What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5402691 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenant’s name and identifying details must not be published.

How much money was awarded in case 5402691?

Cleaning: $523.37 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $300.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5402691?

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

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5402691?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13234060-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5402691 about?

The tribunal order states: The tenant’s name and identifying details must not be published.

How much money was awarded in case 5402691?

Cleaning: $523.37 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $300.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5402691?

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

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5402691?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13234060-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

10 Egmont Street, Chartwell, Hamilton 3210 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5402691 — Cleanliness

Tenantcheck Insights

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5402691 — net $851.37 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 17 September 2025	$300.00	Rent arrears to 17 September 2025
Meth testing/Cleaning	$523.37	Meth testing/Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$851.37
Bond	$2,800.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$851.37

The tenant’s name and identifying details must not be published.

[The tenant] must pay Point Property and Portfolio Management Limited as agent for Rhys & Chantel Challenger $851.37 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,800.00 ([Bond number suppressed]) immediately apportioned as follows: Point Property and Portfolio Management Limited as agent for Rhys & Chantel Challenger: $851.37 [The tenant]: $1,948.63

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.

The landlord seeks rent arrears, compensation for a plumber’s attendance and meth- related costs, reimbursement of the filing fee, and payment out of the bond following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 17 September 2025.

The landlord provided a rent summary that shows the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. The Tribunal orders the amount sought. Plumber’s invoice

The tenant reported a laundry leak. A plumber attended but could not identify a cause.

I find the tenant is not liable because it has not been shown that the tenant was responsible for the leak either. The tenant had a duty to report the leak as something potentially needing repair pursuant to s 40(1)(d) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA). It transpired there was no need for repair, but tenants should not be liable for fulfilling their duty to report a leak which has the potential to seriously damage the premises. Methamphetamine testing and decontamination

The tenant got a flatmate through an advertisement. He did not know the flatmate until then. However, the flatmate worked as a garage installer and did not seem to have any issues.

Regrettably, unbeknownst to the tenant, the flatmate was a methamphetamine user. Their methamphetamine use was detected by the landlord’s post-tenancy testing.

The landlord’s initial testing indicated contamination to a theoretical maximum of 29.3 μg (micrograms). The landlord ordered further testing which returned a level of 15.3 μg from a composite of five swabs.

The landlord elected to have the premises decontaminated.

The landlord seeks the cost of the further testing and the decontamination. Legal principles

A recent amendment to s 138C of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 provides for regulations to be made prescribing the maximum acceptable level for contaminants, but no regulations have been made in relation to methamphetamine levels yet.

There are currently two sources of guidance on the issue of a safe level of methamphetamine contamination in residential premises. In June 2017 Standards New Zealand published NZS 8510:2017. The standard recommended a maximum contamination level of 1.5μg/100cm2 for high use areas where contamination has resulted from both consumption and manufacture. It recommended a higher level of

8μg/100cm2 for limited use areas.

In May 2018 Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, the then Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, released a report, Methamphetamine contamination in residential properties: Exposures, risk levels, and interpretation of standards. The report noted that there is a lack of scientific evidence to prove that low-level third-hand methamphetamine exposure poses a health risk to humans and exposure to a level below 15μg/100cm 2 was unlikely to have an adverse effect.

The report recommended decontamination to the level of 1.5μg/100cm 2 only where contamination resulted from manufacture due to the risk posed by harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing process.

The District Court has held that remediation should be carried out in accordance with the prevailing guidelines at the time. 1

The Tribunal has endorsed the Gluckman recommendations and has applied them for several years. The District Court in Full Circle Real Estate Limited v Piper [2019] NZDC 4947 approved the Tribunal’s approach: 2 The Tenancy Tribunal was in a difficult position. The best state of knowledge of risk to human health from methamphetamine contamination available to the adjudicator was the Gluckman Report. It would have been bold for the adjudicator to have ignored that report in favour of the New Zealand Standard given that the Gluckman report represents the current scientific knowledge on the risk to human health from methamphetamine contamination in dwellings. 1 Diamond Real Estate Limited v Allan [2017] NZDC 833. 2 At [36].

The District Court took a similar approach in Acme Realty Limited v Hogg and others [2021] NZDC 3231, where the Court referred to the Full Circle case and held that, because NZS 8510:2017 has not been adopted into law, the Tribunal was not bound to apply the 1.5 μg standard.

More recently, in Barfoot and Thompson Limited v Kāhui Tū Kaha Limited [2021] NZTT Auckland 4276319, both parties presented scientific evidence at a hearing before the Tribunal. The Tribunal concluded that there was no new scientific research to change the conclusions reached in the Gluckman Report. Discussion

The post-tenancy screening test indicated that the premises may be contaminated at a level more than the Gluckman report. Therefore, the landlord understandably commissioned further testing. The tenant is liable for the cost of the further testing because his flatmate consumed methamphetamine in breach of RTA s 40(2)(b) which prohibits using premises for an unlawful purpose.

The cost of the re-testing is $523.37. The tenant is liable for the cost.

The 15.3 μg result from 5 tests suggests each test may have returned about 3 μg. The tenant is not liable for the cost of cleaning because the further test results do not satisfy me that any individual test swab sample would have exceeded the 15 μg. That being so, the need for decontamination has not been established. Filing fee

The tenant must reimburse the landlord for the filing fee. Bond

The Bond Centre is to release part of the bond to the landlord for payment of the debt under this order. It is to release the remainder to the tenant. Non-publication

The Tribunal suppresses the tenant’s name so that he is not unfairly tarnished with a reputation for using or permitting methamphetamine use. I have considered the interests of the parties and the public interest. 3

It is not in the public interest for an innocent party to be tarred with a reputation involving methamphetamine.

It follows, an order ought to be made.

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5402691 — net $851.37 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 17 September 2025	$300.00	Rent arrears to 17 September 2025
Meth testing/Cleaning	$523.37	Meth testing/Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$851.37
Bond	$2,800.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$851.37

The tenant’s name and identifying details must not be published.

[The tenant] must pay Point Property and Portfolio Management Limited as agent for Rhys & Chantel Challenger $851.37 from the bond, calculated as shown in table below.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.

The landlord seeks rent arrears, compensation for a plumber’s attendance and meth- related costs, reimbursement of the filing fee, and payment out of the bond following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 17 September 2025.

The landlord provided a rent summary that shows the amount owing at the end of the tenancy. The Tribunal orders the amount sought. Plumber’s invoice

The tenant reported a laundry leak. A plumber attended but could not identify a cause.

The tenant got a flatmate through an advertisement. He did not know the flatmate until then. However, the flatmate worked as a garage installer and did not seem to have any issues.

Regrettably, unbeknownst to the tenant, the flatmate was a methamphetamine user. Their methamphetamine use was detected by the landlord’s post-tenancy testing.

The landlord elected to have the premises decontaminated.

The landlord seeks the cost of the further testing and the decontamination. Legal principles

8μg/100cm2 for limited use areas.

The report recommended decontamination to the level of 1.5μg/100cm 2 only where contamination resulted from manufacture due to the risk posed by harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing process.

The District Court has held that remediation should be carried out in accordance with the prevailing guidelines at the time. 1

The cost of the re-testing is $523.37. The tenant is liable for the cost.

The tenant must reimburse the landlord for the filing fee. Bond

The Bond Centre is to release part of the bond to the landlord for payment of the debt under this order. It is to release the remainder to the tenant. Non-publication

It is not in the public interest for an innocent party to be tarred with a reputation involving methamphetamine.

It follows, an order ought to be made.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5402691 — Cleanliness at 10 Egmont Street, Chartwell, Hamilton 3210

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5402691 — Cleanliness at 10 Egmont Street, Chartwell, Hamilton 3210

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions