Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 9058704 — Tenancy dispute in Sockburn, Christchurch
Decided 4 Feb 2025 · Published 4 Feb 2025 · Application 9058704
Landlord favoured
- Costs
- Unit Titles
Order
- Lucy Maki Watanabe must pay Body Corporate 319115 the sum of $9,133.65 immediately, calculated as follows: DescriptionsApplicant Levies September 2018 to September 2024 $6,138.48 Costs$941.66 Filing Fee$500.00 Interest on unpaid levies$1,553.51 Total award with interest$9,133.65 Total payable by Respondent to Applicant $9,133.65
Reasons
- Mr Frost from Frost Property Management Limited and Mr Hobson attended the hearing for the Body Corporate. Mr Hobson is the chair of the Body Corporate. The unit owner, Ms Watanabe, did not attend.
- The Body Corporate has applied for recovery of unpaid levies, interest, costs and the filing fee from Ms Watanabe.
Does the unit owner owe the levies claimed?
- A unit owner must pay all body corporate levies and outgoings payable for the unit: sections 80(1)(f) and 121(1) of the Unit Titles Act 2010 (the Act).
- The Body Corporate has determined the levies payable, and the unit owner’s share has been calculated according to her utility interest.
- The Body corporate has fixed the due dates for the levies to be paid, and the unit owner has not paid the levies by the due dates: section 124(1) of the Act.
- The Body Corporate has provided records to prove the amount claimed.
Are the unit owners liable for interest?
- If a unit owner fails to pay levies by the due date, interest accrues on the unpaid balance of the levy. A body corporate may charge interest up to 10% per annum: section 128 of the Act.
- The Body Corporate has resolved to charge interest at 10% per annum on unpaid levies. The Body Corporate has proved the amount of interest owing on the unpaid levies from the due dates as set out in the table below: Outstanding levy Due date for payment Interest on levy $475.7031/10/2018$285.42 – 31/10/2018 to 31/10/2024 $436.1031/03/2019$218.05 – 31/03/2019 to 31/03/2024 $525.3530/09/2019$262.70 – 30/09/2019 to 30/09/2024 $577.8931/03/2020$231.16 – 31/03/2020 to 31/03/2024 $346.1830/09/2020$138.48 – 30/09/2020 to 30/09/2024 $525.2531/03/2021$157.59 – 31/03/2021 to 31/03/2024 $398.7530/09/2021$119.64 – 30/09/2021 to 30/09/2024 $477.5031/03/2022$95.50 – 31/03/2022 to 31/03/2024 $449.6830/09/2023$44.97 – 30/09/2023 to 30/09/2024 $512.0031/03/2024No interest claimed $485.6830/09/2024No interest claimed $416.4030/09/2022No interest claimed $512.0031/02/2022No interest claimed $6,138.48$1,553.51
Is the unit owner liable for costs?
- Pursuant to section 124 of the Act the Body Corporate is entitled to recover any reasonable costs incurred by it in collecting unpaid levies as a debt due by the owner to the Body Corporate. In accordance with the judgments in Body Corporate 162791 v Cheah DC Auckland, CIV2014-004-0120, 24 June 2014, Body Corporate 162791 v Gilbert [2015] NZCA 185, and more recently Body Corporate 346799 v Gueirard [2023] NZDC 19645, the Tribunal must order that the reasonable costs incurred by the Body Corporate in recovering the levies, objectively assessed, be paid by a defaulting unit owner.
- The invoices issued by Frost Property Management outlines the work completed and claimed. I am satisfied that the costs claimed, other than those claimed to prepare and attend the EGM in December 2024 and to prepare the minutes of that meeting, are reasonable. I do not consider it reasonable that Ms Watanabe pay the costs claimed in connection with the EGM because this work was required because the resolutions necessary to present and establish the claim were not dealt with at the 2024 AGM. Thus, it was errors on the part of the Body Corporate that necessitated rectification at the EGM.
- The Body Corporate has been fully successful in its claim and is therefore entitled to payment of the filing fee: Section 176(1) of the Act and section 102(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.