How much money was awarded in case 5334101?

Compensation: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Dump Fees: $356.19 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $820.00 awarded to landlord; Painting: $315.81 awarded to landlord; Previous Order Application 3554101 D…: $678.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $250.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $97.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5334101?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5334101?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12872830-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5334101?

Compensation: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Dump Fees: $356.19 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $500.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $820.00 awarded to landlord; Painting: $315.81 awarded to landlord; Previous Order Application 3554101 D…: $678.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $250.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $97.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5334101?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5334101?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12872830-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

3094A Coast Road, Barrytown, RD 1, Greymouth 7873 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5334101 — Exemplary damages

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5334101 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] & Konstanze Friedrich-Palzer as Trustees

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5334101 — net $3,517.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Previous order application 3554101 dated 17 September 2025	$678.00	Previous order application 3554101 dated 17 September 2025
Carpet damage	$250.00	Carpet damage
Rubbish removal and garden work	$820.00	Rubbish removal and garden work
Compensation for landlords’ time removing rubbish	$500.00	Compensation for landlords’ time removing rubbish
Lock/key replacement	$97.00	Lock/key replacement
Painting	$315.81	Painting
Dump fees	$356.19	Dump fees
Exemplary damages – refusal to allow inspection	$500.00	Exemplary damages – refusal to allow inspection
Net award	$3,517.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$3,517.00

[The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] & Konstanze Friedrich-Palzer as Trustees of the Wolfgang Jager Family Trust $3,517.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below.

The Tribunal’s order made on 17 September 2025 under this application for rent arrears and filing fee in the sum of $678 is incorporated in this order for enforcement purposes.

Reasons

Only the landlords’ representative attended the hearing.

The landlord has applied for compensation and exemplary damages following the end of the tenancy.

The tenancy began in June 2024 and ended by order of the Tribunal on 17 September 2025. Previous Order

On 17 September 2025 the Tribunal made an order terminating this tenancy and awarded rent arrears, the filing fee and bond to the landlord. That order has been incorporated in this order for enforcement purposes.

There was some discussion about the calculation of the rent arrears and whether additional rent arrears are due. After considering the order and the surrounding circumstances, I am satisfied that no further award of rent arrears is justified. Relevant Law

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices.

The tenant must not carelessly or intentionally damage the premises.

To recover compensation for damage, a landlord must prove that the damage 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.

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).

Where the damage is careless and is not covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to four weeks' rent (or market rent).

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.

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.

The tenant commits an unlawful act by refusing to allow the landlord entry to the premises when the landlord is lawfully entitled to enter the premises.

The Tribunal may award up to $1,500 exemplary damages for such an unlawful act.

The Tribunal must consider betterment where appropriate. 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. In calculating depreciation, the Tribunal considers the age and condition of the items at the start of the tenancy and their likely useful lifespan. Claims Carpet

The landlords claim $1,990 being the cost of replacing carpet in the lounge and office of the premises.

The landlords produced photographs of the carpet showing that it was severely stained from animal waste. The tenant kept three dogs inside the premises without the landlords’ consent and contrary to the tenancy agreement.

I accept that the damage to the carpet occurred during the tenancy and that it was irremediable. I find that the damage was caused intentionally because the tenant must have known that the damage was occurring and did nothing to prevent it.

The carpet was 38 years old when the tenancy ended and by any objective measure of depreciation, it was past its expected life. The photographs show that the carpet was well worn in places.

That said, I accept that the landlord did not intend to replace it and would not have replaced it but for the damage caused during the tenancy. It would have been serviceable for a bit longer.

It follows that the carpet’s replacement was accelerated to some extent. I have therefore awarded $250 as compensation for its early replacement. Rubbish and Garden Work

The tenant left a considerable quantity of rubbish at the premises, and she did not leave the premises clean and tidy. The landlords produced photographs showing the extent of the rubbish.

The landlords produced invoices for rubbish removal and garden work amounting in total to $820.

The landlords’ representative also spent at least 20 hours assisting with the rubbish sorting and removal and cleaning. She is entitled to be compensated for that and so I have awarded $500 being 20 hours at $25 per hour.

The landlords also produced dump fee receipts amounting in total to $356.19. Locks

The tenant did not return the keys for the premises and the landlords had to change the locks. They produced receipts in the sum of $97 for the cost of changing the locks. Painting

Painted concrete flooring in the premises was damaged by animal waste corroding it. The flooring had been painted at the start of the tenancy and it required repainting due to the damage. The landlords produced an invoice for the cost of the paint in the sum of $315.81. The landlords did not claim compensation for the painting itself. Exemplary Damages

The landlords gave notice of an inspection to the tenant to take place on 22 August. It was a valid notice giving more than the minimum required period of notice.

The tenant responded by asking for the inspection to take place on 23 August, to which the landlords agreed.

When the landlords’ agent attended for the inspection on 23 August, the tenant’s partner would not allow her entry to the premises. He said that because the landlords had served the tenant with a termination notice, they were not entitled to inspect the premises.

The tenant’s partner was wrong, and the tenant was in breach of s48 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 by not permitting the inspection to proceed which was an unlawful act. The tenant is responsible for her partner’s actions.

The Tribunal may award up to $1,500 exemplary damages for the unlawful act of preventing the landlord from entering the premises when they have the lawful right to do so.

This was a blatant breach of the Act without any reasonable excuse. It is likely that the tenant did not want the inspection to proceed because she had allowed the premises to become into a poor condition.

The landlords filed their application shortly after this incident and so the inspection was unlikely to have changed the outcome of this case. But there needs to be a significant award to mark the Tribunal’s disapproval and to serve as a deterrence to other tenants. An award of $500 is appropriate. Filing Fee

The filing fee was awarded in the previous order and so no further order is required.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5334101 — net $3,517.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Previous order application 3554101 dated 17 September 2025	$678.00	Previous order application 3554101 dated 17 September 2025
Carpet damage	$250.00	Carpet damage
Rubbish removal and garden work	$820.00	Rubbish removal and garden work
Compensation for landlords’ time removing rubbish	$500.00	Compensation for landlords’ time removing rubbish
Lock/key replacement	$97.00	Lock/key replacement
Painting	$315.81	Painting
Dump fees	$356.19	Dump fees
Exemplary damages – refusal to allow inspection	$500.00	Exemplary damages – refusal to allow inspection
Net award	$3,517.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$3,517.00