What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5027840?

The tribunal order states: I declare that the tenant owes the landlord 2 days of rent and not 3 days.

How much money was awarded in case 5027840?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5027840?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5027840?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11389537-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5027840?

The tribunal order states: I declare that the tenant owes the landlord 2 days of rent and not 3 days.

How much money was awarded in case 5027840?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5027840?

The dispute type was not classified.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5027840?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11389537-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

Room Suite 20, 8 Dock Street, Auckland Central, Auckland Tenancy Tribunal Case 5027840 — Tenancy dispute

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Order

I declare that the tenant owes the landlord 2 days of rent and not 3 days.

Bayleys Real Estate Limited As Agent For John & Yvonne Bannerman must pay Christopher Thomas Adonis and Phallon Pearl Adonis $27.00 immediately, for reimbursement of the filing fee. This can be paid by way of a rent credit.

Reasons

Both parties attended the teleconference hearing on 3 rd February 2025.

The parties had a dispute as to whether their fixed-term tenancy was for 52 weeks and 3 days or 52 weeks and 2 days.

The tenancy agreement stated the start date of the tenancy as “Friday 1 st of September 2023” and the end date of “Sunday 1 st of September 2024”.

If that was all it had stated, the period of the tenancy would have been 52 weeks and 3 days.

However, the tenancy agreement went on and stated that “the tenancy commences at mid-day and will terminate at mid-day”.

The landlord explained that this was not dissimilar to hotels or other short-term accommodations where check-ins take place in the afternoon and for the check- outs to be in the morning.

The usual practices of hotels or other short-term accommodations have no application to tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (“RTA”). They are completely different in nature and are specifically excluded under section 5(1)(k).

The RTA is silent on what time tenancies start on the first day of the tenancy and what time they end on their last day. Usually, rent is calculated to include the start date and the end date of the tenancy. As such, the premises should be available for the tenant to occupy from midnight to midnight. This is in accordance with section 35 of the Interpretation Act 1999.

There is nothing prohibiting the parties to specify mid-day as the start and end times for the tenancy. However, the landlord cannot charge rent for the period of time when the tenant is not able to use the premises on those days. In this case, the tenant is effectively being charged for rent from 12:00 am to 12 noon on 1 st September 2023 and from 12 noon to 11:59 pm on Sunday 1 st September 2024 when the tenant is unable to use the premises.

Although the parties have signed the tenancy agreement, this is the tenant purporting to waive their right to occupy the premises for 12 hours before mid- day on the first day of the tenancy and for the 12 hours after mid-day on the last day of the tenancy. The tenant cannot agree to waive the tenant’s right to occupy the premises under section 11(3) RTA.

As the tenant cannot waive their right to occupy the premises and still be charged rent for those periods, I find that the tenant is only liable to pay rent for 52 weeks and 2 days.

As this is what the tenant was claiming as being the correct interpretation of the tenancy agreement, the landlord must reimburse the tenant’s filing fee.

Order