What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5387961 about?

The tribunal order states: The application is dismissed.

How much money was awarded in case 5387961?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5387961?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5387961?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13224699-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5387961 about?

The tribunal order states: The application is dismissed.

How much money was awarded in case 5387961?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5387961?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5387961?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13224699-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

46 Verbena Road, Birkdale, Auckland 0626 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5387961 — Rent arrears

Order

The application is dismissed.

Reasons

Mr Pallett, the landlord, attended the video conference hearing. The tenant did not join the video conference hearing as per the instructions in the Notice of Hearing, either by video or by phone. As the tenant was served, the hearing proceeded in her absence.
The landlord has applied for outgoings.
At the start of the hearing, the landlord clarified that the tenancy had ended on 4 December 2025, when he regained possession of the property. He further confirmed that he was claiming for rent arrears, outgoings and compensation.
The landlord claimed $3,350.00 for rent arrears up to 4 December 2025, $1,570.00 for bills he said the tenant owed and $380.00 for cleaning costs at the end of the tenancy.
The landlord acknowledged he currently holds bond paid of $1,700.00, which has not been lodged with the Bond Centre. Burden of proof and evidence
The applicant is required to establish the claim to the civil law standard of proof, on the balance of probabilities.
The issue of evidence at Tenancy Tribunal hearings was considered by the District Court in Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02. Judge Mather stated: “...[the applicant] needs to be reminded that like anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or a Court, it is incumbent upon the applicant to provide the evidence necessary to prove the case. If the applicant fails to do that, then their application will be dismissed whether it has merit or not because it is up to the applicant to provide the necessary evidence. It is not up to the other parties and it is certainly not up to the Tribunal to extract evidence.” Rent arrears
The landlord provided a spreadsheet which included both rent and other bills transactions. The landlord did not provide a rent summary that included details of only rent transactions, nor was there a column in the spreadsheet for the cumulative rent arrears balance.
The landlord claimed $3,350.00 in rent arrears up to 4 December 2025, the end of the tenancy. He said the tenant owed 5 weeks’ rent.
The spreadsheet appeared to take rent transactions up to 10 December 2025 rather than 4 December 2025, which the landlord had said was the end of the tenancy. The total of the rent due column was $43,455.00 and the total of the rent paid column was $43,995.00, leaving a credit of rent paid by the tenant of $540.00. I asked the landlord to explain this in the context of his claim for rent arrears in the amount of $3,350.00, which he said was 5 weeks’ rent. Eventually, the landlord conceded that the spreadsheet totals seemed to indicate a credit on the rent of $540.00 to the tenant, though he also indicated he believed the tenant owed 5 weeks’ rent. The landlord said that the tenant had not paid any other bills, however, and so any credit amount on rent should be credited towards bills owing by the tenant.
I find the evidence provided by the landlord is insufficient to prove the amount of rent arrears claimed by the landlord and so dismiss this claim. Outgoings
The landlord said the outgoings claim was for $1,570.00 for bills. He said there were 3 tenants in an upstairs property and 1 tenant in the downstairs property, which presumably is this tenancy, and that all these tenants share the bills for water, internet and gas and then the power is metered.
Section 39 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provided that landlords are responsible for all outgoing in respect of the premises that are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied and are incurred for common facilities, and tenants are 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.
The landlord did not provide any water, internet, gas or power invoices, nor did he provide a detailed ledger of these charges or any payments towards these bills, other than the general spreadsheet which included rent transactions and did not include any dated periods or details about what each bill amount was for. There was also no evidence provided about the totals of any bills and the amount exclusively attributable to the tenant’ use of any facilities or utilities.
The landlord emailed in an updated spreadsheet during the hearing, which was the same as the originally provided spreadsheet, dealing with both rent and other bills in one spreadsheet, but including more recent bills and the cleaning claim, as dealt with below.
I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence to prove this claim, due to the lack of any utility or other invoices, nor a clear ledger of charges and payments, nor any evidence about what use might be exclusively attributable to the tenant in this situation. As such, I dismiss this claim. Compensation
The landlord did not provide any inspection reports or photographs of the condition of the property, either at the start or end of the tenancy. The landlord provided a cleaning invoice in the amount of $380.00, however.
I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence to show the requirement for the landlord to incur any cleaning costs, such as photographs of the condition of the property. As such, I dismiss this claim.

Order

The application is dismissed.

Reasons

Mr Pallett, the landlord, attended the video conference hearing. The tenant did not join the video conference hearing as per the instructions in the Notice of Hearing, either by video or by phone. As the tenant was served, the hearing proceeded in her absence.
The landlord has applied for outgoings.
At the start of the hearing, the landlord clarified that the tenancy had ended on 4 December 2025, when he regained possession of the property. He further confirmed that he was claiming for rent arrears, outgoings and compensation.
The landlord claimed $3,350.00 for rent arrears up to 4 December 2025, $1,570.00 for bills he said the tenant owed and $380.00 for cleaning costs at the end of the tenancy.
The landlord acknowledged he currently holds bond paid of $1,700.00, which has not been lodged with the Bond Centre. Burden of proof and evidence
The applicant is required to establish the claim to the civil law standard of proof, on the balance of probabilities.
The issue of evidence at Tenancy Tribunal hearings was considered by the District Court in Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02. Judge Mather stated: “...[the applicant] needs to be reminded that like anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or a Court, it is incumbent upon the applicant to provide the evidence necessary to prove the case. If the applicant fails to do that, then their application will be dismissed whether it has merit or not because it is up to the applicant to provide the necessary evidence. It is not up to the other parties and it is certainly not up to the Tribunal to extract evidence.” Rent arrears
The landlord provided a spreadsheet which included both rent and other bills transactions. The landlord did not provide a rent summary that included details of only rent transactions, nor was there a column in the spreadsheet for the cumulative rent arrears balance.
The landlord claimed $3,350.00 in rent arrears up to 4 December 2025, the end of the tenancy. He said the tenant owed 5 weeks’ rent.
The spreadsheet appeared to take rent transactions up to 10 December 2025 rather than 4 December 2025, which the landlord had said was the end of the tenancy. The total of the rent due column was $43,455.00 and the total of the rent paid column was $43,995.00, leaving a credit of rent paid by the tenant of $540.00. I asked the landlord to explain this in the context of his claim for rent arrears in the amount of $3,350.00, which he said was 5 weeks’ rent. Eventually, the landlord conceded that the spreadsheet totals seemed to indicate a credit on the rent of $540.00 to the tenant, though he also indicated he believed the tenant owed 5 weeks’ rent. The landlord said that the tenant had not paid any other bills, however, and so any credit amount on rent should be credited towards bills owing by the tenant.
I find the evidence provided by the landlord is insufficient to prove the amount of rent arrears claimed by the landlord and so dismiss this claim. Outgoings
The landlord said the outgoings claim was for $1,570.00 for bills. He said there were 3 tenants in an upstairs property and 1 tenant in the downstairs property, which presumably is this tenancy, and that all these tenants share the bills for water, internet and gas and then the power is metered.
Section 39 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provided that landlords are responsible for all outgoing in respect of the premises that are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied and are incurred for common facilities, and tenants are 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.
The landlord did not provide any water, internet, gas or power invoices, nor did he provide a detailed ledger of these charges or any payments towards these bills, other than the general spreadsheet which included rent transactions and did not include any dated periods or details about what each bill amount was for. There was also no evidence provided about the totals of any bills and the amount exclusively attributable to the tenant’ use of any facilities or utilities.
The landlord emailed in an updated spreadsheet during the hearing, which was the same as the originally provided spreadsheet, dealing with both rent and other bills in one spreadsheet, but including more recent bills and the cleaning claim, as dealt with below.
I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence to prove this claim, due to the lack of any utility or other invoices, nor a clear ledger of charges and payments, nor any evidence about what use might be exclusively attributable to the tenant in this situation. As such, I dismiss this claim. Compensation
The landlord did not provide any inspection reports or photographs of the condition of the property, either at the start or end of the tenancy. The landlord provided a cleaning invoice in the amount of $380.00, however.
I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence to show the requirement for the landlord to incur any cleaning costs, such as photographs of the condition of the property. As such, I dismiss this claim.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5387961 — Rent arrears at 46 Verbena Road, Birkdale, Auckland 0626

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5387961 — Rent arrears at 46 Verbena Road, Birkdale, Auckland 0626

At a glance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions