Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5375921 — Rent arrears at 18A Greenmeadows Avenue, Manurewa East, Auckland
Decided 19 Dec 2025 · Published 19 Dec 2025 · Application 5375921
- Rent arrears
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Location
Auckland
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
C Lamdin
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $6,134.85
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $6,134.85
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent arrears to 20 October 2025 | $4,410.00 | Rent arrears to 20 October 2025 | |
| Rent top-up for 52 weeks | $1,560.00 | Rent top-up for 52 weeks | |
| Letting fee, advertising | $136.85 | Letting fee, advertising | |
| Filing fee reimbursement | $28.00 | Filing fee reimbursement |
Order
- Pai Segilama Pule must pay Reliance Property Management Limited As Agents For Holy Properties Ltd $6,134.85 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
Reasons
- The landlord represented by Karishma Verma attended the hearing which was held by teleconference. The tenant did not answer any of the calls made at the scheduled time on the number provided to the Tribunal.
- The tenant has been served by email which is an address for service on her tenancy agreement.
- Because I am satisfied the tenant has been served notice of the hearing in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act, 1986 and the tenant has not requested an adjournment, the hearing was conducted in the tenant’s absence.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears, rental top up until the end of the fixed- term, compensation and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
How much is owed for rent?
- The tenant signed a one-year fixed-term tenancy with the landlord on 21 August 2025. The fixed-term tenancy was to begin on 1 September 2025 and end on 1 September 2026. The weekly rent was $630.00.
- The landlord says that when she called the tenant prior to the tenancy beginning, the tenant explained that she was having difficulties with Work and Income New Zealand (“WINZ”) approving the tenancy, and because of this she would be unable to move into the property. The tenant sought to cancel the tenancy agreement.
- Because a fixed-term tenancy had been signed, the landlord agreed to release the tenant from the tenancy on the condition that she pay rent up until a new tenant was found.
- The landlord says that by this time, (approximately one week after the tenancy agreement had been signed), none of the other applicants for the property were still interested in the property, and the property had to be re-advertised. Furthermore the landlord explained that the rental market had softened, and this meant the rent had to be reduced in order to find an interested tenant.
- A new tenant was found and moved into the premises on 20 October 2025, paying a rent of $600.00 per week.
- The landlord is seeking rent until 20 October 2025 which amounts to $4,410.00. The landlord is also seeking a rent top up of $30.00 per week in consideration of the reduced rent that was subsequently able to be obtained for the premises. This amounts to $1,560.00.
- The landlord is also seeking reasonable re-letting expenses of $136.85.
- Because the tenant did not attend the hearing, the above information provided by the landlord is unchallenged.
- In Dmitrovic and Miles v FH 2018 Limited [2021] NZTT 4288277, the Tribunal addressed the issue of the obligations on a landlord when a tenant seeks to be released early from a fixed-term tenancy. At [20] the Tribunal found: “While the communication from the landlord about the process could have been better, the fact remains that this was a fixed term tenancy which neither party is entitled to terminate unless by mutual consent or by order of the Tribunal. The landlord is under no obligation to consent and there are no provisions in the RTA requiring the landlord to respond to a request for termination in a specific timeframe.”
- Statutory provisions and case law make it clear that a tenant may not unilaterally cancel a fixed-term tenancy agreement, even if they have not yet moved into the tenancy.
- The claims and amounts ordered are proved.
- Because Reliance Property Management Limited As Agents For Holy Properties Ltd has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Key findings
- Dispute theme: rent arrears
Property management
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5375921 about?
The tribunal order states: Pai Segilama Pule must pay Reliance Property Management Limited As Agents
How much money was awarded in case 5375921?
Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Letting Fee, Advertising: $136.85 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $4,410.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Top-Up For 52 Weeks: $1,560.00 awarded to landlord
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5375921?
The primary dispute was Rent arrears.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5375921?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12891791-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.