Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5370621 — Tenancy dispute at Unit/Flat Flat 1, 57 Elizabeth Street, Victoria, Rotorua 3010
Decided 10 Dec 2025 · Published 10 Dec 2025 · Application 5370621
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Location
Rotorua
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
J Maher
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 Anthea Houkamo at Unit/Flat Flat 1, 57 Elizabeth Street, Victoria, Rotorua 3010 is terminated, and possession is granted to Airedale Residential Limited As The Agent For Alicia Styles Ihaia, at 6pm on Friday 12 December 2025.
Reasons
- Only the applicant landlord attended the hearing. The tenant did not join the video meeting and could not be contacted by telephone.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations.
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.
- A tenant must not use, or permit the use of, the premises for any unlawful purpose; section 40(2)(b) RTA. The use or possession of methamphetamine is an imprisonable offence; see the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
- The expert witness who attended the hearing for the landlord and explained the methamphetamine test results said that the only reasonable or even possible explanation for the increase in the levels of methamphetamine detected in individual samples taken on 6 October 2025 and 26 November 2025 was that methamphetamine had been consumed in considerable quantities in those rooms and between those dates.
- The evidence establishes therefore that the tenant has breached their obligations by using or permitting methamphetamine to be used at the property.
- The tenant did not attend to provide any evidence that might change that finding despite being on clear notice that this was the issue the Tribunal was to consider.
- The breach is not capable of remedy because the unlawful drug use cannot be “undone” albeit that the effects can potentially be decontaminated.
- It would be inequitable to refuse to terminate the tenancy because the methamphetamine testing conducted at the property in October and November establishes conclusively that methamphetamine must have been consumed (smoked) there.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s40(2), s56(1)
Property management
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5370621 about?
The tribunal order states: The tenancy of Anthea Houkamo at Unit/Flat Flat 1, 57 Elizabeth Street,
How much money was awarded in case 5370621?
Verified claim lines are listed on this page.
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5370621?
The dispute type was not classified.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5370621?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12853511-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.