Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5389802 — Rent arrears at 24 Cottrell Crescent, Onekawa, Napier 4110
Decided 8 January 2026 · Published 8 January 2026 · Application 5389802
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Outcome
Landlord favoured
From published order
Location
Napier
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
N Maplesden
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $29,807.24
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $11,175.24
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent arrears up to 14/01/2026 | $1,670.50 | Rent arrears up to 14/01/2026 | |
| Previous order application 4979189 dated 12/11/2024 | $18,820.74 | Previous order application 4979189 dated 12/11/2024 | |
| Rent credit adjustment 24/12/2024 | $9,316.00 | Rent credit adjustment 24/12/2024 | |
| Total award | $20,491.24 | $9,316.00 | |
| Net award | $11,175.24 | ||
| Total payable by Tenant to Landlord | $11,175.24 |
Claims and awards for application 5389802 — net $11,175.24 NZD. Verify on MoJ.
Rent arrears up to 14/01/2026
- Amount
- $1,670.50
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Rent arrears up to 14/01/2026
Previous order application 4979189 dated 12/11/2024
- Amount
- $18,820.74
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Previous order application 4979189 dated 12/11/2024
Rent credit adjustment 24/12/2024
- Amount
- $9,316.00
- Awarded to
- Tenant
- Reason
- Rent credit adjustment 24/12/2024
Total award
Landlord $20,491.24 · Tenant $9,316.00
Net award
Landlord $11,175.24
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord
Landlord $11,175.24
Claim types — money lines allowed on this order
Order
- Tory Lamb owes Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities $11,175.24 (“the debt”) calculated as in the table below.
- Tory Lamb must pay rent and debt as follows: a. By weekly payments of the amount of weekly rent, and b. Weekly debt payments of an amount equal to 10% of the weekly rent. c. Payments of rent and debt will be every Thursday, with the first payment on 15/01/2026 and continuing every Thursday until the debt is paid in full.
- Weekly rent is the amount charged to the tenant by the landlord as at the date a payment is due.
- Debt payments are the amount that is 10% of the weekly rent as at the date a payment is due.
- Payments will be allocated in the following order: rent then debt.
- If the tenant fails to pay rent and debt within 5 working days of the due dates: a. The tenancy at 24 Cottrell Crescent, Onekawa, Napier 4110 will terminate and the landlord will have immediate possession of the premises. b. The balance of the debt will be payable immediately.
- This order incorporates the Tribunal order made on 12 November 2024 under application 4979189.
Reasons
- The landlord’s representative attended the hearing by telephone today. I telephoned the tenant twice however his phone did not connect. I continued the hearing in his absence as the tenant has been posted and emailed notice of the hearing date and time to his addresses for service.
- The landlord has applied for conditional termination of the tenancy and payment of rent arrears. The previous order for payment of rent arrears
- The landlord applied for an order for payment of rent arrears in previous application 4979189 in 2024.
- The total amount owing for rent arrears at that time was $37,641.48. The Tribunal decided that the landlord had not taken reasonable steps to mitigate or reduce its loss.
- In particular, the landlord had not made an application to terminate the tenancy or for a conditional termination order which would have stopped the rent arrears increasing.
- The Tribunal reduced the amount owing by the tenant and made an order on 12 November 2024 that the tenant must pay the landlord $18,820.74 for rent arrears up to 13 November 2024. 1
- The previous order is incorporated into this order for enforcement purposes. 1 The balance of rent owing of $18,820.74 cannot be recovered by the landlord.
Should a final or conditional termination order be made?
- The landlord supplied rent records from the start of the tenancy.
- The rent records show that a rent credit of $9,316.00 was applied on 24 December 2024. The landlord says this relates to a recalculation of the income- related rent that applies to these premises.
- The rent credit reduced the debt owing under the previous order to $9,761.74.
- The rent records prove that the total amount owing for rent up to the end of this rent week on 14 January 2026 is $11,175.24.
- Overall, the tenant has not kept up with the weekly rent since the rent credit was applied. The rent arrears debt has increased by $1,670.50 since then which is more than equivalent to 21 days of rent.
- The law says the Tribunal must make either an immediate termination order or an order allowing repayment of rent arrears by a certain date but with termination if they are not paid on time (a “conditional termination” order); see section 55(1)(a) and (1A) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA).
- The rent records show the tenant has paid weekly rent and a debt repayment amount of 10% of weekly rent every week since 18 September 2025.
- I agree not to terminate the tenancy immediately and to make a conditional termination order because the tenancy is of more than ten years duration and because of the recent regular repayments.
- I accept the landlord’s submission that it is consistent with its social housing policies and goals to maintain this tenancy if rent and debt repayments are being made.
- I am satisfied the tenant will pay the debt and is unlikely to commit any further relevant breach to avoid the tenancy ending.
- The weekly rent can change if the tenant’s income changes. I have made an order that rent and debt repayments will change depending on the amount of weekly rent payable at the due date of each payment. For example, if rent increases to $250.00 per week then rent payments must increase to that amount and debt repayments must increase to 10% of rent which is $25.00.
- If any fortnightly payment is more than 5 working days late, the landlord can immediately terminate the tenancy.
- The conditional termination order will finish if the debt is fully repaid. If the tenant breaches the order, the possession order may be enforced for 90 days from the first breach. See section 64(4)(b) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Suppression orders
- The landlord is successful with its application however as the government social housing provider the public interest is in transparency of its actions. I make no suppression orders.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s10, s21, s3, s55(1), s64(4)
Key findings
- Dispute theme: rent arrears
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5389802?
The tribunal order states: Tory Lamb owes Kāinga Ora–Homes And Communities $11,175.24 (“the debt”)
How much money was awarded in case 5389802?
Previous Order Application 4979189 D…: $18,820.74 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,670.50 awarded to landlord; Rent Credit Adjustment 24/12/2024: $9,316.00 awarded to tenant
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5389802?
The primary dispute was Rent arrears.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5389802?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/12945658-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.