What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5310102 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenant seeks a suppression Order but the grounds are not established

How much money was awarded in case 5310102?

Compensation: Fail To Maintain: $470.00 awarded to tenant; Lawns and Garden Work: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Order Dated 8 October 2025: $554.55 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5310102?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5310102?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12871455-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5310102 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenant seeks a suppression Order but the grounds are not established

How much money was awarded in case 5310102?

Compensation: Fail To Maintain: $470.00 awarded to tenant; Lawns and Garden Work: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Order Dated 8 October 2025: $554.55 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5310102?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5310102?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12871455-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

8 Moray Place, Tamatea, Napier 4112 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5310102 — Tenancy dispute

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5310102 — net $384.55 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Order dated 8 October 2025	$554.55		Order dated 8 October 2025
Lawns and Garden work	$300.00		Lawns and Garden work
Compensation: fail to maintain		$470.00	fail to maintain
Total award	$854.55	$470.00
Net award	$384.55
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$384.55

Order

The tenant seeks a suppression Order but the grounds are not established 1 .
[The tenant/s] must pay Regent Realty Limited t/a Harcourts Hawkes Bay as Agent for John Middleton $384.55 immediately, calculated as shown below.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. 1 See s.95 RTA Background
The Tribunal made an Order on 8 October 2025 (“October Order”) that: a. the bond be paid to the landlord; and b. the tenant pay the landlord compensation of $554.55.
This Order takes the October Order into account and supersedes it.
For reasons given in the October Order, the claims left outstanding were: a. the landlord’s compensation claims for carpet cleaning and lawn repair costs; b. the tenants claim for compensation and exemplary damages for breach of the landlord’s maintenance, repair and Healthy Homes obligations.
A further hearing was held on 3 December 2025. After that hearing the parties were asked to provide any more evidence they wanted considered by 10 December 2025, on the basis that if either of them then wanted further hearing time to address that new evidence, they should let the Tribunal know by 17 December.
Additional evidence has been provided by the landlord. Neither party has asked for more hearing time so this Order is made taking that additional evidence into account. Landlord Claims Carpet cleaning costs
The landlord does not dispute that the tenant had the carpets professionally cleaned. The tenant has provided a receipt for $150.00 for “Full carpet steam clean” on 6 June 2025.
The landlord says that the carpets were nonetheless fleet stained and with dog odours from the 2 dogs kept at the premises. The landlord paid $350.00 to have them cleaned again before it became obvious that the carpets would need to be replaced.
The tenant has been ordered to compensate the landlord for the excess paid on the insurance claim for the carpet replacement cost.
This was a tenancy of around 6 years. IRD depreciation tables give an expected useful life for carpet in residential tenancies of 8 years, so these carpets were close to the end of their useful life. The owner has had the benefit of new carpet being installed under the insurance claim with the tenant being ordered to pay the claim excess.
That being so I do not consider it would be fair to order the tenant to also pay for a second cleaning of the carpet before the landlord decided to have them replaced. That claim is declined. Lawns and Garden work
The landlord has provided photos showing parts of the lawn very worn and bare.
An invoice provided by the landlord shows that the landlord paid $561.49 to have the grounds weeded and weed sprayed, lawns mowed and edges done, holes filled and resown.
The tenant accepts that his dogs may have dug some holes abut also says that some of the lawn damage was caused during cyclone Gabrielle.
The evidence does not prove that all of the work done was necessary because the tenant breached the obligation to leave the property in reasonable condition, bearing in mind the wear and tear to be expected over a 6 year tenancy. It is proved more likely than not that some of the work was required to fix damage caused by the dogs. The dogs were permitted, but the tenant is nevertheless responsible for any damage they caused.
The tenant should make a contribution to the cost of the grounds work as assessed. Tenant claims
A landlord must: a. provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair 2 b. comply with Healthy Homes standards 3 .
Breaching either obligation is an unlawful act for which exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $7,200.00 4 .
The tenant’s claim states that: “The condition of the property had been steadily declining over the time I lived there. Property managers had been made aware of all issues with sound as they came up come out some of which were resolved others which I feel haven't been addressed correctly or at all.” 2 S.45(1)(b) RTA 3 S.45(1)(bb) RTA 4 S. 45(1A) and Schedule 1A RTA
The tenant statement lists the aspect of the property’s condition that he says were inadequate and show of breach of the landlord’s obligation to keep the property in a reasonable state of maintenance and repair.
The first point to note is that because this tenancy began in July 2019, the date by which it was required to comply with Healthy Homes standards was 1 July 2025 5 . The landlord has not breached the obligation to meet HH compliance because the tenancy ended before compliance date.
In terms of general maintenance and repair obligations, the entry and later inspection reports provided by the landlord do show a significant decline in the condition of the premises over the time of the tenancy.
Entry inspection photos show parts of the premises, most obviously the vinyl flooring and wallpapers, to be very dated then.
The inspection report dated February 2024 notes many instances of wear and tear of the premises, not shown to be caused by any fault of the tenant such as, drooping ceilings in the lounge, extensively chipping vinyl flooring, peeling wallpaper. Significant wear and tear is noted to windows, walls and floors.
Those comments are noted and repeated in later inspection reports and those aspects of the premises’ condition are apparent in the exit inspection, showing that they were not addressed by the landlord during that time.
In essence, that means that the tenant was continuing to pay full rent for a property in deteriorating condition and that the landlord breached the obligation to keep the premises in a reasonable state of maintenance and repair. The evidence does not prove the tenant’s claim that the HRV system was not working.
The evidence available proves only that a modest award of compensation would be fair, which I fix at 1 week’s rent.
The absence of evidence proving serious adverse effects on the tenant or that steps were taken to formally put the landlord on notice about the need for repairs, means that no additional award of exemplary damages would be just. 5 See Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019
Both parties have had claims upheld so no Order is made about the filing fees.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5310102 — net $384.55 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Tenant	Reason
Order dated 8 October 2025	$554.55		Order dated 8 October 2025
Lawns and Garden work	$300.00		Lawns and Garden work
Compensation: fail to maintain		$470.00	fail to maintain
Total award	$854.55	$470.00
Net award	$384.55
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$384.55

Order

The tenant seeks a suppression Order but the grounds are not established 1 .
[The tenant/s] must pay Regent Realty Limited t/a Harcourts Hawkes Bay as Agent for John Middleton $384.55 immediately, calculated as shown below.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. 1 See s.95 RTA Background
The Tribunal made an Order on 8 October 2025 (“October Order”) that: a. the bond be paid to the landlord; and b. the tenant pay the landlord compensation of $554.55.
This Order takes the October Order into account and supersedes it.
For reasons given in the October Order, the claims left outstanding were: a. the landlord’s compensation claims for carpet cleaning and lawn repair costs; b. the tenants claim for compensation and exemplary damages for breach of the landlord’s maintenance, repair and Healthy Homes obligations.
A further hearing was held on 3 December 2025. After that hearing the parties were asked to provide any more evidence they wanted considered by 10 December 2025, on the basis that if either of them then wanted further hearing time to address that new evidence, they should let the Tribunal know by 17 December.
Additional evidence has been provided by the landlord. Neither party has asked for more hearing time so this Order is made taking that additional evidence into account. Landlord Claims Carpet cleaning costs
The landlord does not dispute that the tenant had the carpets professionally cleaned. The tenant has provided a receipt for $150.00 for “Full carpet steam clean” on 6 June 2025.
The landlord says that the carpets were nonetheless fleet stained and with dog odours from the 2 dogs kept at the premises. The landlord paid $350.00 to have them cleaned again before it became obvious that the carpets would need to be replaced.
The tenant has been ordered to compensate the landlord for the excess paid on the insurance claim for the carpet replacement cost.
This was a tenancy of around 6 years. IRD depreciation tables give an expected useful life for carpet in residential tenancies of 8 years, so these carpets were close to the end of their useful life. The owner has had the benefit of new carpet being installed under the insurance claim with the tenant being ordered to pay the claim excess.
That being so I do not consider it would be fair to order the tenant to also pay for a second cleaning of the carpet before the landlord decided to have them replaced. That claim is declined. Lawns and Garden work
The landlord has provided photos showing parts of the lawn very worn and bare.
An invoice provided by the landlord shows that the landlord paid $561.49 to have the grounds weeded and weed sprayed, lawns mowed and edges done, holes filled and resown.
The tenant accepts that his dogs may have dug some holes abut also says that some of the lawn damage was caused during cyclone Gabrielle.
The evidence does not prove that all of the work done was necessary because the tenant breached the obligation to leave the property in reasonable condition, bearing in mind the wear and tear to be expected over a 6 year tenancy. It is proved more likely than not that some of the work was required to fix damage caused by the dogs. The dogs were permitted, but the tenant is nevertheless responsible for any damage they caused.
The tenant should make a contribution to the cost of the grounds work as assessed. Tenant claims
A landlord must: a. provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair 2 b. comply with Healthy Homes standards 3 .
Breaching either obligation is an unlawful act for which exemplary damages may be awarded up to a maximum of $7,200.00 4 .
The tenant’s claim states that: “The condition of the property had been steadily declining over the time I lived there. Property managers had been made aware of all issues with sound as they came up come out some of which were resolved others which I feel haven't been addressed correctly or at all.” 2 S.45(1)(b) RTA 3 S.45(1)(bb) RTA 4 S. 45(1A) and Schedule 1A RTA
The tenant statement lists the aspect of the property’s condition that he says were inadequate and show of breach of the landlord’s obligation to keep the property in a reasonable state of maintenance and repair.
The first point to note is that because this tenancy began in July 2019, the date by which it was required to comply with Healthy Homes standards was 1 July 2025 5 . The landlord has not breached the obligation to meet HH compliance because the tenancy ended before compliance date.
In terms of general maintenance and repair obligations, the entry and later inspection reports provided by the landlord do show a significant decline in the condition of the premises over the time of the tenancy.
Entry inspection photos show parts of the premises, most obviously the vinyl flooring and wallpapers, to be very dated then.
The inspection report dated February 2024 notes many instances of wear and tear of the premises, not shown to be caused by any fault of the tenant such as, drooping ceilings in the lounge, extensively chipping vinyl flooring, peeling wallpaper. Significant wear and tear is noted to windows, walls and floors.
Those comments are noted and repeated in later inspection reports and those aspects of the premises’ condition are apparent in the exit inspection, showing that they were not addressed by the landlord during that time.
In essence, that means that the tenant was continuing to pay full rent for a property in deteriorating condition and that the landlord breached the obligation to keep the premises in a reasonable state of maintenance and repair. The evidence does not prove the tenant’s claim that the HRV system was not working.
The evidence available proves only that a modest award of compensation would be fair, which I fix at 1 week’s rent.
The absence of evidence proving serious adverse effects on the tenant or that steps were taken to formally put the landlord on notice about the need for repairs, means that no additional award of exemplary damages would be just. 5 See Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019
Both parties have had claims upheld so no Order is made about the filing fees.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5310102 — Tenancy dispute at 8 Moray Place, Tamatea, Napier 4112

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5310102 — Tenancy dispute at 8 Moray Place, Tamatea, Napier 4112

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions