What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5305122 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated,

How much money was awarded in case 5305122?

Rent Arrears: $2,750.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5305122?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5305122?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12285997-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5305122 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated,

How much money was awarded in case 5305122?

Rent Arrears: $2,750.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5305122?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5305122?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12285997-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5305122 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5305122 — net $550.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$2,750.00	Rent arrears
Net award	$550.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$550.00

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], immediately.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $550.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for abandonment, rent arrears and refund of the bond.
There were also discussions during the hearing about damage to the tenancy, and the costs of removing personal items and rubbish from the tenancy. However, as landlord has not re-entered the evidence for these matters is not before me. Any claim for damage will need to be the subject of a further application by the landlord once his losses have been calculated. Background
The tenancy began on 25 May 2025. Within a short period, the landlord was advised of issues with noise coming from tenancy disturbing the neighbours in the flat upstairs tenancy. There was also an incident on 29 June 2025 where a person wearing a balaclava put their head through the window of the upstairs tenancy asking for items they had come to collect from the tenants downstairs. It appears that a person staying with the tenants had become involved with what appears to be a Prezziecard scam and owed money to third parties.
On 5 July 2025 there was a further incident of noise and fireworks being lket off by the tenants. The following day the landlord issued a 14 day notice to remedy.
On 9 July 2025, there were further noise issues. The landlord rang [The tenant/s]to discuss, and during this conversation it was verbally agreed that the tenancy would end on 21 July 2025. Later that same day the landlord emailed both tenants asking for confirmation of the agreement to terminate the tenancy.
There were further incidents of strangers waiting outside the tenancy asking for the tenants and disturbing the upstairs neighbours. On 12 or 13 July 2025, the tenancy was broken into, and was ransacked. These incidents were reported to the landlord who visited tenancy on 14 July 25 and made it secure.
The landlord made further attempts to contact the tenants, including making an occasion to the Tribunal for expedited abandonment, however, this was not made out.
On 17 July 2025 [The tenant/s] sent a text to the landlord explaining that he had been temporarily out of the country at a funeral in Canada, and so had not been aware of the issues at the tenancy. During the hearing he explained that as he was unable to afford the airfare to Canada, he had organised for his travel to be paid for in return for social media influencing work, but he had delayed when he had been scammed.
During the hearing [The tenant/s]said she had been unable to reply to the landlord’s texts and emails as she had been kidnapped by the strangers who were seeking recompense for the Prezziecard scams.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

The Tribunal may terminate the tenancy where the premises have been abandoned and rent is in arrear at the hearing date. See section 61 Residential Tenancies Act 1986. A tenancy is abandoned where the tenant leaves the premises without reasonable excuse, not intending to return or to meet their obligations, and fails to notify the landlord.
While there was verbal agreement to terminate the tenancy, the landlord asked for confirmation in writing. This indicates to me that while there may have been agreement in principle with [The tenant/s]about the termination, the final terms were not in agreement. Therefore, the tenancy continued. This conclusion is supported by the facts that: a. the tenants’ personal possessions remained in the tenancy after 21 July 2025; b. there was no confirmation of the termination from [The tenant/s], who was a party to the lease; and c. neither tenant attended the phone hearing for the expedited abandonment.
On 14 July 2025 the landlord became aware that the tenant had abandoned the premises. By this date he had been attempting for five days to contact both tenants with no success. The upstairs neighbours had advised him of the issues with the intruders and reported that [The tenant/s]had driven up to the flat but had then drove off, scraping another tenant’s car in doing so. On inspection the landlord had become aware that the tenancy had been broken into and how important the police. I conclude it was reasonable for the landlord to assume that tenancy had been abandoned.
Because the premises have been abandoned, and rent is in arrear, the tenancy is terminated immediately.

How much does the tenant owe?

