What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4605770?

The tribunal order states: No suppression orders apply around publication of this decision.

How much money was awarded in case 4605770?

Break Lease Fee: $850.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4605770?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4605770?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9464246-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4605770?

The tribunal order states: No suppression orders apply around publication of this decision.

How much money was awarded in case 4605770?

Break Lease Fee: $850.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4605770?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4605770?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9464246-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

117 Seaview Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu Tenancy Tribunal Case 4605770 — Tenancy dispute

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117 Seaview Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu Tenancy Tribunal Case 4605770 — Tenancy dispute | TenantCheck

Claims & awards

What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4605770 — net $870.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Break Lease fee	$850.00	Break Lease fee
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$870.44
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$870.44

Claims and awards for application 4605770 — net $870.44 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Break Lease fee

Amount: $850.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Break Lease fee

Filing fee reimbursement

Amount: $20.44
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Filing fee reimbursement

Net award

Landlord $870.44

Total payable by Tenant to Landlord

Landlord $870.44

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Filing Fee

Order

No suppression orders apply around publication of this decision.
Nicola Margaret Lawrence must pay Jean Marilyn Bewick $870.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended this remote teleconference hearing on 27 September 2023.
The parties entered into a tenancy agreement in February 2023.
The tenancy was to have commenced on 1 April 2023.
Having signed the tenancy agreement on 17 February 2023, the tenant says that she contacted the landlord the next day to let the landlord know that she had changed her mind about the tenancy and no longer wished to proceed with the tenancy. As a matter of law, the tenant is not entitled to simply cancel the agreement because they have changed their mind.
The landlord says that they agreed to the surrender of the lease on the basis that the tenant paid the costs associated with reletting the premises. The landlord said that reletting was difficult and that it took three weeks to find new tenants. The landlord said that no rent was received for that three week period, but that they had not sought payment from the tenant for that amount.
Where a tenant surrenders a tenancy and the landlord consents to the surrender, the landlord is entitled to recover from the tenant “any expenses reasonably incurred by the landlord in respect of the termination”s.44A(1) Residential Tenancy Act 1986.
The landlord seeks $862.36 for time, travel, advertising, credit and background checks, attending viewings and administration time. The landlord explained that these were actual costs incurred in obtaining new tenants and not a standard fee.
The tenant submitted that the landlord would have incurred this cost anyway at the end of the fixed term tenancy and that no costs had been incurred by the landlord in in finding her as a tenant. However, this is not a certainty. A landlord can sometimes re-let the premises without the need for advertising and other related costs. That was not the situation here .
The landlord does not need to rely upon the tenancy agreement to seek payment, or partial payment, of this type of cost in a break-lease scenario. The cost is recoverable on a compensation basis. The argument is that if it weren’t for the break lease, the landlord would not have incurred this cost until the end of the tenancy, and therefore the landlord has incurred an “additional” cost as a result of the early termination.
I accept that the sum claimed by the landlord was a direct and necessary consequence of ending the tenancy before the expiry of the fixed term. The sum claimed is not unreasonable.
As Jean Marilyn Bewick has wholly succeeded with the claim I must order the tenant to reimburse the filing fee.
The tenant applied for name suppression. The tenant has not been wholly or substantially successful in this matter and the application is dismissed.

Claims & awards

What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 4605770 — net $870.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Break Lease fee	$850.00	Break Lease fee
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$870.44
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$870.44

Claims and awards for application 4605770 — net $870.44 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Break Lease fee

Amount: $850.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Break Lease fee

Filing fee reimbursement

Amount: $20.44
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Filing fee reimbursement

Net award

Landlord $870.44

Total payable by Tenant to Landlord

Landlord $870.44

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Filing Fee

Order

No suppression orders apply around publication of this decision.
Nicola Margaret Lawrence must pay Jean Marilyn Bewick $870.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Both parties attended this remote teleconference hearing on 27 September 2023.
The parties entered into a tenancy agreement in February 2023.
The tenancy was to have commenced on 1 April 2023.
Having signed the tenancy agreement on 17 February 2023, the tenant says that she contacted the landlord the next day to let the landlord know that she had changed her mind about the tenancy and no longer wished to proceed with the tenancy. As a matter of law, the tenant is not entitled to simply cancel the agreement because they have changed their mind.
The landlord says that they agreed to the surrender of the lease on the basis that the tenant paid the costs associated with reletting the premises. The landlord said that reletting was difficult and that it took three weeks to find new tenants. The landlord said that no rent was received for that three week period, but that they had not sought payment from the tenant for that amount.
Where a tenant surrenders a tenancy and the landlord consents to the surrender, the landlord is entitled to recover from the tenant “any expenses reasonably incurred by the landlord in respect of the termination”s.44A(1) Residential Tenancy Act 1986.
The landlord seeks $862.36 for time, travel, advertising, credit and background checks, attending viewings and administration time. The landlord explained that these were actual costs incurred in obtaining new tenants and not a standard fee.
The tenant submitted that the landlord would have incurred this cost anyway at the end of the fixed term tenancy and that no costs had been incurred by the landlord in in finding her as a tenant. However, this is not a certainty. A landlord can sometimes re-let the premises without the need for advertising and other related costs. That was not the situation here .
The landlord does not need to rely upon the tenancy agreement to seek payment, or partial payment, of this type of cost in a break-lease scenario. The cost is recoverable on a compensation basis. The argument is that if it weren’t for the break lease, the landlord would not have incurred this cost until the end of the tenancy, and therefore the landlord has incurred an “additional” cost as a result of the early termination.
I accept that the sum claimed by the landlord was a direct and necessary consequence of ending the tenancy before the expiry of the fixed term. The sum claimed is not unreasonable.
As Jean Marilyn Bewick has wholly succeeded with the claim I must order the tenant to reimburse the filing fee.
The tenant applied for name suppression. The tenant has not been wholly or substantially successful in this matter and the application is dismissed.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4605770 — Tenancy dispute at 117 Seaview Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4605770 — Tenancy dispute at 117 Seaview Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Frequently asked questions