What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5370817 about?

The tribunal order states: Cruze Tauwhare must pay The City Boarding House Limited - Kerry And Helen

How much money was awarded in case 5370817?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $271.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5370817?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5370817?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13048979-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5370817 about?

The tribunal order states: Cruze Tauwhare must pay The City Boarding House Limited - Kerry And Helen

How much money was awarded in case 5370817?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $271.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5370817?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5370817?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13048979-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Room 11, 63 Stafford Street, Timaru, Timaru 7910 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5370817 — Rent arrears

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5370817 — net $109.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 29 September 2026	$271.00	Rent arrears to 29 September 2026
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$109.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$109.00

This is a reserved decision. The hearing took place by telephone on 27 January 2026. The landlord attended the hearing. Attempts were made to contact the tenant by telephone, but they were unsuccessful. The tenant has not communicated with the Tribunal as to why he would not attend the hearing, and the hearing proceeded in the tenant’s absence.

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

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 29 September 2025. The landlord provided rent records in the form of a rent ledger which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. This claim is proved. The landlord’s claim for compensation

The landlord says that the tenant breached the house rules by items including another tenant’s food from the kitchen that did not belong to him on two occasions. The landlord is seeking the costs to review the CCTV footage of $468.00.

The landlord’s director advises that he carried out the review of the footage himself and has charged $78 per hour for his time.

Section 66K(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provides that a tenant of a Boarding House must comply with the House Rules. The landlord has provided a copy of the House Rules signed by the tenant. The Rules do not specifically refer to taking another tenant’s food, however, I accept that this action is likely to amount to a breach of the rule: “All tenants must be respectful of other tenant’s property”. The House Rules go on to state: “searching of cameras to determine ownership or responsibility will have associated costs past on”.

Under the heading “charges’ a number of rates are specified for certain work including cleaning of carpets, cleaning etc. A rate is specified for the “service fee” of $50 per hour. However, there is no mention of a rate for review of security footage at $78.00 per hour.

Even if there was, I am not satisfied that this is a cost which should be passed on to the tenant. It is the nature of boarding house tenancies that from time to time, investigations will be required to determine if a tenant has breached the house rules. In addition to review of security footage, this is likely to include other work such as reviewing complaints, interviews with the tenant and co- tenants etc. The landlord is operating a business by renting out rooms in the boarding house. The carrying out of investigations is a business cost. Not all business costs can be passed on to the tenant.

In [The applicant/s] v Ballinger [2024] NZTT 4636655, this Tribunal said in regard to an application by a landlord for lost rent: The Tribunal does not routinely grant applications for loss of rent because there is an expectation that premises are not continuously rented out. The landlord is running a business and ought therefore to take into account that between tenancies there is most likely to be a period of time during which the tenancy is perhaps being readied for new tenants, or because it may take some time to obtain new tenants.

In Lee v Carr [2023] NZTT 4573809, 4555090, this Tribunal said in relation to a claim for the landlord’s property manager’s fees: I consider reimbursing the landlord for his property manager's "expense fees" inappropriate. This is because the landlord is running a business by leasing his premises, and the "expense fees" are costs incurred by hiring a professional manager to work on the landlord's behalf. These costs include saving time by organising tradespeople and communicating with tenants. Accordingly, I decline to reimburse the landlord “expense fees”.

The landlord’s claim for costs associated with review of security footage is dismissed. Filing fee:

The landlord has been substantially succeeded with the claim. For this reason, I have ordered reimbursement of the filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5370817 — net $109.00 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 29 September 2026	$271.00	Rent arrears to 29 September 2026
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$109.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$109.00

Order

Cruze Tauwhare must pay The City Boarding House Limited - Kerry And Helen Beveridge $109.00 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

The landlord’s application for compensation is dismissed.

Reasons

This is a reserved decision. The hearing took place by telephone on 27 January 2026. The landlord attended the hearing. Attempts were made to contact the tenant by telephone, but they were unsuccessful. The tenant has not communicated with the Tribunal as to why he would not attend the hearing, and the hearing proceeded in the tenant’s absence.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 29 September 2025. The landlord provided rent records in the form of a rent ledger which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. This claim is proved. The landlord’s claim for compensation
The landlord says that the tenant breached the house rules by items including another tenant’s food from the kitchen that did not belong to him on two occasions. The landlord is seeking the costs to review the CCTV footage of $468.00.
The landlord’s director advises that he carried out the review of the footage himself and has charged $78 per hour for his time.
Section 66K(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provides that a tenant of a Boarding House must comply with the House Rules. The landlord has provided a copy of the House Rules signed by the tenant. The Rules do not specifically refer to taking another tenant’s food, however, I accept that this action is likely to amount to a breach of the rule: “All tenants must be respectful of other tenant’s property”. The House Rules go on to state: “searching of cameras to determine ownership or responsibility will have associated costs past on”.
Under the heading “charges’ a number of rates are specified for certain work including cleaning of carpets, cleaning etc. A rate is specified for the “service fee” of $50 per hour. However, there is no mention of a rate for review of security footage at $78.00 per hour.
Even if there was, I am not satisfied that this is a cost which should be passed on to the tenant. It is the nature of boarding house tenancies that from time to time, investigations will be required to determine if a tenant has breached the house rules. In addition to review of security footage, this is likely to include other work such as reviewing complaints, interviews with the tenant and co- tenants etc. The landlord is operating a business by renting out rooms in the boarding house. The carrying out of investigations is a business cost. Not all business costs can be passed on to the tenant.
In [The applicant/s] v Ballinger [2024] NZTT 4636655, this Tribunal said in regard to an application by a landlord for lost rent: The Tribunal does not routinely grant applications for loss of rent because there is an expectation that premises are not continuously rented out. The landlord is running a business and ought therefore to take into account that between tenancies there is most likely to be a period of time during which the tenancy is perhaps being readied for new tenants, or because it may take some time to obtain new tenants.
In Lee v Carr [2023] NZTT 4573809, 4555090, this Tribunal said in relation to a claim for the landlord’s property manager’s fees: I consider reimbursing the landlord for his property manager's "expense fees" inappropriate. This is because the landlord is running a business by leasing his premises, and the "expense fees" are costs incurred by hiring a professional manager to work on the landlord's behalf. These costs include saving time by organising tradespeople and communicating with tenants. Accordingly, I decline to reimburse the landlord “expense fees”.
The landlord’s claim for costs associated with review of security footage is dismissed. Filing fee:
The landlord has been substantially succeeded with the claim. For this reason, I have ordered reimbursement of the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5370817 — Rent arrears at Room 11, 63 Stafford Street, Timaru, Timaru 7910

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5370817 — Rent arrears at Room 11, 63 Stafford Street, Timaru, Timaru 7910

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Dismissed claims

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Dismissed claims

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions