Tenantcheck Insights · Case study

Tenancy Tribunal case 5339366 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat 26, 115 Elstree Avenue, Point England, Auckland

Decided 26 Nov 2025 · Published 26 Nov 2025 · Application 5339366

Rent arrears

View official order on MoJ →Explore similar cases

At a glance

Key facts from the published tribunal order.

Location

Auckland

Tribunal region

Adjudicator

M Pollak

Claims & awards

What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.

No individual claim amounts were reconciled for this order. View the official Ministry of Justice PDF for full detail.

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Unit/Flat 26, 115 Elstree Avenue, Point England, Auckland 1072 is terminated, and possession is granted to Tāmaki Regeneration Limited, immediately.
Tāmaki Regeneration Limited must take any of the tenant’s personal documents that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them.
The landlord may dispose of the other goods left at the premises by the tenant as the landlord sees fit.

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing today. The tenant did not. He died on 6 June 2025 and the New Zealand Police and the tenant’s doctor have not been able to find any next of kin or executor for him. The landlord did not have any emergency contact details for the tenant either.
The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy as the tenant is deceased and has also sought a disposal of goods order.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

The Tribunal may terminate a tenancy for breach where, due to the nature or extent of the breach, it would be inequitable to refuse to terminate. See section 56(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Where the breach is not capable of remedy, the landlord is not expressly required to serve a 14-day breach notice on the tenant. A breach is not capable to remedy where the thing done, or its effect, cannot be undone.
However, unless the breach is serious, the Tribunal usually requires the landlord to have warned the tenant about the likely consequences of continued breach before it will exercise its discretion to terminate.
The tenant has breached their obligations by failing to pay rent from the date he died until the date the landlord was informed by the New Zealand Police of his death, which was a few months later. The landlord has waived the rent arrears that accrued in this intervening period. The breach is not capable of remedy, and it would be inequitable to refuse to terminate the tenancy.
The tenancy is terminated from 6 June 2025, when the tenant died and possession is granted to the landlord immediately. Disposal of goods
The landlord has applied for the disposal of goods the tenant left at the premises at the end of the tenancy.
The landlord has been unable to contact the tenant’s executor, next of kin or emergency contact and has been left with a flat filled with second hand furnishings and personal items of no saleable value. Therefore, the landlord may dispose of the goods as it sees fit. See sections 62(3)(b), 62B(2) and (3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord must take any of the tenant’s personal documents, such as a passport or birth certificate etc, that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them.

Topics & place

Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).

Rent arrears Auckland

Residential Tenancies Act sections

s56(1), s62(3), s8

Key findings

Dispute theme: rent arrears

Property management

TĀMAKI REGENERATION LIMITED (applicant)

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5339366 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Unit/Flat 26, 115 Elstree

How much money was awarded in case 5339366?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5339366?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5339366?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12781978-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.

Order a Tenantcheck →

Order

The tenancy of [The tenant/s] tenant/s] at Unit/Flat 26, 115 Elstree Avenue, Point England, Auckland 1072 is terminated, and possession is granted to Tāmaki Regeneration Limited, immediately.

Tāmaki Regeneration Limited must take any of the tenant’s personal documents that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them.

The landlord may dispose of the other goods left at the premises by the tenant as the landlord sees fit.

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing today. The tenant did not. He died on 6 June 2025 and the New Zealand Police and the tenant’s doctor have not been able to find any next of kin or executor for him. The landlord did not have any emergency contact details for the tenant either.

The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy as the tenant is deceased and has also sought a disposal of goods order.

Should the tenancy be terminated?

The Tribunal may terminate a tenancy for breach where, due to the nature or extent of the breach, it would be inequitable to refuse to terminate. See section 56(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Where the breach is not capable of remedy, the landlord is not expressly required to serve a 14-day breach notice on the tenant. A breach is not capable to remedy where the thing done, or its effect, cannot be undone.

However, unless the breach is serious, the Tribunal usually requires the landlord to have warned the tenant about the likely consequences of continued breach before it will exercise its discretion to terminate.

The tenant has breached their obligations by failing to pay rent from the date he died until the date the landlord was informed by the New Zealand Police of his death, which was a few months later. The landlord has waived the rent arrears that accrued in this intervening period. The breach is not capable of remedy, and it would be inequitable to refuse to terminate the tenancy.

The tenancy is terminated from 6 June 2025, when the tenant died and possession is granted to the landlord immediately. Disposal of goods

The landlord has applied for the disposal of goods the tenant left at the premises at the end of the tenancy.

The landlord has been unable to contact the tenant’s executor, next of kin or emergency contact and has been left with a flat filled with second hand furnishings and personal items of no saleable value. Therefore, the landlord may dispose of the goods as it sees fit. See sections 62(3)(b), 62B(2) and (3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The landlord must take any of the tenant’s personal documents, such as a passport or birth certificate etc, that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them.