What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5090850?

The tribunal order states: James Tuti TeAu and Rachel Jane McMillan must pay Whangarei Real Estate

How much money was awarded in case 5090850?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $639.94 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $270.40 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5090850?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5090850?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11518672-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5090850?

The tribunal order states: James Tuti TeAu and Rachel Jane McMillan must pay Whangarei Real Estate

How much money was awarded in case 5090850?

Filing Fee: $27.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $639.94 awarded to landlord; Water Rates: $270.40 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5090850?

The primary dispute was Rent arrears.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5090850?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11518672-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

25 Tui Crescent, Maunu, Whangarei 0110 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5090850 — Rent arrears

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5090850 — net $937.34 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears – from 22.10.2024 to 28.10.2024	$639.94	Rent arrears – from 22.10.2024 to 28.10.2024
Water rates – final bill	$270.40	Water rates – final bill
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$937.34
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$937.34

Order

James Tuti TeAu and Rachel Jane McMillan must pay Whangarei Real Estate T/A Harcourts Just Rentals As Agents For Betje & Brett Investments Ltd. $937.34 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

Reasons

Mr Withers and Ms Marsh, representing the landlord, and the tenants, Mr TeAu and Ms McMillan, all attended the teleconference hearing.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, outgoings, compensation and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent and water rates?

The parties agreed that the tenancy ended on 28 October 2024. In an earlier Tribunal order dated 21 October 2024 in application #4966533, the Tribunal awarded the landlord rent arrears to 21 October 2024 and refunded the full bond to the landlord. The landlord has sought to enforce this earlier Tribunal order, in the process of which the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 was added to the earlier judgement debt of the Tribunal order in application #4966533. The landlord provided copies of financial assessments for both tenants, which indicated that the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 had been added to the judgement debt. The landlord initially claimed the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 in this application but withdrew this claim after discussion about the bailiff’s fee having already been added to the earlier order/judgement debt in the enforcement process.
The landlord said that, as the tenancy did not end until 28 October 2024, the tenants should pay rent from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024. The landlord provided rent records, showing weekly rent of $640.00. As weekly rent was $640.00, daily rent was $91.42/day. A further 7 days @ $91.41 is payable by the tenants for the period from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024, for a total of $639.94. The tenants agreed this is likely the correct of rent arrears they owe for this period. I award the landlord $639.94 for rent arrears for the period from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024, which was the end of the tenancy.
The landlord claimed $270.40 for the final water bill. The landlord did not provide a copy of the final water invoice, but the tenants agreed to pay the final water invoice of $270.40 and so I award this to the landlord, as the tenants have consented to pay this.

Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord said the tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy. The landlord claimed $636.00 to clean the property at the end of the tenancy.
The statutory requirement is that tenants leave the premises in a reasonably clean and reasonably tidy condition. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 allows for fair wear and tear. A tenant is not required to leave a property spotless or even in a condition where the landlord would be happy to rent it out to a new tenant. What is required is that premises, including the stove and bathroom fittings are cleaned and all personal items removed. A tenant is not required to rigorously clean all walls, ceilings, lightshades, skirtings, behind appliances or the outside of the house. It is common that a landlord wishes to clean to this “extra” level so that they can re-tenant or sell. However, that is a business decision that a landlord makes at their cost.
The tenants said they spent a whole day on cleaning the property before they left and did a ‘deep clean’ of everything, including washing windows, cleaning the benches and toilet and so on. They said they used an industrial vacuum to clean the floors and mopped the ceilings of fly excrement. The tenants said they left the property more than reasonably clean and tidy.
The landlord said they had completed a final inspection at the end of the tenancy but did not provide a copy of any Ingoing Inspection Report or Outgoing Inspection Report, or any photographs of the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy. I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence of their cleaning claim and so dismiss the cleaning claim.
The landlord said the tenants did not return the keys. The landlord claimed $219.89 to rekey the property.
The tenants said they left all the keys to the property on the kitchen bench before they left the property. The landlord said they had not seen any keys when they entered the property the day after the tenants left the property. The landlord did not provide any Outgoing Inspection Report noting the keys were missing or photographs of any keys provided at the start of the tenancy. As both parties disputed whether the keys were left in the property at the end of the tenancy, the landlord needed to provide additional supporting evidence of their claim for the requirement to have the property rekeyed. There was no additional supporting evidence for this provided by the landlord and so I dismiss the claim for the cost of rekeying the property. Filing fee
Because Whangarei Real Estate T/A Harcourts Just Rentals As Agents For Betje & Brett Investments Ltd. has been successful with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee. Suppression
The landlord did not request name suppression. Only one of the tenants requested name suppression. However, there was no evidence as to why the interests of the tenant who requested name suppression outweighed the public interest in publishing their name. As such, I do not grant name suppression to either tenant. See section 95A(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5090850 — net $937.34 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears – from 22.10.2024 to 28.10.2024	$639.94	Rent arrears – from 22.10.2024 to 28.10.2024
Water rates – final bill	$270.40	Water rates – final bill
Filing fee reimbursement	$27.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$937.34
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$937.34

Order

James Tuti TeAu and Rachel Jane McMillan must pay Whangarei Real Estate T/A Harcourts Just Rentals As Agents For Betje & Brett Investments Ltd. $937.34 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.

