Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5444529 — Rent arrears at 74B Percy Road, Papamoa Beach, Papamoa 3118
Published 23 March 2026 · Application 5444529
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Outcome
Landlord favoured
From published order
Location
Papamoa
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
M Manhire
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $30,028.00
- Bond payment as ordered
- −$5,000.00
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $25,028.00
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent arrears to 23.3.26 | $30,000.00 | The claim for rent arrears is proven. | |
| Filing fee reimbursement | $28.00 | Filing fee reimbursement | |
| Net award | $25,028.00 | ||
| Total payable by Tenant to Landlord | $25,028.00 |
Claims and awards for application 5444529 — net $25,028.00 NZD. Verify on MoJ.
Rent arrears to 23.3.26
- Amount
- $30,000.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- The claim for rent arrears is proven.
Filing fee reimbursement
- Amount
- $28.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Filing fee reimbursement
Net award
Landlord $25,028.00
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord
Landlord $25,028.00
Claim types — money lines allowed on this order
Order
- Alam's Group Limited must pay Glen Slattery $25,028.00 immediately, being rent arrears to 23 March 2026.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $5,000.00 (BN-25078769) to Glen Slattery immediately.
- The application by the tenants is dismissed.
Reasons
- Both parties attended the hearing via remote video conference.
- The tenants have applied for reduction of their fixed term tenancy based on unforeseen circumstances and financial hardship. They also seek the return of their bond.
- The landlord has applied for rent arrears and has provided rent records which prove the amount owing.
- The landlord withdraws the claim in respect of damage to flooring. Background
- The tenancy started on 9 October 2025. The parties agreed to a fixed term tenancy for a period from 9 October 2025 to 9 April 2026. The fixed term tenancy agreement was signed by both parties on 3 October 2025.
- The tenants were employers for kiwifruit workers in Te Puke. The premises consisted of a large 10-bedroom house which was also used as accommodation for their workers.
- Early in the tenancy the tenants say they experienced financial difficulties due to the impact of weather on the kiwifruit industry. They say that by 15 November 2025 everything started closing down.
- The tenants notified the landlord of their financial difficulty seeking early release from their fixed term obligation. The landlord refused to allow early termination, citing their own financial pressures.
- There has been a lot of communication between the parties by text and email. Both have provided documentary evidence and submissions.
- I heard oral evidence from the parties today. I have considered everything placed before the Tribunal even if I do not specifically refer to it.
- I record here that both parties asked the Tribunal to deal with the bond by way of an order now. Issues
- On the tenant’s application the issues to be determined are these: a. Should the tenants be released from their fixed term tenancy?
- On the landlord’s application the issues to be determined are these: a. Has the landlord proved a claim for rent arrears and for outstanding rent as at the hearing date?
- Section 40 RTA sets out a tenant’s responsibilities. Included among them are the responsibility to pay rent when due; to keep the premises reasonably clean and tidy; to leave the premises in a reasonably clean and tidy condition; and to quit the premises when the tenancy ends.
- Section 66 RTA sets out what needs to be established before the Tribunal can reduce the term of a fixed term tenancy.
Should the tenants be released from their fixed term tenancy?
- This is an application by the tenants for a reduction of the term of their tenancy.
- The Tribunal may reduce a fixed term tenancy where: a. there has been an unforeseen change in the applicant’s circumstances; and b. there would be severe hardship to the applicant if the term is not reduced; and c. the applicant’s hardship would be greater than the hardship to the other party if the term is reduced. See section 66(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- A tenancy agreement is a contract between a landlord and a tenant. The Tribunal does not interfere with contracts lightly.
- The tenants say that that they were employers for kiwi fruit workers in Te Puke. The rain had a negative impact on the crop, and by 15 November everything started closing down due to the wet season and insufficient fruit.
- The tenants stated that the rain started early. The orchard was muddy. At the end of the day, they could not provide adequate work for their workers. This was the first season that the tenants have been involved in the kiwifruit industry.
- The tenants believed at the start of the tenancy that the landlord may consider early termination of the fixed term tenancy. The landlord does not accept this.
- The tenants say that they drained their bank accounts paying the rent up until the time they moved out of the address. Their accounts were in overdraft. The tenants says that their bank statements say it all regarding their current financial situation.
- The tenants also now raise maintenance issues with the house.
- The landlord says that because of the breach of the fixed term agreement they are also now experiencing financial difficulties. They say that the tenants should have foreseen that this type of industry is not guaranteed.
- The landlord states that he also had surgery on 24 February 2026 which has increased the financial pressure for them in addition to the outstanding rent. The landlord says that they have listed the premises for rent on at least 4 separate occasions. Analysis
- The tenants claim that their fixed term should be reduced due to circumstances of an unforeseen nature and the severe hardship they will suffer if the fixed term is not reduced.
- Having carefully considered the tenant’s position I am not satisfied that early rain is an unforeseen event which would justify a release of the tenant’s obligations under the fixed term agreement.
- The Tribunal has previously terminated tenancies for unforeseen circumstances including the death of one of the tenants or their immediate family, having to relocate for cancer treatment, a tenant’s parent becoming terminally unwell requiring the tenant to move to look after the family member. It is clear from the pattern of these cases that they arise from circumstances beyond the control of the tenants. They are unfortunate life circumstances that have happened to the tenants not of their own making. Hardship must be severe, that is more than ordinary hardship, rigorous and not negligible and this has not been proven by the tenant.
- It is widely accepted that one cannot control the weather. The possibility of early rain having a negative impact on industries such as fruit picking would always be front of mind and present as a real and appreciable risk. And it is a known risk. The tenants should have been aware of this possibility at the time they decided to enter into a fixed term agreement with the landlord.
- The fact remains that this was a fixed term tenancy which neither party is entitled to terminate unless by mutual consent or by order of the Tribunal. The landlord is under no obligation to consent and there are no provisions in the RTA requiring the landlord to respond to a request for termination in a specific timeframe.
- I am satisfied on the evidence that the landlord acted in a reasonable timeframe, given the time of year with the upcoming Christmas break.
- I do not find that the maintenance issues identified by the tenants constitute an unforeseen change in their circumstances.
- Without a proven unforeseen change in circumstances, the Tribunal cannot reduce the term of the fixed term tenancy. Nor need it assess the respective hardship of the parties.
- The Tribunal finds that the tenants left this tenancy for their own reasons, having earlier signalled a desire for the tenancy to end earlier. The tenants have now seized on what they say are maintenance deficiencies which I have noted to be a way of, in part, justifying their decision to leave. The landlord made them aware that the remain liable for rent.
- The tenant request for a reduction of the fixed term is therefore dismissed. Has the landlord proved a claim for rent arrears and for outstanding rent as at the hearing date?
- It follows from my decision not to reduce the term of the tenancy that the tenants remain liable for rent to the end of the tenancy. In other words, the tenancy remains live, even though the tenants have abandoned the tenancy. I find the amount of rent to 23 March 2026 proved by the production of rent records not challenged by the tenant as to quantum.
- I have made the rent arrears order to 23 March 2026 given the possibility that another tenancy could be in place in the coming days.
- The claim for rent arrears is proven.
- Because Glen Slattery has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.
- The tenants applied for name suppression. Their application has been unsuccessful and therefore I do not make such an order.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s12, s26, s40, s66, s66(1)
Key findings
- Dispute theme: rent arrears
Property management
- ALAM'S GROUP LIMITED (respondent)
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5444529?
The tribunal order states: Alam's Group Limited must pay Glen Slattery $25,028.00 immediately, being
How much money was awarded in case 5444529?
Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $30,000.00 awarded to landlord
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5444529?
The primary dispute was Rent arrears.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5444529?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13329484-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.