Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5288989 — Exemplary damages at 315A Adelaide Road, Newtown, Wellington 6021
Decided 13 Oct 2025 · Published 13 Oct 2025 · Application 5288989
- Exemplary damages
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 Tenants names and identifying details.
- The Mighty Rocket Properties Limited, Alice Verry, David Smith, Rosalind Smith and Robin Smith are to pay the the sum of $3,227.00 to [The tenant/s] immediately, calculated as follows: DescriptionTenant Total award Bond Filing fee Total payable by landlords to tenants $3,200.00 $27.00 $3,227.00
Reasons
- Only the tenant appeared at the hearing today. I have no reason to believe that the landlords have not been served notice of this hearing.
- The tenants seek payment of their bond, following the end of the tenancy.
- The tenancy commenced on 18 March 2024, ending on 14 May 2025.
- The tenants report paying a bond to the property manager, in the sum of $3,200.00.
- There is no evidence that bond was lodged in the Bond Centre. While that would be an unlawful act, the tenants have not applied for exemplary damages.
- At the end of the tenancy, the bond has not been repaid to the tenants. The Tribunal must now consider an application filed by the tenants, seeking recovery of their bond.
- Section 22B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 applies, that provision confirms that: (1) If there is a dispute between the parties as to the payment of a bond, either party may apply to the Tribunal for an order determining to whom the bond, or any part of it, is to be paid. (2) If the tenant applies to the Tribunal and the landlord seeks payment of the bond in whole or in part, the landlord must file an application with the Tribunal that sets out the landlord’s counterclaim.
- The effect of this provision is that when the tenant applies to the Tribunal for release of the bond in whole or in part, if the landlord wishes to argue that it has any call on that bond, then the landlord “must” file a counterclaim for it. In the absence of a counterclaim, then the Tribunal must order that the bond be released to the tenants.
- This means that if the landlord subsequently wishes to pursue any claim against the tenant, the landlord is still able to do so, but if the landlord is successful in the claim, there would not be any bond that the Tribunal could order be released to go toward the landlord’s claim.
- I am not aware of any claim from the landlord against the tenant, so pursuant to section 22B, I order that the landlords repay the bond to the tenants immediately, and in full.
- Otherwise, I also order that the landlords pay the filing fee paid by the tenants to commence this proceeding.
- In the event that the landlords fail to repay the bond as ordered, then the tenants can apply to have this order enforced. If the tenants need to enforce this order, then further information on how to do this, is found on the Ministry of Justice website: https://www.justice.govt.nz/fines/about-civil-debt/collect-civil-debt/
- For the avoidance of doubt, this order can be enforced against any or all of the five landlords set out above.