What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5230211 about?

The tribunal order states: Shilpi Pillai must pay [The tenant/s] $1,298.00 immediately, calculated as

How much money was awarded in case 5230211?

Electricity Charges Payable By The T…: $360.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant; Refund Of All Payments Received By L…: $814.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5230211?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5230211?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11851599-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5230211 about?

The tribunal order states: Shilpi Pillai must pay [The tenant/s] $1,298.00 immediately, calculated as

How much money was awarded in case 5230211?

Electricity Charges Payable By The T…: $360.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant; Refund Of All Payments Received By L…: $814.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5230211?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5230211?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11851599-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

Unit/Flat 308B, 8 Lakewood court, Manukau, Auckland Tenancy Tribunal Case 5230211 — Exemplary damages

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5230211 — net $1,298.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Electricity charges payable by the tenant for 6 months	$360.00		Electricity charges payable by the tenant for 6 months
Exemplary damages: bond not lodged until 1 April 2025		$500.00	bond not lodged until 1 April 2025
Refund of all payments received by landlord towards		$814.00	Refund of all payments received by landlord towards
Bond overpaid to landlord		$317.00	Bond overpaid to landlord
Filing fee reimbursement		$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Total award	$360.00	$1,658.00
Net award		$1,298.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant		$1,298.00

Both parties attended the hearing.

The tenant seeks return of water rates and electricity charges paid to the landlord. The tenant also takes issue with the tenancy agreement stating that penalty charges of $20.00 a week when the tenant is in default of water rates and electricity charges payments.

There are parts in the tenancy agreement which are clearly unenforceable and illegal. A landlord cannot charge a penalty or liquidated damages against a tenant even if the tenant has defaulted on lawful payments to the landlord. The landlord accepts this during the hearing and ultimately no penalty charges had been paid by the tenant. The landlord acknowledges the stress that this has caused on the tenant.

As for outgoings, the parties have come to an agreement for the return of overpaid charges as set out in the table above. The only amounts towards outgoings that the landlord can lawfully charge the tenant pursuant to section 39 Residential Tenancies Act 1986 are on metered electricity charges based on actual consumption.

For ease of accounting, I have set-off $360.00 for 6 months’ electricity charges payable by the tenant against the total amounts collected by the landlord throughout the tenancy towards water rates and all electricity charges received.

Apart from two weeks rent arrears of $900.00 and $50.00 security card replacement costs, the landlord cannot keep the balance of the bond that was refunded by the bond centre earlier. I order the return of $317.00 by the landlord to the tenant accordingly.

[The tenant/s] claims the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time.

A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The landlord only lodged the bond on 1 April 2025, after some 6 months into the tenancy which commenced in October 2024. I find they have committed an unlawful act.

Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interests of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Having regard to the above factors, I consider that an award of exemplary damages of $500.00 against the landlord is appropriate. The landlord is an experienced landlord who has lodged bonds before. The landlord says that she had to return to India after receipt of the bond and overlooked the bond lodgement. However, the bond could have been lodged shortly after the landlord had returned from overseas; the landlord failed to lodge the bond until April 2025.

Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5230211 — net $1,298.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Electricity charges payable by the tenant for 6 months	$360.00		Electricity charges payable by the tenant for 6 months
Exemplary damages: bond not lodged until 1 April 2025		$500.00	bond not lodged until 1 April 2025
Refund of all payments received by landlord towards		$814.00	Refund of all payments received by landlord towards
Bond overpaid to landlord		$317.00	Bond overpaid to landlord
Filing fee reimbursement		$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Total award	$360.00	$1,658.00
Net award		$1,298.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant		$1,298.00

Order

Shilpi Pillai must pay [The tenant/s] $1,298.00 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant seeks return of water rates and electricity charges paid to the landlord. The tenant also takes issue with the tenancy agreement stating that penalty charges of $20.00 a week when the tenant is in default of water rates and electricity charges payments.
There are parts in the tenancy agreement which are clearly unenforceable and illegal. A landlord cannot charge a penalty or liquidated damages against a tenant even if the tenant has defaulted on lawful payments to the landlord. The landlord accepts this during the hearing and ultimately no penalty charges had been paid by the tenant. The landlord acknowledges the stress that this has caused on the tenant.
As for outgoings, the parties have come to an agreement for the return of overpaid charges as set out in the table above. The only amounts towards outgoings that the landlord can lawfully charge the tenant pursuant to section 39 Residential Tenancies Act 1986 are on metered electricity charges based on actual consumption.
For ease of accounting, I have set-off $360.00 for 6 months’ electricity charges payable by the tenant against the total amounts collected by the landlord throughout the tenancy towards water rates and all electricity charges received.
Apart from two weeks rent arrears of $900.00 and $50.00 security card replacement costs, the landlord cannot keep the balance of the bond that was refunded by the bond centre earlier. I order the return of $317.00 by the landlord to the tenant accordingly.
[The tenant/s] claims the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord only lodged the bond on 1 April 2025, after some 6 months into the tenancy which commenced in October 2024. I find they have committed an unlawful act.
Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interests of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Having regard to the above factors, I consider that an award of exemplary damages of $500.00 against the landlord is appropriate. The landlord is an experienced landlord who has lodged bonds before. The landlord says that she had to return to India after receipt of the bond and overlooked the bond lodgement. However, the bond could have been lodged shortly after the landlord had returned from overseas; the landlord failed to lodge the bond until April 2025.
Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5230211 — Exemplary damages at Unit/Flat 308B, 8 Lakewood court, Manukau, Auckland

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5230211 — Exemplary damages at Unit/Flat 308B, 8 Lakewood court, Manukau, Auckland

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions