Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5416710 — Tenancy dispute at 43 Hunter Crescent, Wanaka 9305
Published 25 March 2026 · Application 5416710
- Carpet Cleaning
- Filing Fee
- Filing Fee Reimbursement
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Outcome
Landlord favoured
From published order
Location
Wanaka
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
C Lamdin
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $328.00
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $328.00
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firewood | $300.00 | Firewood | |
| Filing fee reimbursement | $28.00 | Filing fee reimbursement | |
| Net award | $328.00 | ||
| Total payable by Tenant to Landlord | $328.00 |
Claims and awards for application 5416710 — net $328.00 NZD. Verify on MoJ.
Firewood
- Amount
- $300.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Firewood
Filing fee reimbursement
- Amount
- $28.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Filing fee reimbursement
Net award
Landlord $328.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord
Landlord $328.00
Claim types — money lines allowed on this order
Order
- Nico Mirabito, Neena Sore, Cale Westman and Jack Dale must pay Highland Real Estate Group Limited $328.00 immediately, calculated as shown in the table below.
Reasons
- Both parties attended the hearing which was heard by video conference. Mr Mirabito represented the tenants and Ms Herbert represented the landlord.
- The landlord has applied for compensation and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
- With any claim before the Tenancy Tribunal, the Tribunal applies the usual civil law standards and expectations. One of these standards is that it is for the party bringing the application to establish their claims on the balance of probabilities. That means the party bringing the claim must establish that what they are claiming is more likely than not. Oral evidence is an important part of discharging this burden. This may be supported by photographs, documents or other corroborating information.
- The parties signed a fixed-term tenancy agreement which started on 5 June 2025 and ended on 6 October 2025.
- During the tenancy the tenants used firewood which was the property of the landlord. The landlord estimated the value of the used firewood to be approximately $600.00. The landlord is seeking $300.00 compensation for the wood.
- The tenant admits using the firewood in the space heater to heat the house, but said he didn’t believe they were liable for the cost of the firewood because the tenancy agreement does not refer to the firewood.
- The Residential Tenancies Act, 1986 addresses “Responsibility for Outgoings at section 39. Subsection 3 says: “The tenant is 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.”
- On the information provided to me by both parties in this hearing, I determine the firewood used to heat the premises is an outgoing that is exclusively attributable to the tenants’ occupation of the premises.
- The claim is proved.
- The best information available to me today is that the firewood had a value of approximately $600.00. Because the landlord is claiming only $300.00, this is the amount I award as full settlement of this claim. The amount ordered is proved.
- Because the landlord has wholly succeeded with their claim, I must reimburse the filing fee.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s3, s39
Key findings
- Dispute theme: carpet cleaning
- Dispute theme: filing fee
Property management
- HIGHLAND REAL ESTATE GROUP LIMITED (applicant)
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5416710?
The tribunal order states: Nico Mirabito, Neena Sore, Cale Westman and Jack Dale must pay Highland
How much money was awarded in case 5416710?
Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Firewood: $300.00 awarded to landlord
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5416710?
The dispute type was not classified.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5416710?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13345836-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.