end of this agreement, the head tenant will return the bond to the flatmate immediately. The head tenant can deduct from the bond any cost which is outstanding and is the responsibility of the flatmate j. In the event of any dispute, the parties agree that the dispute will be determined by the Disputes Tribunal.
The address of the property is recorded as room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch. The landlord’s position
The landlord says that the tenant shares the house with 3 other people. Everyone living there has signed a house sharing agreement.
The landlord advertised the room on Trademe as a room for rent. The tenants only need to provide 14 days’ notice to move out.
Most importantly, the landlord does not live there has never done so. The tenant pays $140.00 each week for rent and pays this directly to the landlord. The rent includes power and internet.
The landlord received a bond from the tenant and lodged this money with the bond centre. The bond centre records confirm the same. Jurisdiction
Questions of jurisdiction are fundamental and must be decided before the Tribunal can go on to make any other findings in a case. Put simply, if there is no jurisdiction, then the Tribunal cannot proceed to hear the case.
The Tribunal can only consider disputes in relation to residential tenancies which fall within the Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”) between a landlord and a tenant or between a landlord and the guarantor of a tenant.
The RTA sets out the relevant definitions.
A landlord in relation to any residential premises that are the subject of a tenancy agreement, means the grantor of a tenancy of the premises under the agreement. A tenant, in relation to any residential premises that are the subject of a tenancy agreement, means the grantee of a tenancy of the premises under the agreement.
A residential premises means any premises used or intended for occupation by any person as a place of residence, whether or not the occupation or intended occupation for residential purposes is or would be unlawful.
A tenancy, in relation to any residential premises, means the right to occupy the premises (whether exclusively or otherwise) in consideration for rent; and includes any tenancy of residential premises implied or created by any enactment; and, where appropriate, also includes a former tenancy.
A tenancy agreement, in relation to any residential premises, means any express or implied agreement under which any person, for rent, grants or agrees to grant to any other person a tenancy of the premises.
There is a statutory presumption that the RTA will apply to all residential tenancies, unless specifically excluded by the RTA. Parties cannot contract out of the RTA.
The Act sets out several cases which are excluded from the RTA. 2 Outcome as to jurisdiction
As noted above the landlord maintains that they have never resided at the tenancy address. In my view, notwithstanding the house sharing agreement, this is essentially a room-by-room tenancy to which the Tenancy Tribunal has jurisdiction.
I consider the premises were not principally used as a place of residence for the landlord or a member of the landlord’s family for the duration of the tenancy.
I consider the landlord has provided sufficient evidence that the tenants occupy the premises on a room-by-room arrangement, whereby they share part of the premises. I consider it was not used principally as the landlord’s place of residence.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

Where a landlord applies to terminate for breach, and rent is at least 21 days in arrears on the hearing date, the Tribunal must terminate the tenancy. See sections 55 and 56(2) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Rent is at least 21 days in arrears at the hearing date. The tenancy is terminated.

How much does the tenant owe?

The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing. 2 See section 5 of the RTA
Having sighted the landlord’s rent ledger I am satisfied that the tenant is responsible for the rent arrears.
Because [The tenant/s] landlord/s] has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5198811 — Rent arrears at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8041

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5198811 — Rent arrears at Room 3, 80 Matipo Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8041

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Reduce avoidable tribunal risk with proper tenant checks.

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Reduce avoidable tribunal risk with proper tenant checks.