Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5299659 — Rent arrears at 67A Hillside Road, Mount Wellington, Auckland 1062
Decided 27 Aug 2025 · Published 27 Aug 2025 · Application 5299659
- Rent arrears
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Location
Auckland
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
L Ryken
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $5,106.49
- Bond payment as ordered
- −$3,400.00
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $1,706.49
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent arrears to 3 July 2025 | $3,400.00 | Rent arrears to 3 July 2025 | |
| Water rates | $1,678.49 | Water rates | |
| Filing fee reimbursement | $28.00 | Filing fee reimbursement | |
| Net award | $1,706.49 | ||
| Total payable by Tenant to Landlord |
Order
- [The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay [The tenant/s] landlord/s] $1,706.49 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $3,400.00 (BN-00049063) to [The tenant/s] landlord/s] immediately.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing on 26 August 2025. The tenant did not.
- The tenancy began on 8 March 2024 and ended on 3 July 2025 when the landlord took possession of the premises. The landlord claims the tenant owes rent arrears of $3,400.00 and outstanding water rates of $2,517.49. The issues I must determine are: a. To what standard must the landlord prove their claim? b. Does the tenant owe $3,400.00 in rent arrears? c. Does the tenant owe $2,517.49 in outstanding water rates invoices? d. Has the landlord acted reasonably to mitigate their loss in respect of the outstanding water rates invoices?
To what standard must the landlord prove their claim?
- As the applicant, the landlord must prove their claim to the civil law standard of proof, on the balance of probabilities. This means that they must establish that what they are claiming is more likely than not. This 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 Katipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02, in practical terms this means that: ...[L]ike anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or Court, it is incumbent upon the applicant to provide the evidence necessary to prove the case. If the applicant fails to do that, then their application will be dismissed whether it has merit of not because it is up to the applicant 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.
- I do not need to be completely certain, but I need to be more certain than uncertain. In deciding any particular claim, I must consider all the evidence presented (including oral evidence at the hearing). I must weigh this evidence to decide what is more likely. Does the tenant owe $3,400.00 in rent arrears?
- The landlord submitted a rent summary, which records rent arrears as being $3,400.00 up to the end of the tenancy on 3 July 2025. I accept the landlord’s rent summary as accurate and find the tenant owes $3,400.00 in rent arrears. Does the tenant owe $2,517.49 in outstanding water rates invoices? The law
- A tenant is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises and use of the facilities. This includes water if the water supplier charges for water provided to the premises on the basis of consumption 1 , which Watercare does. Analysis
- The landlord submitted copies of original invoices from Watercare, which the landlord claims the tenant has not paid. I accept the landlord’s evidence and find the tenant owes $2,517.49 in outstanding water rates invoices. Has the landlord acted reasonably to mitigate their loss in respect of the outstanding water rates invoices? The law
- Where any party to a tenancy agreement breaches any of the provisions of the agreement of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA), the other party must take all reasonable steps to limit the damage or loss arising from that breach, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract. 2 Analysis
- The tenant is responsible for paying for their consumption of water during the tenancy however, the landlord has a duty to act reasonably to mitigate their loss if the tenant fails to do this.
- Some of the outstanding water rates invoices submitted by the landlord are quite dated, including an invoice from over one year ago dated 25 June 2024. The landlord claims they sent the Watercare invoices to the tenant during the tenancy but accepts they “didn’t really chase [The tenant/s] tenant] up” when payment was not made. The landlord gave evidence they didn’t keep a close eye on whether the tenant paid the invoices and only really noticed how much had not been paid towards the end of the tenancy when the tenant stopped paying their rent and the landlord investigated the tenancy in more detail.
- In these circumstances, I am not convinced on the balance of probabilities that the landlord has acted reasonably to mitigate their loss. The last payment the landlord received for water rates was made on 21 May 2024, yet the landlord has waited until 20 July 2025 to take any formal measures to address the issue. Reasonable measures for the landlord to have taken would have been to monitor receipt of payments for water rates invoices by the tenant, discuss the issue of 1 Residential Tenancies Act 1986, section 39(4)(c). 2 Residential Tenancies Act 1986, section 49. unpaid invoices with the tenant and file an application with the Tribunal in a reasonably timely manner when payment was continuously missed.
- There needs to be an adjustment to the amount of compensation ordered for outstanding water rates invoices to reflect the landlord’s failure to mitigate their loss. I consider a reduction of one third to be reasonable.
- The landlord’s claim for compensation for outstanding water rates invoices is granted for $1,678.49. Filing fee
- Because [The tenant/s] landlord/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s10, s39(4), s49, s8
Key findings
- Dispute theme: rent arrears
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5299659 about?
The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay [The tenant/s] landlord/s] $1,706.49 immediately,
How much money was awarded in case 5299659?
Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $3,400.00 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $1,678.49 awarded to landlord
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5299659?
The primary dispute was Rent arrears.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5299659?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12324130-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.
For landlords & property managers
Reduce avoidable tribunal risk with proper tenant checks.
Tenantcheck reports take minutes: a small step before a dispute ends up at tribunal.