Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 5108953 — Rent arrears at 42 Calluna Crescent, Totara Heights, Auckland 2105
Decided 7 May 2025 · Published 7 May 2025 · Application 5108953
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
- Property damage
Order
- Temukisa Tupe must pay Ruihua Wang $2,837.00 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $2,200.00 (6070753-022) to Ruihua Wang immediately.
Reasons
- The landlord attended the hearing for herself.
- The tenant did not attend. The hearing proceeded in the tenant’s absence.
- The landlord has applied for rent and water arrears, compensation for missing curtains, reimbursement of the filing fee, refund of the bond following the end of the tenancy.
How much does the tenant owe for rent and water rates?
- The tenancy began on 19 December 2018 and ended on 29 December 2024.
- The landlord provided rent records and water rates invoices which showing the amounts the tenant owes.
- The landlord has proven the water arrears.
- For rent arrears, the landlord claimed $6,039.34. However, the rent summary for the years prior 2024 is insufficient. Also, the landlord’s records indicate the tenant did not incur any arrears in 2023. The arrears prior to 2024 fall between 2019 to 2022. The landlord has not shown she took active steps to recover the arrears before last year. I am not satisfied the landlord reasonably mitigated her loss by pursuing recovery of the rent in a timely way. 1
- I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the tenant incurred the 2024 arrears and that the landlord has mitigated her loss by pursuing the arrears by issuing a 14-day notice and bringing proceedings within a reasonable period.
- The Tribunal therefore orders the 2024 arrears but not the earlier alleged arrears.
Did the tenant return the curtains?
- At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave all chattels provided for their benefit. 2
- At the end of the tenancy, the curtains were missing. The landlord says the tenant told her that she had lost them at the laundromat.
- The replacement curtains cost the landlord $735.00. The Tribunal orders the tenant to reimburse the landlord one-quarter of that sum to account for depreciation (the curtains were new at the beginning of the tenancy, the curtains have an expected life span of about eight years, and the tenancy lasted six years). 1 Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 49. 2 Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 40(1)(e)(v) Filing fee
- The tenant must reimburse the landlord for the filing fee.