How much money was awarded in case 5415868?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to tenant; Rent Refund: $2,057.14 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5415868?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5415868?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13513064-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

How much money was awarded in case 5415868?

Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to tenant; Rent Refund: $2,057.14 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5415868?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5415868?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13513064-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5415868 — Tenancy dispute

Q: What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5415868 about?

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

Order

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5415868 — net $2,085.14 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Rent refund	$2,057.14	Rent refund
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$2,085.14
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$2,085.14

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of both parties’ names and identifying details.

The claims for exemplary damages for breaches of sections 45 and 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 are dismissed.

[The landlord/s] must pay [The tenant/s] $2,085.14 immediately, calculated as shown in table below: DescriptionTenant Rent refund $2,057.14 Filing fee reimbursement $28.00 Total award $2,085.14 Total payable by Landlord to Tenant $2,085.14

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing which took place by MS Teams on 16 April 2026.

The tenant has applied for the following: (a)Refund of rent credit retained by the landlord following the end of the tenancy (b)Exemplary damages for breach of section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 in respect of cracks in the ceiling (c)Exemplary damages for breach of section 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Rent credit

The tenant claims that the landlord overcharged rent during the tenancy and seeks a refund.

There is a previous Tribunal order between these parties dated 12 December 2025 under case 5303229. In that order the Adjudicator records at paragraph 2: “The tenancy began on 4 January 2024 and ended on 9 September 2024.”

The landlord provided a rent summary which charged rent from 3 January 2024 to 10 January 2024.

At the end of the tenancy the rent was in credit $1100.00. The landlord did not refund this to the tenant at the end of the tenancy.

The tenant claimed that the tenancy did not start until 4 January 2024 and ended on 9 January 2024. This is consistent with the earlier decision of the Tribunal and results in a credit to the tenant of two days rent totalling $257.14.

The tenant further claimed that the rent summary failed to include a payment of $700.00 made on 8 February 2024 and provided confirmation from WINZ of this payment made to the account number in the tenancy agreement. This results in a further credit of $700.00 to the tenant.

The total rent refund due to the tenant is $2057.14 and this amount is ordered to the tenant. Cracks in ceiling

[The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached their obligations under section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 by failing to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair due to cracks in the ceiling and seeks exemplary damages.

This matter is substantially the same as the tenant’s previous claim that there were cracks and mould on the ceiling and this claim was already determined by the Tribunal on 12 December 2025 and dismissed for insufficient evidence. As this claim has been determined I cannot consider this claim. Tenancy Agreement

The tenant claims that the landlord breached section 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 as the tenancy agreement recorded a start date of 28 December 2023 when the tenancy did not commence until 4 January 2024 and seeks exemplary damages.

A tenancy agreement is required to record the commencement date of the tenancy. In this case the commencement date was recorded, however, the parties advised that the tenancy did not commence on that date due to the landlord seeking to delay the start to complete painting. As the tenancy agreement contained the intended commencement date at the time the agreement was signed I find that the tenant has not proved on the balance of probabilities that there was a breach of the requirements for a tenancy agreement. Filing fee/Suppression

Because the tenant has substantially succeeded with the claim, I have ordered reimbursement of the filing fee and suppress the tenant details in the order as applied for. See sections 102(4) and 95A(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The Tribunal may on its own initiative make a suppression order, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest. Section 95A (4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. As there is a previous order which suppresses all party identifying details and I have referred to that case in this order I have suppressed the landlord details in this order for the sake of consistency.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5415868 — net $2,085.14 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Rent refund	$2,057.14	Rent refund
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$2,085.14
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$2,085.14

Order

An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of both parties’ names and identifying details.
The claims for exemplary damages for breaches of sections 45 and 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 are dismissed.
[The landlord/s] must pay [The tenant/s] $2,085.14 immediately, calculated as shown in table below: DescriptionTenant Rent refund $2,057.14 Filing fee reimbursement $28.00 Total award $2,085.14 Total payable by Landlord to Tenant $2,085.14

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing which took place by MS Teams on 16 April 2026.
The tenant has applied for the following: (a)Refund of rent credit retained by the landlord following the end of the tenancy (b)Exemplary damages for breach of section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 in respect of cracks in the ceiling (c)Exemplary damages for breach of section 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Rent credit
The tenant claims that the landlord overcharged rent during the tenancy and seeks a refund.
There is a previous Tribunal order between these parties dated 12 December 2025 under case 5303229. In that order the Adjudicator records at paragraph 2: “The tenancy began on 4 January 2024 and ended on 9 September 2024.”
The landlord provided a rent summary which charged rent from 3 January 2024 to 10 January 2024.
At the end of the tenancy the rent was in credit $1100.00. The landlord did not refund this to the tenant at the end of the tenancy.
The tenant claimed that the tenancy did not start until 4 January 2024 and ended on 9 January 2024. This is consistent with the earlier decision of the Tribunal and results in a credit to the tenant of two days rent totalling $257.14.
The tenant further claimed that the rent summary failed to include a payment of $700.00 made on 8 February 2024 and provided confirmation from WINZ of this payment made to the account number in the tenancy agreement. This results in a further credit of $700.00 to the tenant.
The total rent refund due to the tenant is $2057.14 and this amount is ordered to the tenant. Cracks in ceiling
[The tenant/s] claims that the landlord has breached their obligations under section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 by failing to provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair due to cracks in the ceiling and seeks exemplary damages.
This matter is substantially the same as the tenant’s previous claim that there were cracks and mould on the ceiling and this claim was already determined by the Tribunal on 12 December 2025 and dismissed for insufficient evidence. As this claim has been determined I cannot consider this claim. Tenancy Agreement
The tenant claims that the landlord breached section 13A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 as the tenancy agreement recorded a start date of 28 December 2023 when the tenancy did not commence until 4 January 2024 and seeks exemplary damages.
A tenancy agreement is required to record the commencement date of the tenancy. In this case the commencement date was recorded, however, the parties advised that the tenancy did not commence on that date due to the landlord seeking to delay the start to complete painting. As the tenancy agreement contained the intended commencement date at the time the agreement was signed I find that the tenant has not proved on the balance of probabilities that there was a breach of the requirements for a tenancy agreement. Filing fee/Suppression
Because the tenant has substantially succeeded with the claim, I have ordered reimbursement of the filing fee and suppress the tenant details in the order as applied for. See sections 102(4) and 95A(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The Tribunal may on its own initiative make a suppression order, having regard to the interests of the parties and to the public interest. Section 95A (4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. As there is a previous order which suppresses all party identifying details and I have referred to that case in this order I have suppressed the landlord details in this order for the sake of consistency.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5415868 — Tenancy dispute

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5415868 — Tenancy dispute

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions