What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5426433 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5426433?

Break Lease Fee: $840.08 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,465.71 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5426433?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5426433?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13649050-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5426433 about?

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

How much money was awarded in case 5426433?

Break Lease Fee: $840.08 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,465.71 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5426433?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5426433?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13649050-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

53B College Street, Masterton, Masterton 5810 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5426433 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5426433 — net $145.79 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 12 January 2026	$1,465.71	Rent arrears to 12 January 2026
Break lease fee	$840.08	Break lease fee
Net award	$145.79
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$145.79

Order

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 Hamill Realty Limited As Agent For Janine Sim $145.79 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,160.00 to Hamill Realty Limited As Agent For Janine Sim immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. The landlord was represented by Ms Falloon, who appeared by phone.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
The tenants have applied for a release of their bond. They acknowledge that the owe the rent and break lease fee, but want to pay it off over time. They dispute that they are responsible for damage to the heat pump and HRV plate. Rent and break lease fee
The tenants were in a fixed-term tenancy, due to end on 10 August 2026. The parties entered into an agreement to release the tenants from the fixed-term on the basis of a break lease fee of $840.08 and rent payments until a new tenant was found.
The landlord provided a copy of the break-lease agreement and rent records. The tenants accept that they owe the break-lease fee and the rent of $1,465.71.
Those amounts are ordered.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

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. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B 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. See section 49B(1) RTA.
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. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.
The landlord seeks two amounts: a. $148.50 for replacement of a heatpump fin b. $768.00 for replacement of an HRV face plate.
The tenant denies responsibility for the broken fin. They say they noticed it about three or four months before the end of the tenancy but do not know how it happened. Ms Falloon says that the tenant had told her that it had happened when she was cleaning the heatpump, but the tenant denies this. They say that it is simply fair wear and tear.
The landlord produced no photographs, or a report from the tradesperson, which might have assisted in deciding how the damage occurred. The tenant denies any action on their part.
The landlord has not provided sufficient evidence for me to find on the balance of probabilities that the damage was caused by the tenant’s careless or intentional action. Accordingly, I make no order for payment of the heatpump fin.
During the tenancy, the HRV system was beeping. The tenant unscrewed the face plate and unplugged the system and then put the plate back on. He sent a text to the landlord advising them of this.
After the tenancy, the landlord found that the face plate was broken and needed replacing. They think it must have happened when the tenant removed it.
The tenant says that he is a tradesperson and he knows how to unscrew a plate and replace it. He denies that he caused any damage.
Similarly there is no photograph or report from the technician who replaced the faceplate. There is simply an invoice for the replacement of the keypad, which I understand to be the faceplate. There is no record of why it needed to be replaced or a statement that it was damaged or in what way it was damaged.
The landlord has not established on the balance of probabilities that the keypad needed replacement because of the careless or intentional actions of the tenant. Accordingly, this claim is dismissed.
The tenants have successfully defended the claims in relation to the heat pump and the HRV system. Accordingly there is an order for non-publication of their names, and no order for reimbursement of the landlord’s filing fee.
It was explained to the tenants that because the rent arrears and break-lease exceed the amount of the bond, I must release the bond to the landlord. That means that the tenants should have signed the bond over to the landlord and so there is therefore no order for the landlord to reimburse them for their payment of the filing fee. That leaves a balance of $145.79 which the tenants will repay at the rate of $20.00 per week.
The landlord did not seek name suppression.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5426433 — net $145.79 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 12 January 2026	$1,465.71	Rent arrears to 12 January 2026
Break lease fee	$840.08	Break lease fee
Net award	$145.79
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$145.79

Order

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 Hamill Realty Limited As Agent For Janine Sim $145.79 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,160.00 to Hamill Realty Limited As Agent For Janine Sim immediately.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. The landlord was represented by Ms Falloon, who appeared by phone.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
The tenants have applied for a release of their bond. They acknowledge that the owe the rent and break lease fee, but want to pay it off over time. They dispute that they are responsible for damage to the heat pump and HRV plate. Rent and break lease fee
The tenants were in a fixed-term tenancy, due to end on 10 August 2026. The parties entered into an agreement to release the tenants from the fixed-term on the basis of a break lease fee of $840.08 and rent payments until a new tenant was found.
The landlord provided a copy of the break-lease agreement and rent records. The tenants accept that they owe the break-lease fee and the rent of $1,465.71.
Those amounts are ordered.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

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. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B 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. See section 49B(1) RTA.
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. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.
The landlord seeks two amounts: a. $148.50 for replacement of a heatpump fin b. $768.00 for replacement of an HRV face plate.
The tenant denies responsibility for the broken fin. They say they noticed it about three or four months before the end of the tenancy but do not know how it happened. Ms Falloon says that the tenant had told her that it had happened when she was cleaning the heatpump, but the tenant denies this. They say that it is simply fair wear and tear.
The landlord produced no photographs, or a report from the tradesperson, which might have assisted in deciding how the damage occurred. The tenant denies any action on their part.
The landlord has not provided sufficient evidence for me to find on the balance of probabilities that the damage was caused by the tenant’s careless or intentional action. Accordingly, I make no order for payment of the heatpump fin.
During the tenancy, the HRV system was beeping. The tenant unscrewed the face plate and unplugged the system and then put the plate back on. He sent a text to the landlord advising them of this.
After the tenancy, the landlord found that the face plate was broken and needed replacing. They think it must have happened when the tenant removed it.
The tenant says that he is a tradesperson and he knows how to unscrew a plate and replace it. He denies that he caused any damage.
Similarly there is no photograph or report from the technician who replaced the faceplate. There is simply an invoice for the replacement of the keypad, which I understand to be the faceplate. There is no record of why it needed to be replaced or a statement that it was damaged or in what way it was damaged.
The landlord has not established on the balance of probabilities that the keypad needed replacement because of the careless or intentional actions of the tenant. Accordingly, this claim is dismissed.
The tenants have successfully defended the claims in relation to the heat pump and the HRV system. Accordingly there is an order for non-publication of their names, and no order for reimbursement of the landlord’s filing fee.
It was explained to the tenants that because the rent arrears and break-lease exceed the amount of the bond, I must release the bond to the landlord. That means that the tenants should have signed the bond over to the landlord and so there is therefore no order for the landlord to reimburse them for their payment of the filing fee. That leaves a balance of $145.79 which the tenants will repay at the rate of $20.00 per week.
The landlord did not seek name suppression.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5426433 — Rent arrears at 53B College Street, Masterton, Masterton 5810

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5426433 — Rent arrears at 53B College Street, Masterton, Masterton 5810

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Frequently asked questions