Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5304004 — Property damage at Room C, Unit/Flat D, 3 Rostrevor Street, Hamilton Central,
Decided 15 Oct 2025 · Published 15 Oct 2025 · Application 5304004
- Property damage
- Cleanliness
Order
- [The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay Online Rentals Limited T/A Ray White Hamilton as agent for Storme & Beth Newton $1,022.30 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $387.29 (6074069-006) to Online Rentals Limited T/A Ray White Hamilton as agent for Storme & Beth Newton immediately. DescriptionLandlord Cleaning$175.38 Lock replacement $523.83 Replace TV cabinet$139.00 Labour and dump fee - TV cabinet$178.25 Re-painting at 50 percent $365.13 Filing fee reimbursement$28.00 Total award$1,409.59 Bond$387.29 Total amount tenant must pay the landlord$1,022.30
Reasons
- The hearing was conducted on Microsoft Teams by telephone.
- Natasha Singh attended for the landlord.
- The tenant did not attend. The hearing proceeded in their absence.
- The landlord has applied for compensation for its expenses incurred for cleaning, replacing a television cabinet, and repairing damage; for payment over of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee.
Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?
- The tenancy has ended.
- At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy and remove all rubbish, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. 1
- The tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy.
- The landlord submitted photographs that prove the tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and provided an invoice to prove the cost of cleaning.
- The landlord’s original television cabinet was missing at the end of the tenancy. The tenant substituted another cabinet without asking the landlord’s permission. The landlord disliked the tenant’s cabinet and has replaced it with a new one.
- The tenant having failed to leave the landlord’s original chattel is liable for the landlord’s related expenses of a replacement cabinet, the cost of assembly, and removal of the tenant’s cabinet.
- The landlord provided invoices that prove the cost.
- The amounts ordered for cleaning and replacing the cabinet are proved.
Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?
- The landlord claims the tenant damaged the front door lock and the walls.
- To succeed in a damage claim, the landlord must prove that damage to the premises occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. 2
- Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). 3 In this case, the landlord’s insurance excess was $500.00.
- Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional or which results from any activity at the premises that is an imprisonable offence. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. 4 1 See s 40(1)(e)(iii) and (iv) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA). 2 RTA ss 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B. 3 RTA s 49B(3)(a). 4 RTA s 49B(1).
- Damage is intentional where a person intends to cause damage and takes the necessary steps to achieve that purpose. Damage is also intentional where a person does something, or allows a situation to continue, knowing that damage is a certainty. 5
- The landlord provided photographs that prove the unit’s entrance door and lock were damaged, possibly by the tenant or someone having to break in due to forgetting or not having a key to get in. The damage is more than fair wear and tear, and the tenant has not disproved liability for the damage.
- I order the full amount the landlord had to pay to repair the lock as proved by the invoice that the landlord submitted.
- The landlord’s photographs show the tenant damaged the wall by attaching items to the wall. The damage is more than fair wear and tear.
- The landlord claimed for the full cost of repainting in the sum of $730.25. However, the wall paint was about five years old and was probably not far from having to be repainted due to fair wear and tear. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations and should not be better or worse off. To account betterment and depreciation I deduct 50 percent of the amount claimed. Filing fee and bond
- The tenant must reimburse the landlord for the filing fee. 6
- The Bond Centre is directed to pay out the remainder of the bond in part payment of this monetary order.