Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 4738671 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat 308, 9 East Street, Papakura, Papakura 2110
Decided 15 Jan 2024 · Published 15 Jan 2024 · Application 4738671
Mixed / unclear
- Rent arrears
- 14-day notice
Order
- The tenancy of Fitiola Naono Lloydena Zion Hekau at Unit/Flat 308, 9 East Street, Papakura, Papakura 2110 is terminated and possession granted to Reforma P.M. Limited As Agent For Peter & Trish Renall as at 11:59pm on Monday 8 January 2024.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing. The tenant did not.
- I am satisfied that the tenant had received proper notice of the hearing time, date and place and chose not to attend.
- The tenant applied for an adjournment at 9:58am today, which I received at 11:38am, stating she had a specialist appointment that could not be moved. She provided a text message reminder confirming an appointment for a scan at 12noon. This reminder was dated 5 January 2024. The appointment she was being remined of would have been made well prior to 5 January 2024 and the tenant could have provided the Tribunal with more notice of her request for an adjournment. The tenant had known about the hearing date and time since 11 December 2023, which gave her plenty of time to reschedule the scan or seek a different date/time for the scan.
- The landlord confirmed that there is a pattern of the tenant making appointments and not being available for inspections, mediation and other meetings set up with her to discuss her repeated breaches of the tenancy agreement and her statutory obligations as a tenant. The landlord claimed it was not surprised to receive the late application for adjournment as this is in keeping with the pattern of conduct it has experience with the tenant.
- After receiving the application for adjournment, the landlord made contact with the tenant and she agreed to make herself available for the hearing today as the landlord made it clear to her that based on the recidivist nature of her pattern of repeatedly falling into rent arrears and then failing to remedy these breaches, it was seeking termination of her tenancy at today’s hearing.
- I tried to contact the tenant on all three numbers she provided to the landlord and left a message on one of those numbers. There was no response.
- The landlord has applied for termination of the tenancy, rent to 10 January 2024 and reimbursement of the filing fee.
Should the tenancy be terminated?
- The Tribunal shall terminate a tenancy where: a. on 3 separate occasions within a 90-day period the rent has been at least 5 working days in arrear; and b. on each occasion the landlord gave the tenant written notice advising the tenant of the arrear, the dates for which rent was overdue, the amount or amounts of overdue rent, and the tenant’s right to make an application to the Tribunal challenging the notice; and c. each notice stated how many other notices (if any) the landlord had given the tenant under this paragraph in relation to the same tenancy and 90-day period; and d. the landlord’s application to the Tribunal was made within 28 days after the landlord gave the third notice. See section 55(1)(aa) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
- In this case I find the landlord has served 3 notices on the tenant as required in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and the application to the Tribunal was made within 28 days of the date of the third notice. The notices were issued on 30 October 2023, 6 November 2023 and 13 November 2023 and the application was made to the Tribunal on 13 November 2023.
- The grounds have been established and the tenancy must be terminated. Rent records have been provided which prove the amount of over paid rent owing to the tenant at the end of the tenancy. As the tenant made a rent arrears payment of $3,548.00 late on 7 January 2024, which cleared this morning just prior to the hearing, the tenant’s rent was in $808.00 as at 8 January 2024. This overpayment amount will be used by the landlord to offset any outstanding water rates arrears or other amounts owing to the landlord at the end of the tenancy. DescriptionLandlordTenant Rent owing to 10/01/2024 less rent overpayment of $808.00 made on 07/01/2024 $164.29$808.00 Filing fee reimbursement$20.44 Total award$184.73$623.27 Total rent credit owing to tenant as at 11/01/2024 $623.27
- The landlord has applied for possession of the premises following the termination of the tenancy. It will not be able to get an eviction warrant for 48 hours, so the earliest a court bailiff can then return possession of the property to the landlord is 10 January 2024. Therefore, rent will be charged to 10 January 2024. This has reduced the tenant’s rent credit by $164.29.
- The landlord claims that the tenant is also in water rates arrears from May 2023 to the end of the tenancy and it intends to put this rent credit towards that debt. Therefore, the rent credit is not immediately payable by the landlord to the tenant. Once the final water rates arrears at the end of the tenancy have been confirmed, the landlord will reimburse the tenant for any residual rent credit.
- Because Reforma P.M. Limited As Agent For Peter & Trish Renall has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.