What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5379113 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5379113?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5379113?

The primary dispute was Unit Titles.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5379113?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12989185-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5379113 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5379113?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5379113?

The primary dispute was Unit Titles.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5379113?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12989185-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

156 Beach Street, Waikouaiti 9510, Brown Cottage Tenancy Tribunal Case 5379113 — Unit Titles

Order

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

Reasons

An application has been made for payment of electricity costs during a tenancy that started on 6 June 2025 and ended on 27 August 2025.
The application and tenancy agreement are in the name of ‘Santorini Trust’ as landlord. A trust is not a legal entity unless it is a company.
I asked the landlord’s representatives to provide verification or confirm the correct name of the landlord, but no response has been received.
In the absence of that clarification, I have decided to add the names of the landlord representatives named on the application.
Scott Johnston attended a telephone hearing for the landlord. Neither tenant answered their phone. I continued that hearing in their absence as they have been emailed notice of the hearing date and time to their addresses for service.

What is the law that applies?

This is a landlord application. The party that makes an application must provide enough evidence to prove their claim. This is called the burden of proof.
The standard of proof is “on the balance of probabilities”. This means the Tribunal must be satisfied that what is claimed is more probable than not.
The tenants chose not to attend the hearing but that does not mean that the landlord can claim whatever it likes. Its claim must still be proven.
The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) applies.
Section 39 RTA says: [my underlining] 39 Responsibility for outgoings (1) The landlord is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that— (a) are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied; and (b) are incurred for common facilities. (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the landlord is responsible for the cost of— (a) the general rate (within the meaning of section 13 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002) payable in respect of the premises; and (b) insurance premiums payable in respect of the premises; and (c) any body corporate levies payable in respect of the premises. (3) The tenant is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises or to the tenant’s use of the facilities. (4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (3), the tenant is responsible for the following charges, incurred during the tenancy, in respect of the premises: (a) electricity and gas: (b) telephone and Internet: (c) supply of water if the water supplier charges for water provided to the premises on the basis of consumption. (5) In this section, premises includes facilities that are exclusively for the use of the tenant.
Section 11 RTA provides that any agreement or arrangement that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Act shall be of no effect unless the RTA or the Tribunal permits the inconsistency.
Section 39 RTA usually means that if an outgoings account is in the name of a landlord, then the landlord must pay any daily fixed charges and any other charges that are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied.
Tenants pay for the electricity, gas, telephone, internet, and water that they use as long as this can be separately and accurately measured.
I explained this to the landlord’s representative during the hearing.

What evidence has been provided?

The landlord’s representative explained there are ten separate flats at this address. The electricity account for supply to the tenancy street address is in the name of “Moeraki Boulders Limited trading as Santorini Trust”.
The landlord says it has a “check meter” for each of the flats. This allows the landlord to accurately measure the power that each flat uses.
The landlord says it calculates what each tenant owes for electricity based on the check meters and electricity supply invoices and then separately invoices the tenants.
The tenancy agreement says: “Power will be invoiced monthly”.
The landlord has supplied the below evidence to support its claim:- a. Four invoices from Commercial Utilities Ltd for electricity supply to 156 Beach Street, Waikouaiti for the period from 8/05/2025 to 5/09/2025; b. A screenshot from another invoice that the landlord says is from Genesis Energy. The screenshot says it is for electricity supply to this street address for 10 days from 27 July 2021 to 5 August 2025; c. Four photographs of a check meter marked “Flat 6 Brown” which the landlord says measures electricity usage for the tenancy premises. The meters show readings of 367.7, 342.6, 328, and 440.3; d. A typed page of calculations the landlord says shows the electricity invoiced to the tenants.
The landlord’s representative told me in the hearing that:- a. the Commercial Utilities Ltd invoices do not apply to Brown Cottage; and b. the screenshot from a Genesis Energy invoice relates to charges over the last few months. c. I asked the landlord’s representative to provide electricity supply invoices that do relate to Brown Cottage and to the dates of this tenancy. d. I said I would leave the file open until the end of Friday 12 December 2025 to allow him to do so.
No new evidence was received by that date.
I then sent a formal direction specifying the new evidence required and allowing the landlord more time to do so.
In particular, I asked for evidence to:- Explain/show clearly how the landlord calculated the amounts charged to the tenants. This means explaining how the landlord determined the per kilowatt charge of $.3108 and the “charge x 50 day rate” of $1.097 per day.
The only new evidence supplied is another copy of the screenshot from Genesis Energy with the address for the property showing on it. The dates on it are confusing as it says “27 Jul 2021” which is four years ago.
This means the landlord has not provided sufficient evidence to justify a second hearing being scheduled or to prove the claim.
Tribunal time is in high demand and hearings must proceed efficiently so that other applicants are not delayed. I have decided that if the landlord does not want to provide the additional evidence, it would be a waste of Tribunal time to arrange another hearing.
The application is dismissed. Suppression of names
The landlord has not succeeded with the application and there is no reason to suppress its name.
The claim is not proven so the tenants’ names are suppressed.

Order

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

Reasons

An application has been made for payment of electricity costs during a tenancy that started on 6 June 2025 and ended on 27 August 2025.
The application and tenancy agreement are in the name of ‘Santorini Trust’ as landlord. A trust is not a legal entity unless it is a company.
I asked the landlord’s representatives to provide verification or confirm the correct name of the landlord, but no response has been received.
In the absence of that clarification, I have decided to add the names of the landlord representatives named on the application.
Scott Johnston attended a telephone hearing for the landlord. Neither tenant answered their phone. I continued that hearing in their absence as they have been emailed notice of the hearing date and time to their addresses for service.

What is the law that applies?

This is a landlord application. The party that makes an application must provide enough evidence to prove their claim. This is called the burden of proof.
The standard of proof is “on the balance of probabilities”. This means the Tribunal must be satisfied that what is claimed is more probable than not.
The tenants chose not to attend the hearing but that does not mean that the landlord can claim whatever it likes. Its claim must still be proven.
The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) applies.
Section 39 RTA says: [my underlining] 39 Responsibility for outgoings (1) The landlord is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that— (a) are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied; and (b) are incurred for common facilities. (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the landlord is responsible for the cost of— (a) the general rate (within the meaning of section 13 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002) payable in respect of the premises; and (b) insurance premiums payable in respect of the premises; and (c) any body corporate levies payable in respect of the premises. (3) The tenant is responsible for all outgoings in respect of the premises that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises or to the tenant’s use of the facilities. (4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (3), the tenant is responsible for the following charges, incurred during the tenancy, in respect of the premises: (a) electricity and gas: (b) telephone and Internet: (c) supply of water if the water supplier charges for water provided to the premises on the basis of consumption. (5) In this section, premises includes facilities that are exclusively for the use of the tenant.
Section 11 RTA provides that any agreement or arrangement that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Act shall be of no effect unless the RTA or the Tribunal permits the inconsistency.
Section 39 RTA usually means that if an outgoings account is in the name of a landlord, then the landlord must pay any daily fixed charges and any other charges that are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied.
Tenants pay for the electricity, gas, telephone, internet, and water that they use as long as this can be separately and accurately measured.
I explained this to the landlord’s representative during the hearing.

What evidence has been provided?

The landlord’s representative explained there are ten separate flats at this address. The electricity account for supply to the tenancy street address is in the name of “Moeraki Boulders Limited trading as Santorini Trust”.
The landlord says it has a “check meter” for each of the flats. This allows the landlord to accurately measure the power that each flat uses.
The landlord says it calculates what each tenant owes for electricity based on the check meters and electricity supply invoices and then separately invoices the tenants.
The tenancy agreement says: “Power will be invoiced monthly”.
The landlord has supplied the below evidence to support its claim:- a. Four invoices from Commercial Utilities Ltd for electricity supply to 156 Beach Street, Waikouaiti for the period from 8/05/2025 to 5/09/2025; b. A screenshot from another invoice that the landlord says is from Genesis Energy. The screenshot says it is for electricity supply to this street address for 10 days from 27 July 2021 to 5 August 2025; c. Four photographs of a check meter marked “Flat 6 Brown” which the landlord says measures electricity usage for the tenancy premises. The meters show readings of 367.7, 342.6, 328, and 440.3; d. A typed page of calculations the landlord says shows the electricity invoiced to the tenants.
The landlord’s representative told me in the hearing that:- a. the Commercial Utilities Ltd invoices do not apply to Brown Cottage; and b. the screenshot from a Genesis Energy invoice relates to charges over the last few months. c. I asked the landlord’s representative to provide electricity supply invoices that do relate to Brown Cottage and to the dates of this tenancy. d. I said I would leave the file open until the end of Friday 12 December 2025 to allow him to do so.
No new evidence was received by that date.
I then sent a formal direction specifying the new evidence required and allowing the landlord more time to do so.
In particular, I asked for evidence to:- Explain/show clearly how the landlord calculated the amounts charged to the tenants. This means explaining how the landlord determined the per kilowatt charge of $.3108 and the “charge x 50 day rate” of $1.097 per day.
The only new evidence supplied is another copy of the screenshot from Genesis Energy with the address for the property showing on it. The dates on it are confusing as it says “27 Jul 2021” which is four years ago.
This means the landlord has not provided sufficient evidence to justify a second hearing being scheduled or to prove the claim.
Tribunal time is in high demand and hearings must proceed efficiently so that other applicants are not delayed. I have decided that if the landlord does not want to provide the additional evidence, it would be a waste of Tribunal time to arrange another hearing.
The application is dismissed. Suppression of names
The landlord has not succeeded with the application and there is no reason to suppress its name.
The claim is not proven so the tenants’ names are suppressed.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5379113 — Unit Titles at 156 Beach Street, Waikouaiti 9510, Brown Cottage

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5379113 — Unit Titles at 156 Beach Street, Waikouaiti 9510, Brown Cottage

At a glance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

What is the law that applies?

What evidence has been provided?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

What is the law that applies?

What evidence has been provided?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions