How much money was awarded in case 5400188?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $1,000.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $815.72 awarded to landlord; Door: $200.00 awarded to landlord; Lawn And Plumbers Fee: $361.06 awarded to landlord; Wall: $100.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5400188?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5400188?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13246686-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5400188?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $1,000.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $815.72 awarded to landlord; Door: $200.00 awarded to landlord; Lawn And Plumbers Fee: $361.06 awarded to landlord; Wall: $100.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5400188?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5400188?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13246686-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

3 Cade Place, Weymouth, Auckland 2103 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5400188 — Rent arrears

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5400188 about?

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

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5400188 — net $1,804.78 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 5.6.25	$815.72	Rent arrears to 5.6.25
Lawns and Garden work: and rubbish removal	$1,000.00	Lawns and Garden work: and rubbish removal
Repairs: Lawn and Plumbers fee	$361.06	Repairs: Lawn and Plumbers fee
Repairs: door	$200.00	Repairs: door
Repairs: wall	$100.00	Repairs: wall
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$1,804.78
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,804.78

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the tenant’s name and identifying details.

[The tenant/s] must pay Js Property Management Limited $1,804.78 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $700.00 ([Bond number suppressed]BN- 16180290) to Js Property Management Limited immediately.

The balance of the claim is dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.

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

The tenant’s husband is named as a tenant in the tenancy agreement. He has not been named as a respondent in this claim. The landlord said he has only ever dealt with the tenant and the tenant agreed that was the case as her husband does not speak English.

By consent of both parties the hearing has proceeded on the basis that the other tenant is not named and is therefore not liable in respect of this claim. The bond is held in the sole name of the tenant named in this claim therefore I have proceeded to deal with this matter as agreed between the parties. Relevant legal considerations

The relevant law that applies is found in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA).

With any claim before the Tenancy Tribunal, the Tribunal applies the usual civil law standards and expectations. That includes a requirement that the applicant establish their claims on the balance of probabilities. The balance of probabilities means more likely than un-likely, or in mathematical terms, has a fractionally more than 50% likelihood. The Tribunal does not need to be certain or very sure about any claim, only that what is claimed is likely. This obligation carried by the applicant is referred to as the “burden of proof”. Independent witnesses, corroborating documents and photographs are an important part of discharging this burden.

As noted by the District Court in Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy 1 , in practical terms this means that: ... “[L]ike anyone who brings an application before a Tribunal or 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.”

In deciding any particular claim, I must consider all the evidence presented (including oral evidence during the hearing). I must weigh this evidence to decide what is more likely. 1 Kaipo v Clarke & McCarthy (DC) TT233/02

How much is owed for rent?

The tenant must pay the rent as and when it is due and payable under the tenancy agreement. 2 The tenancy ended on 5 June 2025. The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. Rent arrears of $815.72 is ordered by consent. The Law – tenant’s obligations at the end of the tenancy

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must remove all his or her goods from the premises, leave the premises (including the land provided with the premises) reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. 3 A tenant does not have to leave premises cleaner and tidier than at the start of the tenancy. 4 The Law - Tenants responsibility for damage

A tenant must not intentionally or carelessly cause damage or permit any other person to damage the premises. 5 Where a landlord is claiming compensation for damage a landlord must prove that damage to the premises occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. 6

Fair wear and tear can be described as damage which might reasonably be expected to naturally occur over time, such as the deterioration or gradual wear occurring with everyday use. 7

Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). 8 Where the damage is careless and is not covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to four weeks' rent (or market rent). 9 Where insurance money is irrecoverable because of the tenant's conduct, the property is treated as if it is not insured against the damage. 10 2 See section 40 (1)(a) of the RTA. 3 See section 40(1)(e) of the RTA. 4 Westwood v Western [1994] DCR 759 at 770. 5 See s 40 (2)(a) of the RTA. 6 See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA. 7 See Taylor v Webb [1937] 2KB 283 (CA). 8 See section 49B(3)(a) RTA. 9 See section 49B(3)(b) RTA. 10 See section 49B(3A)(a) RTA.

Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional or which results from any activity at the premises that is an imprisonable offence. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. 11

Damage is intentional where a person intends to cause damage and takes the necessary steps to achieve that purpose. Damage is also intentional where a person does something, or allows a situation to continue, knowing that damage is a certainty. 12

In assessing a claim for compensation, I must take into account betterment and depreciation. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations and should not be better or worse off. In calculating depreciation, I must take into account the age and condition of the items at the start of the tenancy and their likely useful lifespan. The claims Cleaning and rubbish removal

The tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy and did not remove all rubbish.

The landlord claims $4,890 for 160 hours for removing rubbish and weeding the back of the premises.

The landlord provided an invoice (for the property owners time), and receipts for the rubbish and green waste removal ($89.50 + $63 + part of the skip bin fee $95.33 – total $247.83).

The landlord provided post-tenancy photographs of the exterior of the premises and a written statement from the property owner about the work involved in tidying the exterior. Time records were not provided. The landlord did not have pre-tenancy photographs or inspection checklists.

The tenant said some of the rubbish left at the tenancy was hers but some of it was present at the commencement of the tenancy. She says the ivy weeds were present at the commencement of the tenancy, and they grew from the neighbour's property. She acknowledges there was some weeds around the sides of the premises. She suggests a more reasonable amount for compensation for the exterior rubbish removal and weeding is $1,000.

In the absence of a pre-tenancy report which would allow me to assess the extent of the ivy present at the commencement of the tenancy and what rubbish was or was not present at the commencement of the tenancy and in the absence of time records, I consider the landlord has not proven the full 11 See section 49B(1) RTA. 12 See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541. claim for weeding and rubbish removal. I therefore consider the amount suggested by the tenant is reasonable. $1000 is ordered for weeding and rubbish removal and the balance of the claim is dismissed.

I further note that where a party to a tenancy agreement breaches any provisions of the agreement or the RTA, the other party shall take all reasonable steps to limit damage or loss arising from that breach, in accordance with the rules of law relating to mitigation of loss or damage upon breach of contract. 13 This means that they must take actions to limit any loss from a breach by the other party. In this case it appears that the landlord considered the tenant was breaching their obligations in respect of weeding for the duration of the tenancy but took no steps to mitigate any arising loss, such as serving the tenant with a 14-day notice or seeking a work order in the Tribunal. The amount ordered reflects that if weeding should have been undertaken during this tenancy, that no steps were taken during this tenancy to mitigate loss, in particular in relation to the ivy. Damage claims Water Pipe damage

The front lawn and a water pipe were damaged during the tenancy when the tenant removed their container. By consent I order $301.06 for the lawn repair ($10.07 for grass seed) and pipe repair ($290.99 plumbers fee). I will also allow $60 for the landlord’s time. 2 hours was recorded in an email to the property manager for attending to the lawn repairs. The damage is more than fair wear and tear, and the tenant has not disproved liability for the damage. The total amount ordered for the water pipe damage is $361.06 and it is proved. Wall damage

The landlord says 4 doors were damaged during the tenancy and a hole was made in a wall.

The landlord claimed $1,466.25 for the door replacement and wall repair. A quote was provided that the landlord advised had been paid. The quote excluded the painting of the doors, which I understand was undertaken separately by the landlord.

The landlord said the doors would have been the original doors from when these tenants moved in (the tenant said in 2012). The landlord did not know the age of the doors.

The tenant accepted damaging one door and causing the hole in the wall. I consider the damage was likely intentional, given the nature of the damage. 13 RTA, Section 49.

The tenant said that three of the doors were damaged at the commencement of the tenancy. The landlord did not provide any pre-tenancy photographs to prove that the disputed damaged was caused during this tenancy. I therefore decline to compensate the landlord for 3 of the damaged doors. If I am wrong in that conclusion then depreciation would have applied to a large extent in any event.

The Tribunal considers the estimated lifespan of doors in a rental property is around 25 years.

In taking into account betterment and depreciation I will order compensation of $200 for one door (being part of replacement door and part of the labour and travel) and $100 for the wall patch repair (being materials and part of the labour and travel fee).

The balance of the claim is dismissed because in the absence of pre-tenancy inspection photographs the landlord has not proven that the remaining damage was caused during this tenancy. Bond

The bond is to be paid to the landlord immediately to offset the amount’s ordered. Filing Fee

Because the landlord has been partly successful in their claim, I have ordered that the tenant pay the application filing fee of $28. 14 Suppression

The Tribunal must, on the application of a party that has wholly or substantially succeeded in proceedings, order that the party’s name or identifying particulars not be published, unless the Tribunal considers that publication is in the public interest or is justified because of the party’s conduct or any other circumstances of the case. 15

The Tribunal may, on the application of any party to proceedings or on its own initiative, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest, order that all or part of the evidence given or the name or any identifying particulars of any witness or party not be published and may attach any conditions to that order that the Tribunal considers appropriate. 16

The landlord did not seek name suppression. 14 RTA, s 102. 15 RTA, s 95A (1). 16 RTA, s 95A (4) and (5).

The tenant applied for name suppression and as she consented to some claims and has been successful in defending a substantial amount of the claim, I make an order suppressing the tenant’s name.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5400188 — net $1,804.78 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 5.6.25	$815.72	Rent arrears to 5.6.25
Lawns and Garden work: and rubbish removal	$1,000.00	Lawns and Garden work: and rubbish removal
Repairs: Lawn and Plumbers fee	$361.06	Repairs: Lawn and Plumbers fee
Repairs: door	$200.00	Repairs: door
Repairs: wall	$100.00	Repairs: wall
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$1,804.78
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$1,804.78