Reasons

Mr Withers and Ms Marsh, representing the landlord, and the tenants, Mr TeAu and Ms McMillan, all attended the teleconference hearing.
The landlord has applied for rent arrears, outgoings, compensation and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.

How much is owed for rent and water rates?

The parties agreed that the tenancy ended on 28 October 2024. In an earlier Tribunal order dated 21 October 2024 in application #4966533, the Tribunal awarded the landlord rent arrears to 21 October 2024 and refunded the full bond to the landlord. The landlord has sought to enforce this earlier Tribunal order, in the process of which the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 was added to the earlier judgement debt of the Tribunal order in application #4966533. The landlord provided copies of financial assessments for both tenants, which indicated that the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 had been added to the judgement debt. The landlord initially claimed the bailiff’s cost of $258.00 in this application but withdrew this claim after discussion about the bailiff’s fee having already been added to the earlier order/judgement debt in the enforcement process.
The landlord said that, as the tenancy did not end until 28 October 2024, the tenants should pay rent from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024. The landlord provided rent records, showing weekly rent of $640.00. As weekly rent was $640.00, daily rent was $91.42/day. A further 7 days @ $91.41 is payable by the tenants for the period from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024, for a total of $639.94. The tenants agreed this is likely the correct of rent arrears they owe for this period. I award the landlord $639.94 for rent arrears for the period from 22 October 2024 to 28 October 2024, which was the end of the tenancy.
The landlord claimed $270.40 for the final water bill. The landlord did not provide a copy of the final water invoice, but the tenants agreed to pay the final water invoice of $270.40 and so I award this to the landlord, as the tenants have consented to pay this.

Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?

At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all chattels provided for their benefit. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
The landlord said the tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy. The landlord claimed $636.00 to clean the property at the end of the tenancy.
The statutory requirement is that tenants leave the premises in a reasonably clean and reasonably tidy condition. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 allows for fair wear and tear. A tenant is not required to leave a property spotless or even in a condition where the landlord would be happy to rent it out to a new tenant. What is required is that premises, including the stove and bathroom fittings are cleaned and all personal items removed. A tenant is not required to rigorously clean all walls, ceilings, lightshades, skirtings, behind appliances or the outside of the house. It is common that a landlord wishes to clean to this “extra” level so that they can re-tenant or sell. However, that is a business decision that a landlord makes at their cost.
The tenants said they spent a whole day on cleaning the property before they left and did a ‘deep clean’ of everything, including washing windows, cleaning the benches and toilet and so on. They said they used an industrial vacuum to clean the floors and mopped the ceilings of fly excrement. The tenants said they left the property more than reasonably clean and tidy.
The landlord said they had completed a final inspection at the end of the tenancy but did not provide a copy of any Ingoing Inspection Report or Outgoing Inspection Report, or any photographs of the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy. I find the landlord has provided insufficient evidence of their cleaning claim and so dismiss the cleaning claim.
The landlord said the tenants did not return the keys. The landlord claimed $219.89 to rekey the property.
The tenants said they left all the keys to the property on the kitchen bench before they left the property. The landlord said they had not seen any keys when they entered the property the day after the tenants left the property. The landlord did not provide any Outgoing Inspection Report noting the keys were missing or photographs of any keys provided at the start of the tenancy. As both parties disputed whether the keys were left in the property at the end of the tenancy, the landlord needed to provide additional supporting evidence of their claim for the requirement to have the property rekeyed. There was no additional supporting evidence for this provided by the landlord and so I dismiss the claim for the cost of rekeying the property. Filing fee
Because Whangarei Real Estate T/A Harcourts Just Rentals As Agents For Betje & Brett Investments Ltd. has been successful with the claim I must reimburse the filing fee. Suppression
The landlord did not request name suppression. Only one of the tenants requested name suppression. However, there was no evidence as to why the interests of the tenant who requested name suppression outweighed the public interest in publishing their name. As such, I do not grant name suppression to either tenant. See section 95A(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5090850 — Rent arrears at 25 Tui Crescent, Maunu, Whangarei 0110

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5090850 — Rent arrears at 25 Tui Crescent, Maunu, Whangarei 0110

At a glance

Award balance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

How much is owed for rent and water rates?

Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?

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 and water rates?

Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?

Topics & place

Residential Tenancies Act sections

Key findings

Property management

Frequently asked questions