How much money was awarded in case 5368941?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $550.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,044.29 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5368941?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5368941?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13052758-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5368941?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $550.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,044.29 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5368941?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5368941?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13052758-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

Unit/Flat Flat 2, 850A Manukau Road, Royal Oak, Auckland Tenancy Tribunal Case 5368941 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5368941 about?

The tribunal order states: An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5368941 — net $22.29 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$1,044.29	Rent arrears
Insurance excess	$550.00	Insurance excess
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$22.29
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$22.29

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Landlord name and identifying details.

Bithura Dulaj and Sovindya Jayawardana must pay [The landlord/s] $22.29 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,600.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing by telephone.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 6 October 2025. The landlord provided a rent record which proved the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. The tenant did not dispute the rent owing and believed that the amount was going to be taken from the bond at the end of the tenancy.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

A landlord must prove that damage to the premises 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. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA.

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). See section 49B(3)(a) RTA.

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). See section 49B(3)(b) RTA. Where insurance money is irrecoverable because of the tenant's conduct, the property is treated as if it is not insured against the damage. See section 49B(3A)(a) RTA.

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. See section 49B(1) RTA.

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. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.

The following damage was caused during the tenancy: The kitchen benchtop was damaged when a candle fell over burning the Formica top.

The tenant claimed that this was accidental damage because the candle was in the end of a bottle by an open window when a ‘strong wind’ through the open window caused the bottle to fall over.

The difference between accident and careless damage can be difficult to define. In the decision of Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541 Justice Walker found that “accidental damage generally encompasses damage arising from the insured party’s carelessness or negligence...”. This links careless damage and accidental damage.

Leaving a naked flame in a bottle by an open window I find is careless. By the colour and size of the burn on the benchtop the flame was not extinguished when the bottle fell over and had time to create some damage that was not just on the surface. The tenant said that they did not see it fall and found the damage afterwards. This is dangerous and could have resulted in a larger fire.

I find that this is careless damage and is more than fair wear and tear. The tenant has not disproved liability for the damage.

The landlord claimed the insurance excess for the damage, being $1050.00, and provided correspondence showing the costs of replacement, acceptance of the claim and insurance excess required by the policy.

The tenancy agreement recorded in that the house insurance excess amount was $550.00. The tenant had not been informed of any increase in excess in the landlords’ insurance policy.

I find that the landlord is bound by the $550.00 excess stated in the tenancy agreement. A landlord is required by law to record in a tenancy agreement the excess level that applies to the tenancy.

The amounts ordered are proved.

Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee and granted name supress and requested.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5368941 — net $22.29 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$1,044.29	Rent arrears
Insurance excess	$550.00	Insurance excess
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$22.29
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$22.29

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Landlord name and identifying details.

Bithura Dulaj and Sovindya Jayawardana must pay [The landlord/s] $22.29 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,600.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) to [The landlord/s] immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing by telephone.

The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

The following damage was caused during the tenancy: The kitchen benchtop was damaged when a candle fell over burning the Formica top.

The tenant claimed that this was accidental damage because the candle was in the end of a bottle by an open window when a ‘strong wind’ through the open window caused the bottle to fall over.

I find that this is careless damage and is more than fair wear and tear. The tenant has not disproved liability for the damage.

The tenancy agreement recorded in that the house insurance excess amount was $550.00. The tenant had not been informed of any increase in excess in the landlords’ insurance policy.

I find that the landlord is bound by the $550.00 excess stated in the tenancy agreement. A landlord is required by law to record in a tenancy agreement the excess level that applies to the tenancy.

The amounts ordered are proved.

Because [The applicant/s] has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee and granted name supress and requested.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5368941 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat Flat 2, 850A Manukau Road, Royal Oak, Auckland

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5368941 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat Flat 2, 850A Manukau Road, Royal Oak, Auckland

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions