Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5296492 — Property damage
Decided 18 Sept 2025 · Published 18 Sept 2025 · Application 5296492
- Property damage
- Cleanliness
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 Landlords’ names and identifying details.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $700.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
Reasons
- The landlords attended the hearing by telephone today. I telephoned the tenant however the number did not connect. I continued with the hearing as the tenant has been emailed notice of the hearing date and time to the address for service.
- This tenancy ended pursuant to a 90-day notice and a possession order.
- The landlords have applied for refund of the bond to compensate them for costs incurred following the end of the tenancy.
- They say that they have spent considerably more than this to repair damage and undertake cleaning at the premises. A damage report and quote completed by a builder and submitted in evidence supports this.
- I accept that:- a. It was necessary to change the locks at the property as a bailiff eviction was required. A receipt proves the lock change cost $403.00. I award compensation of this amount. b. The premises were not left reasonably clean and tidy. The landlords did the cleaning themselves which took several hours. I award compensation of $269.00 to recognise their time and effort. This equates to 11 hours labour at $25.00 per hour. The Tribunal does award modest compensation when landlords do cleaning, and repair work themselves as it saves both parties the cost of professional contractors.
- The claim is successful, so I award the filing fee.
- The landlords’ names are suppressed for the same reason as is the address of the tenancy premises.
- The bond is refunded to the landlords in full.