What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5356266 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay P & K Mckenzie Limited As Agent For Julianne

How much money was awarded in case 5356266?

Cleaning: $100.00 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $450.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $2,048.72 awarded to landlord; Rubbish Removal: $566.30 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5356266?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5356266?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12876084-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5356266 about?

The tribunal order states: [The tenant/s] tenant/s] must pay P & K Mckenzie Limited As Agent For Julianne

How much money was awarded in case 5356266?

Cleaning: $100.00 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $450.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $2,048.72 awarded to landlord; Rubbish Removal: $566.30 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5356266?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5356266?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12876084-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

3 Langston Avenue, Palmerston North 4414 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5356266 — Rent arrears

Tenantcheck Insights

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5356266 — net $733.02 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$2,048.72	Rent arrears
Carpet Cleaning	$100.00	Carpet Cleaning
Lawns and Garden work	$450.00	Lawns and Garden work
Cleaning	$300.00	Cleaning
Rubbish removal	$566.30	Rubbish removal
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$733.02
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$733.02

This tenancy ended on 21 September 2025. The Landlord now seeks to recover the following amounts: Rent arrears$2,048.72 Carpet Cleaning$100 Lawns and garden work$450 Interior cleaning$560 Rubbish removal$566.30 Filing fee$28

The Tenant agrees that she owes rent arrears (but not in the amount claimed by the Landlord), the carpeting cleaning costs and $256 for rubbish removal. She disputes the remainder of the amounts claimed. Rent arrears

The Landlord has provided a rent summary dated 16 December 2025. That rent summary shows that the Tenant owes $2,048.72 in rent arrears.

The Tenant disputes this amount. She says that she only owed two weeks rent – or $1,380. I gave the Tenant an opportunity to provide evidence to demonstrate that she had paid the rent as claimed. She did not provide that evidence.

I therefore accept the rent summary as proof of the amounts owing and find that the Landlord has proven that there are rent arrears of $2,048.72. The Tenant must pay that amount to the Landlord. Cleaning and rubbish removal costs

At the end of the tenancy, the Tenant was required to leave the premises in a reasonably clean and reasonably tidy condition and remove, or arrange for the removal of, all rubbish. 1

The Landlord says that she did not and seeks to recover carpet cleaning, interior cleaning and rubbish removal costs. The carpet

The Landlord has provided photographs from the end of the tenancy that show that the carpet in the dining room was stained during the tenancy. The Landlord paid $550 to clean the whole house, but seeks to recover only $100, which it says is the estimated cost of cleaning the dining room.

The Tenant accepts that she is liable for the cost of cleaning the dining room and agrees that $100 is a fair amount. I order accordingly. The garden and lawn work 1 Residential Tenancies Act 1986, section 40(1)(e)(iii).

Under the tenancy agreement, the Tenant was required to keep the lawns and gardens in a reasonably clean and tidy condition and to keep the lawns and gardens weeded and in a generally tidy condition.

The Landlord has provided photographs from the start of the tenancy, which show the lawns and gardens were in a tidy condition and generally free of weeds. At the end of the tenancy, there were two patches of dead grass where the Tenant had parked her car (despite being told not to) and where a large FlexiBin rubbish bin had been left on the lawn. There were also weeds in the garden and between the decorative bricks that lined a pathway that needed to be removed. The Landlord has paid $450 to New Life Property Services to repair the lawn and tidy the gardens.

The Tenant says that the gardens were not perfect at the start of the tenancy, and she had problems with mushrooms growing in the garden, which affected her ability to maintain the gardens.

I find that the lawns and gardens were clean and tidy at the start of the tenancy and the Tenant did not then keep the lawns and gardens in a reasonably clean and tidy condition, principally due to the areas of damaged grass and the large number of weeds in the gardens and in the gaps between the decorative bricks. Although there may have been mushrooms growing in the gardens and lawn, I do not see how the presence of mushrooms could reasonably have prevented her from properly maintaining the gardens and lawn.

The amount incurred by the Landlord in repairing the lawn and tidying the gardens was reasonable. The Tenant must therefore pay the Landlord $450 for her failure to leave the garden and lawns in a reasonably tidy condition. The interior cleaning

The Landlord’s photographs from the start of the tenancy show the premises were reasonably clean and tidy. The Landlord says that the photographs from the end of the tenancy show that the Tenant did not leave the premises in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. It says: (a)the laundry and the toilet attached to the laundry had not been properly cleaned; (b)the window frames in at least two of the bedrooms were dusty and grimy (c)the fridge had not been properly cleaned; (d)cupboards in the kitchen had not been cleaned; (e)there was grease dripping from the rangehood; and (f)the shower trap needed clearing.

The Tenant says that she cleaned the house. She says that there was a major moisture problem within the house due to the lack of heating, which contributed to the build up around the bedroom. The Tenant also says that the unclean shower trap was a result of the shower not draining properly throughout her tenancy. Regarding the cobwebs in the laundry toilet, the Tenant says that there was no seal around the skylight in that room, so spiders would often get into that room.

I find that the Tenant did not leave the premises in a reasonably clean and tidy condition. In particular, I find that the laundry and attached bathroom were unclean, the shower trap had hair in it and the kitchen rangehood and various kitchen surfaces were dirty. Notwithstanding the challenges that the Tenant may have faced during the tenancy, those challenges should not have prevented her from properly cleaning the premises before she left.

The Landlord seeks to recover $550 it paid to Hire a Housewife Ltd to clean the house. My sense is that amount is too high given the areas that I say were not reasonably clean and tidy. I consider that $300 would have been a reasonable cost, and I order that the Tenant is to pay that amount to the Landlord. The rubbish

The Landlord has produced evidence to show that the Tenant left behind rubbish and abandoned belongings. The Landlord paid $301.30 to Roos Rubbish Removal to remove the abandoned belongings and $265 to Waste Management NZ Ltd to remove a large FlexiBin full of rubbish that the Tenant had left at the premises.

The Tenant accepts that she is liable for the $265 cost or removing the FlexiBin. She disputes the other rubbish removal cost. She says that the abandoned belongings were less than a trailer load and cannot see how the removal of those items would have cost $301.30.

I find that the $301.30 cost to remove the abandoned items was reasonable. There was at least one large trailer load of abandoned items, if not more, and I could not reasonably conclude that the amount the Landlord paid was unreasonable. I therefore order the Tenant to pay a total of $566.30 for rubbish removal. Filing fee and name suppression

The Landlord has been largely successful in its claim, so it is entitled to recover the filing fee of $28. Neither party wanted name suppression, so I make no orders.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5356266 — net $733.02 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$2,048.72	Rent arrears
Carpet Cleaning	$100.00	Carpet Cleaning
Lawns and Garden work	$450.00	Lawns and Garden work
Cleaning	$300.00	Cleaning
Rubbish removal	$566.30	Rubbish removal
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$733.02
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$733.02

The Landlord has provided a rent summary dated 16 December 2025. That rent summary shows that the Tenant owes $2,048.72 in rent arrears.

At the end of the tenancy, the Tenant was required to leave the premises in a reasonably clean and reasonably tidy condition and remove, or arrange for the removal of, all rubbish. 1

The Landlord says that she did not and seeks to recover carpet cleaning, interior cleaning and rubbish removal costs. The carpet

Under the tenancy agreement, the Tenant was required to keep the lawns and gardens in a reasonably clean and tidy condition and to keep the lawns and gardens weeded and in a generally tidy condition.

The Tenant says that the gardens were not perfect at the start of the tenancy, and she had problems with mushrooms growing in the garden, which affected her ability to maintain the gardens.

The Landlord has been largely successful in its claim, so it is entitled to recover the filing fee of $28. Neither party wanted name suppression, so I make no orders.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5356266 — Rent arrears at 3 Langston Avenue, Palmerston North 4414

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5356266 — Rent arrears at 3 Langston Avenue, Palmerston North 4414

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Reduce avoidable tribunal risk with proper tenant checks.

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Reduce avoidable tribunal risk with proper tenant checks.