The tenants say that no rent is owed after 21 July 2025, as that was the date it was agreed the tenancy. The landlord said that while he was verbal agreement there was no written confirmation and he seeks rent to the date of the hearing. The tenants said they could not give confirmation as they were either overseas without functioning means of communication or had been detained against their will. However, these reasons for their lack of communication do not mean that I can treat the verbal agreement as binding and final.
As mentioned above at paragraph [12], I conclude that the lack of confirmation that the tenancy was at the end from both tenants means the verbal agreement was an agreement in principle only. This means the tenants liabilities continued until the date of this hearing; 12 July 2025.
The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. I note that the landlord has not charged rent in lieu of notice.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5305122 — net $550.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$2,750.00	Rent arrears
Net award	$550.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$550.00

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] at [Tenancy address suppressed] is terminated, and possession is granted to [The landlord/s], immediately.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,200.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.
[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $550.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for abandonment, rent arrears and refund of the bond.
There were also discussions during the hearing about damage to the tenancy, and the costs of removing personal items and rubbish from the tenancy. However, as landlord has not re-entered the evidence for these matters is not before me. Any claim for damage will need to be the subject of a further application by the landlord once his losses have been calculated. Background
The tenancy began on 25 May 2025. Within a short period, the landlord was advised of issues with noise coming from tenancy disturbing the neighbours in the flat upstairs tenancy. There was also an incident on 29 June 2025 where a person wearing a balaclava put their head through the window of the upstairs tenancy asking for items they had come to collect from the tenants downstairs. It appears that a person staying with the tenants had become involved with what appears to be a Prezziecard scam and owed money to third parties.
On 5 July 2025 there was a further incident of noise and fireworks being lket off by the tenants. The following day the landlord issued a 14 day notice to remedy.
On 9 July 2025, there were further noise issues. The landlord rang [The tenant/s]to discuss, and during this conversation it was verbally agreed that the tenancy would end on 21 July 2025. Later that same day the landlord emailed both tenants asking for confirmation of the agreement to terminate the tenancy.
There were further incidents of strangers waiting outside the tenancy asking for the tenants and disturbing the upstairs neighbours. On 12 or 13 July 2025, the tenancy was broken into, and was ransacked. These incidents were reported to the landlord who visited tenancy on 14 July 25 and made it secure.
The landlord made further attempts to contact the tenants, including making an occasion to the Tribunal for expedited abandonment, however, this was not made out.
On 17 July 2025 [The tenant/s] sent a text to the landlord explaining that he had been temporarily out of the country at a funeral in Canada, and so had not been aware of the issues at the tenancy. During the hearing he explained that as he was unable to afford the airfare to Canada, he had organised for his travel to be paid for in return for social media influencing work, but he had delayed when he had been scammed.
During the hearing [The tenant/s]said she had been unable to reply to the landlord’s texts and emails as she had been kidnapped by the strangers who were seeking recompense for the Prezziecard scams.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

The Tribunal may terminate the tenancy where the premises have been abandoned and rent is in arrear at the hearing date. See section 61 Residential Tenancies Act 1986. A tenancy is abandoned where the tenant leaves the premises without reasonable excuse, not intending to return or to meet their obligations, and fails to notify the landlord.
While there was verbal agreement to terminate the tenancy, the landlord asked for confirmation in writing. This indicates to me that while there may have been agreement in principle with [The tenant/s]about the termination, the final terms were not in agreement. Therefore, the tenancy continued. This conclusion is supported by the facts that: a. the tenants’ personal possessions remained in the tenancy after 21 July 2025; b. there was no confirmation of the termination from [The tenant/s], who was a party to the lease; and c. neither tenant attended the phone hearing for the expedited abandonment.
On 14 July 2025 the landlord became aware that the tenant had abandoned the premises. By this date he had been attempting for five days to contact both tenants with no success. The upstairs neighbours had advised him of the issues with the intruders and reported that [The tenant/s]had driven up to the flat but had then drove off, scraping another tenant’s car in doing so. On inspection the landlord had become aware that the tenancy had been broken into and how important the police. I conclude it was reasonable for the landlord to assume that tenancy had been abandoned.
Because the premises have been abandoned, and rent is in arrear, the tenancy is terminated immediately.

How much does the tenant owe?

The tenants say that no rent is owed after 21 July 2025, as that was the date it was agreed the tenancy. The landlord said that while he was verbal agreement there was no written confirmation and he seeks rent to the date of the hearing. The tenants said they could not give confirmation as they were either overseas without functioning means of communication or had been detained against their will. However, these reasons for their lack of communication do not mean that I can treat the verbal agreement as binding and final.
As mentioned above at paragraph [12], I conclude that the lack of confirmation that the tenancy was at the end from both tenants means the verbal agreement was an agreement in principle only. This means the tenants liabilities continued until the date of this hearing; 12 July 2025.
The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. I note that the landlord has not charged rent in lieu of notice.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5305122 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5305122 — Rent arrears

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Should the tenancy be terminated?

How much does the tenant owe?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions