What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4983928?

The tribunal order states: Chao Sun must pay Taylor Property Services Limited (as agent for Gang Chen)

How much money was awarded in case 4983928?

Cleaning: $920.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $5,550.00 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $70.98 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4983928?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4983928?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10932504-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 4983928?

The tribunal order states: Chao Sun must pay Taylor Property Services Limited (as agent for Gang Chen)

How much money was awarded in case 4983928?

Cleaning: $920.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $300.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $5,550.00 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $70.98 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 4983928?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 4983928?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/10932504-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

28C Tomo Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4983928 — Rent arrears

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28C Tomo Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600 Tenancy Tribunal Case 4983928 — 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 4983928 — net $5,427.98 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 5 October 2024	$5,550.00	4. The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October
Water rates: July 2024	$70.98	Water rates: July 2024
Lawns and Garden work	$300.00	Lawns and Garden work
Cleaning	$920.00	Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,427.98
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$5,427.98

Claims and awards for application 4983928 — net $5,427.98 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Rent arrears to 5 October 2024

Amount: $5,550.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: 4. The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October

Water rates: July 2024

Amount: $70.98
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Water rates: July 2024

Lawns and Garden work

Amount: $300.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Lawns and Garden work

Cleaning

Amount: $920.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Cleaning

Filing fee reimbursement

Amount: $27.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Filing fee reimbursement

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Cleanliness Filing Fee Lawns And Garden Work Rent arrears Water Rates

Order

Chao Sun must pay Taylor Property Services Limited (as agent for Gang Chen) $5,427.98 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,440.00 (5638391-002) to Taylor Property Services Limited immediately.
Taylor Property Services Limited must take any of the tenant’s personal documents that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them. The landlord may dispose of the other goods left at the premises by the tenant as the landlord sees fit.

Reasons

The application sought termination of the tenancy, rent arrears, cleaning, and garden tidy up costs.
The hearing took place by phone on 9 October 2024. Mr Hu represented the landlord. Mr Hu said that: a. When the rent arrears began to accrue he was able to contact the tenant via a messaging app. The tenant told him that he was in China and had no plans to return to New Zealand at this time. He said that he had left the tenancy with his flatmates. He asked Mr Hu to check the property. b. Mr Hu found that the flatmates had left and the property was vacant. The premises were not left in a reasonably clean and tidy condition.
The fixed term tenancy ended on 7 October 2024.
The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October 2024.
Water rates are owed for the month of July 2024.
Mr Hu arranged for cleaning and garden tidy up work in late September. He provided copies of invoices for this work. Mr Hu also provided photographs and short videos showing the condition of the premises.
The photographs and video show that cleaning and gardening work was justified. The premises were not reasonably clean and tidy.
The invoice for gardening work includes tasks that beyond the scope of a tenant’s responsibility, including “remove and stump poison all ginger behind house”. I will award $300.00 for lawnmowing and gardening.
Mr Hu said that there are a few tenant’s belongings left at the premises, currently stored in a shed. Mr Hu has given the tenant a reasonable opportunity to arrange for those items to be collected. The tenant has stopped replying to Mr Hu. There is no commercial value in what has been left behind. Mr Hu may dispose of all remaining belongings as he sees fit. If there are any personal documents, Mr Hu must take those items to the nearest police station and obtain a receipt for them.
Mr Hu also sought exemplary damages for abandonment.
Exemplary damages are punitive – their purpose is to punish and deter intentional breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
My finding is that it is not appropriate to award exemplary damages in this instance, having regard to the following factors: a. I have no information about why Mr Sun travelled to China. b. When Mr Sun left he reasonably assumed that his flatmates would continue with the tenancy and pay rent to the landlord. c. When Mr Hu informed him about what was happening, he co-operated with Mr Hu. d. The landlord has been adequately compensated by the awards for rent arrears, cleaning, and gardening.
The landlord has been successful in this application and I must also award the landlord the filing fee of $27.00.
The bond will be released to the landlord.

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 4983928 — net $5,427.98 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 5 October 2024	$5,550.00	4. The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October
Water rates: July 2024	$70.98	Water rates: July 2024
Lawns and Garden work	$300.00	Lawns and Garden work
Cleaning	$920.00	Cleaning
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$5,427.98
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$5,427.98

Claims and awards for application 4983928 — net $5,427.98 NZD. Verify on MoJ.

Rent arrears to 5 October 2024

Amount: $5,550.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: 4. The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October

Water rates: July 2024

Amount: $70.98
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Water rates: July 2024

Lawns and Garden work

Amount: $300.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Lawns and Garden work

Cleaning

Amount: $920.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Cleaning

Filing fee reimbursement

Amount: $27.00
Awarded to: Landlord
Reason: Filing fee reimbursement

Claim types — money lines allowed on this order

Cleanliness Filing Fee Lawns And Garden Work Rent arrears Water Rates

Order

Chao Sun must pay Taylor Property Services Limited (as agent for Gang Chen) $5,427.98 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,440.00 (5638391-002) to Taylor Property Services Limited immediately.
Taylor Property Services Limited must take any of the tenant’s personal documents that have been left at the premises to the nearest Police station and obtain a receipt for them. The landlord may dispose of the other goods left at the premises by the tenant as the landlord sees fit.

Reasons

The application sought termination of the tenancy, rent arrears, cleaning, and garden tidy up costs.
The hearing took place by phone on 9 October 2024. Mr Hu represented the landlord. Mr Hu said that: a. When the rent arrears began to accrue he was able to contact the tenant via a messaging app. The tenant told him that he was in China and had no plans to return to New Zealand at this time. He said that he had left the tenancy with his flatmates. He asked Mr Hu to check the property. b. Mr Hu found that the flatmates had left and the property was vacant. The premises were not left in a reasonably clean and tidy condition.
The fixed term tenancy ended on 7 October 2024.
The landlord’s rent record establishes rent arrears of $5,550.00 to 5 October 2024.
Water rates are owed for the month of July 2024.
Mr Hu arranged for cleaning and garden tidy up work in late September. He provided copies of invoices for this work. Mr Hu also provided photographs and short videos showing the condition of the premises.
The photographs and video show that cleaning and gardening work was justified. The premises were not reasonably clean and tidy.
The invoice for gardening work includes tasks that beyond the scope of a tenant’s responsibility, including “remove and stump poison all ginger behind house”. I will award $300.00 for lawnmowing and gardening.
Mr Hu said that there are a few tenant’s belongings left at the premises, currently stored in a shed. Mr Hu has given the tenant a reasonable opportunity to arrange for those items to be collected. The tenant has stopped replying to Mr Hu. There is no commercial value in what has been left behind. Mr Hu may dispose of all remaining belongings as he sees fit. If there are any personal documents, Mr Hu must take those items to the nearest police station and obtain a receipt for them.
Mr Hu also sought exemplary damages for abandonment.
Exemplary damages are punitive – their purpose is to punish and deter intentional breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
My finding is that it is not appropriate to award exemplary damages in this instance, having regard to the following factors: a. I have no information about why Mr Sun travelled to China. b. When Mr Sun left he reasonably assumed that his flatmates would continue with the tenancy and pay rent to the landlord. c. When Mr Hu informed him about what was happening, he co-operated with Mr Hu. d. The landlord has been adequately compensated by the awards for rent arrears, cleaning, and gardening.
The landlord has been successful in this application and I must also award the landlord the filing fee of $27.00.
The bond will be released to the landlord.

Tenancy Tribunal case 4983928 — Rent arrears at 28C Tomo Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 4983928 — Rent arrears at 28C Tomo Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions