Tenantcheck Insights · Case study
Tenancy Tribunal case 5397869 — Rent arrears at 21 Dalwood Crescent, Rolleston, Rolleston 7614
Published 27 February 2026 · Application 5397869
Landlord favoured
- Rent arrears
- Cleanliness
At a glance
Key facts from the published tribunal order.
Outcome
Landlord favoured
From published order
Location
Rolleston
Tribunal region
Adjudicator
S Steele
Dispute themes
Award balance
Gross awards, any bond applied per the order, and the remaining balance payable.
- Gross award
- $3,082.99
- Bond payment as ordered
- −$1,920.00
- Total balance for Tenant to pay Landlord
- $1,162.99
Claims & awards
What this tenancy cost at tribunal — claim, category, amount, and party awarded, with reconciled net total.
| Claim | Landlord | Tenant | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent arrears as agreed | $1,280.00 | Rent arrears as agreed | |
| Carpet Cleaning: rug doctor hire | $67.99 | Carpet Cleaning: rug doctor hire | |
| Carpet Cleaning: labour 4 hours | $120.00 | Carpet Cleaning: labour 4 hours | |
| Cleaning: including materials and 30 hours | $900.00 | Cleaning: including materials and 30 hours | |
| Cleaning: Dry clean curtain x1 | $117.00 | Cleaning: Dry clean curtain x1 | |
| Lawns and Garden work: dumping and 19 hours labour | $570.00 | Lawns and Garden work: dumping and 19 hours labour | |
| Filing fee reimbursement | $28.00 | Filing fee reimbursement | |
| Net award | $1,162.99 | ||
| Total payable by Tenant to Landlord | $1,162.99 |
Claims and awards for application 5397869 — net $1,162.99 NZD. Verify on MoJ.
Rent arrears as agreed
- Amount
- $1,280.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Rent arrears as agreed
Carpet Cleaning: rug doctor hire
- Amount
- $67.99
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Carpet Cleaning: rug doctor hire
Carpet Cleaning: labour 4 hours
- Amount
- $120.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Carpet Cleaning: labour 4 hours
Cleaning: including materials and 30 hours
- Amount
- $900.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Cleaning: including materials and 30 hours
Cleaning: Dry clean curtain x1
- Amount
- $117.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Cleaning: Dry clean curtain x1
Lawns and Garden work: dumping and 19 hours labour
- Amount
- $570.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Lawns and Garden work: dumping and 19 hours labour
Filing fee reimbursement
- Amount
- $28.00
- Awarded to
- Landlord
- Reason
- Filing fee reimbursement
Net award
Landlord $1,162.99
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord
Landlord $1,162.99
Claim types — money lines allowed on this order
Order
- Bhupinder Singh must pay Forsyth Property Management Limited As Agent For S Gurudayal $1,162.99 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
- The Bond Centre is to pay the bond of $1,920.00 (BN-00018610) to Forsyth Property Management Limited As Agent For S Gurudayal immediately.
Reasons
- Both parties attended the hearing. Mr Singh attended by telephone and Ms Forsyth attended in person on behalf of the landlord.
- 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 October 2025 by mutual agreement. The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy being $1,280.00. The tenant confirmed the amount owing and said he had instructed the landlord to take the amount from the bond.
- The amount is ordered by consent.
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 under section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the Act).
- The tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy and did not remove all rubbish.
- The landlord made the following cleaning claims: a. $180.00 labour for carpet cleaning (4 hours) b. $117.99 for the hire of a Rug Doctor c. $1,350.00 for interior cleaning (30 hours labour) d. $855.00 for garden work and exterior cleaning (19 hours labour) e. $117.00 for dry cleaning of one curtain.
- The landlord provided pre and post tenancy inspections, including photographs to support the amounts claimed.
- The landlord said that the house had not been cleaned at all and the carpets, walls, aluminium joinery and skirtings required cleaning or washing down in most if not all rooms. The kitchen and bathroom required full cleaning and there was evidence of rats in some kitchen cupboards. The extractor fan had not been cleaned and was very dirty as were some ceilings.
- The photographs support the landlord claims.
- The tenant accepted that he had not been able to complete all the interior cleaning prior to leaving the property.
- He accepted that there were some marks on the carpet and that a small amount of cleaning was required to bring the property to a reasonably clean and tidy state. He said that, in his experience, $200-$250.00 would have been sufficient for a professional cleaner to complete the work and he disputed the amount claimed by the owner for their time.
- The owner claims 30 hours for interior cleaning as well as four additional hours for the carpet cleaning. This is a significant amount of time but, given the work required and the fact that the owner is not a professional cleaner with the skills and materials of such a person, I consider that the time charged is reasonable.
- The hourly rate claimed is $45.00. This may be an appropriate rate for a professional cleaner, but the owners are not professional cleaners, and the work would very likely have taken longer as a consequence. I have reduced the hourly rate to $30.00 to reflect this.
- I have also reduced the amount awarded for the hire of the rug doctor as the amount claimed included a refundable bond ($50.00).
- The landlord also claimed for dry cleaning of one curtain which had been badly stained through being trapped in the slider and through marks from dirty hands.
- An invoice from a professional dry cleaner was provided as well as photographs to support the claim. The damage is more than fair wear and tear and the amount claimed is appropriate.
- The tenant disputed the amount claimed for garden work. He felt that he should have been liable for the cost of mowing the lawns only which he estimated should be $50.00 - $70.00.
- The gardens were very well maintained and reasonably newly planted at the beginning of the tenancy. There were no weeds visible in the pre tenancy photographs.
- The tenant said that he had a verbal agreement with the landlord that he would not be liable for maintenance of a retained sloped garden area at the back of the property as he considered it unusable.
- The landlord did not agree that such an arrangement had ever been made.
- Although the garden referred to is sloped and unusable in the sense that it cannot easily be walked or played on, it was terraced, planted and very tidy at the beginning of the tenancy. It was very pleasant to look at and required maintenance as all gardens do. It is difficult to imagine that a landlord would allow such an attractive and well landscaped and planted area of garden to be “let go” during the term of the tenancy.
- The tenant also claimed that was as unreasonable to expect a tenant to weed gardens and that lawn mowing should be sufficient.
- The gardens, like the interior, should be left reasonably clean and tidy. The tenant is obliged to keep the garden relatively weed free and to maintain them as far as possible in the state they are in at the beginning of the tenancy.
- The maintenance of the gardens had been an issue throughout the tenancy and 14-day notices had been issued in respect of them. The tenant had never kept the garden in a satisfactory state.
- The tenant clearly did not understand what was required of him in regard to the gardens and they suffered as a consequence.
- The 19 hours claimed for the garden work is ordered at the reduced rate of $30.00 per hour as the owners, again, did the work themselves and this is a reasonable rate in those circumstances.
- Landlord claims for handyman work and other incidentals were withdrawn and no invoices or other evidence was available to support this claim.
- The amounts ordered are proved.
- As Forsyth Property Management Limited As Agent For S Gurudayal has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.
Topics & place
Topics are dispute themes across the order (not the same as claim-type money lines).
Residential Tenancies Act sections
s30, s40(1)
Key findings
- Dispute theme: rent arrears
- Dispute theme: cleaning
Property management
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this Tenancy Tribunal case.
What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5397869?
The tribunal order states: Bhupinder Singh must pay Forsyth Property Management Limited As Agent For
How much money was awarded in case 5397869?
Cleaning: $120.00 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $67.99 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $117.00 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $900.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Lawns and Garden Work: $570.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $1,280.00 awarded to landlord
What type of tenancy dispute was case 5397869?
The primary dispute was Rent arrears. Related themes: Cleanliness.
Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5397869?
The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13205128-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.