What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4710470?

The tribunal order states: South Auckland Computers Limited must pay Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and

How much money was awarded in case 4710470?

Property Damage: $1,500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4710470?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4710470?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10735975-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4710470?

The tribunal order states: South Auckland Computers Limited must pay Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and

How much money was awarded in case 4710470?

Property Damage: $1,500.00 awarded to tenant; Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to tenant

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4710470?

The primary dispute was Exemplary damages.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4710470?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10735975-Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Unit/Flat 4, 8 Hooker Place, Papatoetoe, Auckland 2025 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4710470 — Exemplary damages

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Unit/Flat 4, 8 Hooker Place, Papatoetoe, Auckland 2025 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4710470 — Exemplary damages | 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 4710470 — net $3,480.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023	$1,960.00	Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023
Exemplary damages: for non lodgment of bond	$1,500.00	for non lodgment of bond
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$3,480.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$3,480.44

Claims and awards for application 4710470 — net $3,480.44 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023

Amount: $1,960.00
Awarded to: Tenant
Reason: Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023

Exemplary damages: for non lodgment of bond

Amount: $1,500.00
Awarded to: Tenant
Reason: for non lodgment of bond

Filing fee reimbursement

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

Net award

Tenant $3,480.44

Total payable by Landlord to Tenant

Tenant $3,480.44

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Exemplary damages Filing Fee

Order

South Auckland Computers Limited must pay Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and Harpreet Kaur $3,480.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Only the tenants attended the hearing.
The brief tenancy commenced on 19 August 2023 and ended on 22 September 2023.
Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and Harpreet Kaur paid a bond of $1,960.00 to the landlord’s agent on 30 July 2023; the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time. To date, no bond has been lodged.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
I find the landlord has committed an unlawful act. The owner/landlord of the premises as shown on the certificate of title of the premises is South Auckland Computers Limited who has since been served with formal notice of today’s proceedings. They did not appear.
Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interests of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
In this case, neither the landlord nor the landlord’s agent attended the hearing to provide an explanation for the non-lodgement of the bond.
I find that exemplary damages on the highest end of the scale is appropriate alongside the order for the return of he tenant’s bond.
At the end of the tenancy, the tenant had no recourse against the previously unknown landlord who has clearly refused to return the bond. The tenant was left at the mercy of the landlord. It was primarily for this reason that all bonds must be lodged at the Bond Centre; it is in order to prevent abuse of tenants' money by irresponsible landlords.
As no reason has been provided as to why the bond had not been lodged nor returned at the end of the tenancy, the failure to do so borderlines on contumelious default in relation to obligations which must be adhered to by all landlords pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Because the tenants have wholly succeeded with the claim, I must also reimburse the filing fee.

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 4710470 — net $3,480.44 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Tenant	Reason
Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023	$1,960.00	Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023
Exemplary damages: for non lodgment of bond	$1,500.00	for non lodgment of bond
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$3,480.44
Total payable by Landlord to Tenant	$3,480.44

Claims and awards for application 4710470 — net $3,480.44 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023

Amount: $1,960.00
Awarded to: Tenant
Reason: Refund of bond paid to landlord's agent on 30 July 2023

Exemplary damages: for non lodgment of bond

Amount: $1,500.00
Awarded to: Tenant
Reason: for non lodgment of bond

Filing fee reimbursement

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

Net award

Tenant $3,480.44

Total payable by Landlord to Tenant

Tenant $3,480.44

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Exemplary damages Filing Fee

Order

South Auckland Computers Limited must pay Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and Harpreet Kaur $3,480.44 immediately, calculated as shown in table below:

Reasons

Only the tenants attended the hearing.
The brief tenancy commenced on 19 August 2023 and ended on 22 September 2023.
Gurpreet Singh Gahunia and Harpreet Kaur paid a bond of $1,960.00 to the landlord’s agent on 30 July 2023; the landlord has not lodged the bond with the Bond Centre within the required time. To date, no bond has been lodged.
A landlord must send any bond payment to the Bond Centre within 23 working days after the payment is received. See section 19(1) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Breaching this obligation is an unlawful act for which the Tribunal may award exemplary damages up to a maximum of $1,500.00. See section 19(2) and Schedule 1A Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
I find the landlord has committed an unlawful act. The owner/landlord of the premises as shown on the certificate of title of the premises is South Auckland Computers Limited who has since been served with formal notice of today’s proceedings. They did not appear.
Where a party has committed an unlawful act intentionally, the Tribunal may award exemplary damages where it is satisfied it would be just to do so, having regard to the party’s intent, the effect of the unlawful act, the interests of the other party, and the public interest. See section 109(3) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
In this case, neither the landlord nor the landlord’s agent attended the hearing to provide an explanation for the non-lodgement of the bond.
I find that exemplary damages on the highest end of the scale is appropriate alongside the order for the return of he tenant’s bond.
At the end of the tenancy, the tenant had no recourse against the previously unknown landlord who has clearly refused to return the bond. The tenant was left at the mercy of the landlord. It was primarily for this reason that all bonds must be lodged at the Bond Centre; it is in order to prevent abuse of tenants' money by irresponsible landlords.
As no reason has been provided as to why the bond had not been lodged nor returned at the end of the tenancy, the failure to do so borderlines on contumelious default in relation to obligations which must be adhered to by all landlords pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Because the tenants have wholly succeeded with the claim, I must also reimburse the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4710470 — Exemplary damages at Unit/Flat 4, 8 Hooker Place, Papatoetoe, Auckland 2025

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4710470 — Exemplary damages at Unit/Flat 4, 8 Hooker Place, Papatoetoe, Auckland 2025

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