What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4531403?

The tribunal order states: Ashton Nz Property Limited As Agent For Leo Shen must pay DONNA

How much money was awarded in case 4531403?

Compensation: Power Payment: $200.00 awarded to tenant; Cleaning: $200.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4531403?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4531403?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9574239-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4531403?

The tribunal order states: Ashton Nz Property Limited As Agent For Leo Shen must pay DONNA

How much money was awarded in case 4531403?

Compensation: Power Payment: $200.00 awarded to tenant; Cleaning: $200.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4531403?

The primary dispute was Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4531403?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9574239-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Unit/Flat 3, 310 Dairy Flat Highway, Albany Heights, RD 3, Tenancy Tribunal Case 4531403 — Cleanliness

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4531403 — net $420.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: Power payment	$200.00	Power payment
Compensation: Sewage cleaning March 2023	$200.00	Sewage cleaning March 2023
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$420.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$420.44

Order

Ashton Nz Property Limited As Agent For Leo Shen must pay DONNA ELIZABETH JAMES $420.44 immediately as outlined in the table below.
All other claims for compensation are dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. Ms James, the tenant with her support person. Ms Ren the agent and Mr Shen, the landlord.
Ms James is seeking compensation of all (or a portion of, as clarified at the hearing) of her rent paid over the last 4 years, from May 2019 to May 2023) due to: (a)the premises not listed as a house. (b)she was given retaliatory notice to vacate the premises for renovation which has not occurred yet. (c)there was sewerage that backflowed into her bathroom, especially in March when she had to clean it up. (d)there were gaps in the window in her bedroom that was not fixed and pests she had to deal with. (e)there was black mould in the premises.
A further issue came up during the hearing. Ms James said she had to pay for power that she didn’t believe she should as it was power shared with other tenants. Premises not listed as a house
This is a rural property which originally had a house and a shop on the land. It appears a shop was converted into 2 units. In total there were 4 units on the land.
The premises that the tenant lived in had a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and was occupied as a place of residence. I consider this is a dwelling that falls within a residential premises as described under Section 2 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Retaliatory Notice
Ms James says after she complained about the water tanks on the property, she was served with a 90 day notice to vacate for the purpose of extensive renovation. Ms James says this has still not started some 4 months later.
3 units are vacant with one more due to vacate next week.
Ms Ren said the plan was to renovate all the properties together.
However, another unit on the land was found to have a high level of meth reading, so required extensive cleaning (3 times) before work could begin on that and all the other properties on the land. There were also checks done on all the vacant premises which had low readings (below threshold required for cleaning). Ms Ren said they have quotes for the renovation and will be progressing with this, wanting to convert the 2 units into 1 home.
After hearing from both parties, the tenant has failed to satisfy me that the notice to vacate was retaliatory. It is clear from photographs the property needs an upgrade. Repair and Maintain
Under section 45, a landlord must provide the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness and provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.
After hearing from both parties, when there were problems with the tenancy regarding gaps in the window, pests in the property or sewerage overflow, it appears Ms James would promptly inform Mr Shen or Ms Ren and this was dealt with.
At times, Ms James would agree to fix the problem, like filling the window gap in her bedroom or buying pest control products which she would be reimbursed for.
This way to address repair and maintenance issues appeared to suit both the tenant and the landlord. I consider there is no claim for compensation that can be made out or awarded.
In March 2023, it would seem though the backflow of sewerage was addressed by the agent getting a drain unblocker, the bathroom required cleaning up. The tenant said this was a stressful situation. There are emails to suggest there was a failing by the agent with this issue being dealt with. The tenant eventually cleaning the bathroom herself and was credited by the landord $100.00 for this.
The cleanup should have been addressed more carefully and promptly. Any compensation is limited, as at the time it would seem the tenant was happy to accept the amount offered for the cleaning.
However, this is a health issue. I award the tenant $200.00 compensation for the stress of dealing with the blockage and cleanup over a few days during this time.
In terms of the evidence for black mould. The landlord provided a few pre- inspection photos of the premises. The unit was tidied up in October 2018. The end of tenancy inspection photos shows a clean and tidy house bar one window area that shows mildew and mould.
Over the period of 4 years, it is not clear when the mould would have appeared as it was not present in the beginning or end of the tenancy. There was a lack of evidence about this claim and I am not able to consider this part of the claim further. Power Payments
The landlord paid $200.00 a month towards the power as it was a contribution to the water pump that serviced all 4 units. The power meter for this premises was joined with the adjoining premises.
Ms James said she had to pay a half share of the power over $200.00. The landlord said because of her credit rating, Ms James was not able to open her own power account and he was assisting her with the link of the power meter.
This is fine when things are ok but problematic when things go wrong.
Each unit should have their own power meter to provide accurate readings of usage.
Ms James says that the most she paid was $130.00 share over the 4 years. From what I have been provided with, sometimes there was no money owing and other times (over summer a few dollars).
Looking at this as a whole and given the landlord would give credit where credit was due for extra power required (for example to run a dehumidifier) there is no evidence of amounts for the whole period of the tenancy. I consider $200.00 adequate compensation for the power paid by the tenant. Filing Fee
Because DONNA ELIZABETH JAMES has partially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4531403 — net $420.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Compensation: Power payment	$200.00	Power payment
Compensation: Sewage cleaning March 2023	$200.00	Sewage cleaning March 2023
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$420.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$420.44

Order

Ashton Nz Property Limited As Agent For Leo Shen must pay DONNA ELIZABETH JAMES $420.44 immediately as outlined in the table below.
All other claims for compensation are dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing. Ms James, the tenant with her support person. Ms Ren the agent and Mr Shen, the landlord.
Ms James is seeking compensation of all (or a portion of, as clarified at the hearing) of her rent paid over the last 4 years, from May 2019 to May 2023) due to: (a)the premises not listed as a house. (b)she was given retaliatory notice to vacate the premises for renovation which has not occurred yet. (c)there was sewerage that backflowed into her bathroom, especially in March when she had to clean it up. (d)there were gaps in the window in her bedroom that was not fixed and pests she had to deal with. (e)there was black mould in the premises.
A further issue came up during the hearing. Ms James said she had to pay for power that she didn’t believe she should as it was power shared with other tenants. Premises not listed as a house
This is a rural property which originally had a house and a shop on the land. It appears a shop was converted into 2 units. In total there were 4 units on the land.
The premises that the tenant lived in had a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and was occupied as a place of residence. I consider this is a dwelling that falls within a residential premises as described under Section 2 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Retaliatory Notice
Ms James says after she complained about the water tanks on the property, she was served with a 90 day notice to vacate for the purpose of extensive renovation. Ms James says this has still not started some 4 months later.
3 units are vacant with one more due to vacate next week.
Ms Ren said the plan was to renovate all the properties together.
However, another unit on the land was found to have a high level of meth reading, so required extensive cleaning (3 times) before work could begin on that and all the other properties on the land. There were also checks done on all the vacant premises which had low readings (below threshold required for cleaning). Ms Ren said they have quotes for the renovation and will be progressing with this, wanting to convert the 2 units into 1 home.
After hearing from both parties, the tenant has failed to satisfy me that the notice to vacate was retaliatory. It is clear from photographs the property needs an upgrade. Repair and Maintain
Under section 45, a landlord must provide the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness and provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.
After hearing from both parties, when there were problems with the tenancy regarding gaps in the window, pests in the property or sewerage overflow, it appears Ms James would promptly inform Mr Shen or Ms Ren and this was dealt with.
At times, Ms James would agree to fix the problem, like filling the window gap in her bedroom or buying pest control products which she would be reimbursed for.
This way to address repair and maintenance issues appeared to suit both the tenant and the landlord. I consider there is no claim for compensation that can be made out or awarded.
In March 2023, it would seem though the backflow of sewerage was addressed by the agent getting a drain unblocker, the bathroom required cleaning up. The tenant said this was a stressful situation. There are emails to suggest there was a failing by the agent with this issue being dealt with. The tenant eventually cleaning the bathroom herself and was credited by the landord $100.00 for this.
The cleanup should have been addressed more carefully and promptly. Any compensation is limited, as at the time it would seem the tenant was happy to accept the amount offered for the cleaning.
However, this is a health issue. I award the tenant $200.00 compensation for the stress of dealing with the blockage and cleanup over a few days during this time.
In terms of the evidence for black mould. The landlord provided a few pre- inspection photos of the premises. The unit was tidied up in October 2018. The end of tenancy inspection photos shows a clean and tidy house bar one window area that shows mildew and mould.
Over the period of 4 years, it is not clear when the mould would have appeared as it was not present in the beginning or end of the tenancy. There was a lack of evidence about this claim and I am not able to consider this part of the claim further. Power Payments
The landlord paid $200.00 a month towards the power as it was a contribution to the water pump that serviced all 4 units. The power meter for this premises was joined with the adjoining premises.
Ms James said she had to pay a half share of the power over $200.00. The landlord said because of her credit rating, Ms James was not able to open her own power account and he was assisting her with the link of the power meter.
This is fine when things are ok but problematic when things go wrong.
Each unit should have their own power meter to provide accurate readings of usage.
Ms James says that the most she paid was $130.00 share over the 4 years. From what I have been provided with, sometimes there was no money owing and other times (over summer a few dollars).
Looking at this as a whole and given the landlord would give credit where credit was due for extra power required (for example to run a dehumidifier) there is no evidence of amounts for the whole period of the tenancy. I consider $200.00 adequate compensation for the power paid by the tenant. Filing Fee
Because DONNA ELIZABETH JAMES has partially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4531403 — Cleanliness at Unit/Flat 3, 310 Dairy Flat Highway, Albany Heights, RD 3,

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4531403 — Cleanliness at Unit/Flat 3, 310 Dairy Flat Highway, Albany Heights, RD 3,

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions