What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5277762 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5277762?

Compensation: for breach of landlord…: $5,000.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5277762?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5277762?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12806334-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5277762 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5277762?

Compensation: for breach of landlord…: $5,000.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5277762?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5277762?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12806334-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5277762 — Tenancy dispute

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5277762 — net $5,027.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: for breach of landlord's obligations	$5,000.00	for breach of landlord's obligations
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,027.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$5,027.00

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5277762 — net $5,027.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: for breach of landlord's obligations	$5,000.00	for breach of landlord's obligations
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,027.00
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$5,027.00

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Tenant’s name and identifying details (including the tenancy address).
Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities must pay [The tenant/s] $5,027.00 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant is an elderly lady who attended at the Tribunal hearing today with her son, daughter and grandchildren and was assisted by a Tongan interpreter.
The landlord was represented by Ms Boyce and Mr Temu.
This is a social housing tenancy of a standalone three-bedroom property in [Location suppressed]. The tenancy began on 10 September 2019 and is ongoing. The tenancy originally included the tenant’s adult son, but he withdrew from the tenancy some time ago. He remains closely involved in his mother’s care.
The tenant has filed this claim seeking: a. compensation from the landlord on the basis that she and her family have been terrorised by the neighbouring tenants, who are also tenants of the landlord, and the landlord has not taken appropriate steps; and b. for the neighbours to be moved so that the situation does not continue. The tenant’s claim
The tenant said that the female tenant next door lives at the property with her male partner and their children, and that throughout the tenancy they have: a. Shouted abuse at her and her family over the fence; b. Challenged her daughter and son to fights; c. Thrown rubbish over the fence; d. Repeatedly played music at a loud volume for long periods and into the night and on a “boombox” walking up and down the road; e. Come onto her driveway and sworn and screamed; f. Thrown rocks at them; g. Attempted to run over her grandson with a car; h. Abused and harassed her and her family for calling the police; and i. Threatened to kill her son with a machete.
The tenant and her daughter explained that the shouting, abuse and general disorderly behaviour occurs approximately three times week, although does stop for a period if the Police have recently visited.
The tenant’s daughter provided a written statement and gave evidence at the hearing about an incident where her 14 year old son was walking home from school when the male tenant was returning home in car. She said that the male tenant chased her son in the car, driving up onto the grass verge and that her son was only able to escape by hiding behind a boat situated on a grass verge. She said that the Police were called and attended the next day.
The tenant’s son has called the Police on multiple occasions. Although it appeared that there had been multiple calls to Police over the years, I was only referred to three confirmed incidents at the hearing, as follows: a. Incident reported on 4 February 2024 – male neighbour was reported as being hostile and shouting threats while standing at the tenant’s front gate, the behaviour is frequent and escalating. b. Incident reported on 2 March 2024 – male neighbour was reported as standing outside the tenant’s front gate making threats while holding a machete. c. Incident reported 10 June 2025 – male neighbour doing work in garden with shovel and machete with threatens to kill the tenant’s son and grandson.
The tenant’s son described the most serious incident that took place on 10 June 2025 in some detail. He said that the male neighbour was working in the garden with a shovel and a machete and started to abuse him and his son and threatened to kill them.
The tenant’s son explained that the male neighbour was charged with threatening to kill but was convicted of a lesser charge in relation to the weapon.
The tenant’s son and daughter explained that the landlord had tried to convene a meeting between her, the neighbour, the community constable and the landlord, but the neighbour had refused to engage. They feel that the situation is well past the point of resolution.
The tenant said that she lives in constant fear of the neighbouring tenants and will often stay inside her home as she is too afraid to venture outside. She said that on occasion she has gone to stay with her daughter because she cannot cope with being at home any longer.
The tenant has multiple health issues which impact her mobility and sight and that she has recently had a stroke and uses a walker. It was clear at the hearing that she finds day to day life next to the neighbouring tenants very stressful.
The tenant said that she and her son have reported the behaviour to the landlord many times over the years, but their response has always been to tell her and her family to keep to themselves and not engage with the neighbours. She said that initially she wanted the neighbour to move but so that she could live in peace, but now that she has multiple health issues, she now wants to leave the tenancy. The landlord’s response
The landlord did not dispute that the tenant has reported ongoing issues with this tenancy. They were well aware of the tenant’s complaints of shouting, abuse and playing loud music.
The landlord confirmed that they had been notified of the three Police incidents set out above (although they were not always notified immediately). They said that: a. the issue was very complex because on some occasions there was aggression on both sides (particularly in relation to an incident in November 2024 where there was a physical altercation between the male tenant and the tenant’s son); b. they issued a section 55 (anti-social behaviour) notice to both this tenant and the neighbouring tenant following the physical altercation between the male tenant and the tenant’s son; c. they try to maintain tenancies wherever possible and so on each occasion over the years and following the first two of the police incidents referred to above they met with the neighbour and reiterated their obligations; d. they considered whether they could terminate the neighbour’s tenancy under section 55A RTA (termination for assault) following the machete incident but ultimately determined that they could not do so because the neighbouring tenant herself was not home, the male at the address was not a listed tenant and had threatened this tenant’s son and not the tenant herself; e. Ultimately the charge of threatening to kill was not proven and the male at the neighbouring address was convicted of a lesser charge in relation to possession of the machete; f. In relation to the machete incident, they issued an anti-social behaviour notice under section 55 RTA; and g. They were unable to apply to terminate the tenancy for anti-social behaviour as there had not been three incidents (as confirmed by Police) within a 90 day period (section 55 RTA).

Has the landlord complied with their obligations?

I accept that the landlord may have had difficulty terminating the neighbouring tenancy under section 55A RTA (termination for assault) due to the wording of that section.
I also accept that there may not have been three incidents of anti-social behaviour within a 90-day period, although on the tenant’s evidence there were frequent disturbances that may well have amounted to anti-social behaviour that the landlord might have been able to act on (even without reports to or confirmation by the Police).
In this claim however the tenant says that the landlord has not complied with their obligations under section 45(1)(e) RTA.
Section 45(1)(e) RTA provides that a landlord shall – “take all reasonable steps to ensure that none of the landlord’s other tenants causes or permits any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort, or privacy of the tenant in the use of the premises”.
All tenants, including the neighbouring tenants, are under and obligation not to cause or permit any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort, or privacy of any of the landlord’s other tenants in the use of the premises occupied by those other tenants 1 . If the tenant breaches this obligation, the landlord may apply to the Tribunal to terminate the tenancy under section 56 RTA
In this case the neighbouring tenant and her visitors had been interfering with reasonable peace, comfort and privacy of this tenant for years. This fact was well known to the landlord. The fact that there may have been issues on both sides at times does not change the position.
I accept that the landlord is for many people the last port of call. The landlord has the difficult task of trying to sustain tenancies to ensure that people in need are housed while also complying with their obligations to ensure that tenants do not disturb their neighbours.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the point was reached in this tenancy where the landlord should have taken steps to end the neighbouring tenancy. I was not given detailed information about incidents prior to early 2024, but both the tenant and landlord agreed that there had been ongoing problems for many years. In my view however the point at which the landlord should have taken steps was well and truly reached following the incidents reported to Police in February and March 2024 and most certainly by the time of the further incident occurred in June 2025 2 .
The landlord should have filed an application to terminate the neighbouring tenancy. It is not necessary for criminal charges to be proven or even laid. The landlord only needed to prove, to the civil standard, that the tenant has been interfering with the reasonable pace, comfort and privacy of the tenant and that the breach is of such a nature and of such an extent that it would be inequitable to refuse to make an order terminating the tenancy 3 .
By failing to take steps the landlord has breached their obligations. The tenant has been left in a very difficult situation as she has not felt free to move about her property, often remains inside, and has been subjected to unreasonable levels of noise, rubbish being thrown, screaming and yelling and threats being made to her family members.
The tenant is entitled to some compensation for the landlord’s breach. In my view the landlord should have taken steps in the first few months of 2024. This hearing was held in November 2025. It is difficult to be precise when considering an award of compensation in these sorts of circumstances. 1 Section 40(2)(c) RTA 2 What amount to “reasonable steps” will depend on the particular circumstances of each case. See Joseph-Gordon v Housing New Zealand [2019] NZTT 4177138 3 Section 56(2)(c) RTA However, taking into account the rent paid for this tenancy, the length of time that the tenant has had to deal with these issues, the impact on her wellbeing, the risk to her and her family’s safety, I consider that an award of $5,000 to be appropriate 4 .

Can the Tribunal terminate the neighbouring tenancy?

The Tribunal is unable to make any orders in relation to the neighbouring tenancy as the Tribunal can only make orders relating to this tenancy. The Tribunal may be able to make orders if the landlord brings a claim seeking to terminate the neighbouring tenancy and files all relevant evidence proving their claim.
The tenant is obviously in a difficult position as she continues to be harassed by her neighbours.
At the conclusion of the hearing of this matter the parties confirmed that they had arranged to meet to discuss and arrange for a transfer of this tenant to a tenancy that is more suited to her current health needs 5 . The tenant no longer feels that this property is suited to her health needs following her stroke.
If a transfer is not possible for any reason, then the landlord may need to consider what additional steps to take in relation to the neighbouring tenancy so that the current situation does not continue. Filing fee and name suppression
The tenant has been the successful party. She is entitled to reimbursement of the filing fee.
The tenant is also entitled to an order for name suppression as the successful party (see section 95A RTA).

Tenancy Tribunal case 5277762 — Tenancy dispute

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5277762 — Tenancy dispute

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Has the landlord complied with their obligations?

Can the Tribunal terminate the neighbouring tenancy?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Has the landlord complied with their obligations?

Can the Tribunal terminate the neighbouring tenancy?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions