What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4746709?

The tribunal order states: Ngarangi Rawiri must pay Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited $2,156.57

How much money was awarded in case 4746709?

Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,536.58 awarded to landlord; Stovetop: $1,151.55 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4746709?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4746709?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9960875-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4746709?

The tribunal order states: Ngarangi Rawiri must pay Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited $2,156.57

How much money was awarded in case 4746709?

Filing Fee: $20.44 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,536.58 awarded to landlord; Stovetop: $1,151.55 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4746709?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Property damage.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4746709?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/9960875-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Unit/Flat 10, 123 Church Street, West End, Palmerston Tenancy Tribunal Case 4746709 — Rent arrears

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Unit/Flat 10, 123 Church Street, West End, Palmerston Tenancy Tribunal Case 4746709 — Rent arrears | 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 4746709 — net $2,156.57 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$1,536.58	Rent arrears
Repairs: stovetop	$1,151.55	Repairs: stovetop
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$2,156.57
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$2,156.57

Claims and awards for application 4746709 — net $2,156.57 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Rent arrears

Amount: $1,536.58
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Rent arrears

Repairs: stovetop

Amount: $1,151.55
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Repairs: stovetop

Filing fee reimbursement

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

Net award

Landlord $2,156.57

Total payable by Tenant to Landlord

Landlord $2,156.57

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Filing Fee Rent arrears Property damage

Order

Ngarangi Rawiri must pay Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited $2,156.57 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $552.00 (5605310-006) to Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited immediately.

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing. There was no appearance for the tenant.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 19 December 2023. The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
The amounts ordered are proved.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

The landlord seeks reimbursement for replacement of a cook top in May 2023.
A landlord must prove that damage to the premises occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA.
Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). See section 49B(3)(a) RTA.
Where the damage is careless and is not covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to four weeks' rent (or market rent). See section 49B(3)(b) RTA. Where insurance money is irrecoverable because of the tenant's conduct, the property is treated as if it is not insured against the damage. See section 49B(3A)(a) RTA.
Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional or which results from any activity at the premises that is an imprisonable offence. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. See section 49B(1) RTA.
Damage is intentional where a person intends to cause damage and takes the necessary steps to achieve that purpose. Damage is also intentional where a person does something, or allows a situation to continue, knowing that damage is a certainty. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.
The damage was caused by cockroaches eating the wiring within the ceramic stove top. The landlord said that there were three cockroach nests in the property and that the tenant had not taken reasonable steps to eliminate the cockroaches. At a routine inspection in June 2023 there were food scraps and a pot of food on the stove had started to grow mould. The tenant had gone away and left the property like that. The premises are not old, having been built in 2021, and cockroaches had not been a problem in other units, although they had started to spread from the tenant’s unit. The landlord produced a photograph showing that the cockroaches had been living behind the fridge.
I have taken into account betterment and depreciation. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations, and should not be better or worse off. I am satisfied that the stovetop would not have needed replacing if it had not been for the cockroaches and that the tenant did not take reasonable steps to address the cockroach issue. I have not made any reduction to the amount claimed on this occasion.
The amounts ordered are proved.
Because Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited has wholly succeeded with the claim I must 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 4746709 — net $2,156.57 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears	$1,536.58	Rent arrears
Repairs: stovetop	$1,151.55	Repairs: stovetop
Filing fee reimbursement	$20.44	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$2,156.57
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$2,156.57

Claims and awards for application 4746709 — net $2,156.57 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Rent arrears

Amount: $1,536.58
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Rent arrears

Repairs: stovetop

Amount: $1,151.55
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Repairs: stovetop

Filing fee reimbursement

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

Net award

Landlord $2,156.57

Total payable by Tenant to Landlord

Landlord $2,156.57

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Filing Fee Rent arrears Property damage

Order

Ngarangi Rawiri must pay Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited $2,156.57 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $552.00 (5605310-006) to Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited immediately.

Reasons

The landlord attended the hearing. There was no appearance for the tenant.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, refund of the bond, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent?

The tenancy ended on 19 December 2023. The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy.
The amounts ordered are proved.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

The landlord seeks reimbursement for replacement of a cook top in May 2023.
A landlord must prove that damage to the premises occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA.
Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). See section 49B(3)(a) RTA.
Where the damage is careless and is not covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to four weeks' rent (or market rent). See section 49B(3)(b) RTA. Where insurance money is irrecoverable because of the tenant's conduct, the property is treated as if it is not insured against the damage. See section 49B(3A)(a) RTA.
Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional or which results from any activity at the premises that is an imprisonable offence. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. See section 49B(1) RTA.
Damage is intentional where a person intends to cause damage and takes the necessary steps to achieve that purpose. Damage is also intentional where a person does something, or allows a situation to continue, knowing that damage is a certainty. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.
The damage was caused by cockroaches eating the wiring within the ceramic stove top. The landlord said that there were three cockroach nests in the property and that the tenant had not taken reasonable steps to eliminate the cockroaches. At a routine inspection in June 2023 there were food scraps and a pot of food on the stove had started to grow mould. The tenant had gone away and left the property like that. The premises are not old, having been built in 2021, and cockroaches had not been a problem in other units, although they had started to spread from the tenant’s unit. The landlord produced a photograph showing that the cockroaches had been living behind the fridge.
I have taken into account betterment and depreciation. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations, and should not be better or worse off. I am satisfied that the stovetop would not have needed replacing if it had not been for the cockroaches and that the tenant did not take reasonable steps to address the cockroach issue. I have not made any reduction to the amount claimed on this occasion.
The amounts ordered are proved.
Because Home In Place (New Zealand) Limited has wholly succeeded with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4746709 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat 10, 123 Church Street, West End, Palmerston

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4746709 — Rent arrears at Unit/Flat 10, 123 Church Street, West End, Palmerston

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent?

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions