What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5455593?

The tribunal order states: Wiremu Rewha and Ashley Mockford must pay Barfoot & Thompson Limited

How much money was awarded in case 5455593?

Cleaning: $333.50 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $200.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $140.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $471.17 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $100.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $702.29 awarded to landlord; Replace Carpet In Lounge/Dining And…: $1,100.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5455593?

The primary dispute was Property damage. Related themes: Rent arrears, Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5455593?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13631889-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

What was the outcome of Tenancy Tribunal case 5455593?

The tribunal order states: Wiremu Rewha and Ashley Mockford must pay Barfoot & Thompson Limited

How much money was awarded in case 5455593?

Cleaning: $333.50 awarded to landlord; Cleaning: $200.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $140.00 awarded to landlord; Filing Fee: $28.00 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $471.17 awarded to landlord; Property Damage: $100.00 awarded to landlord; Rent Arrears: $702.29 awarded to landlord; Replace Carpet In Lounge/Dining And…: $1,100.00 awarded to landlord

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5455593?

The primary dispute was Property damage. Related themes: Rent arrears, Cleanliness.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5455593?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/13631889-Tenancy_Tribunal_Order.pdf.

316F Ostrich Farm Road, Pukekohe, RD 4, Pukekohe 2679 Tenancy Tribunal Case 5455593 — Property damage

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Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5455593 — net $874.96 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 30 March 2026	$702.29	Rent arrears to 30 March 2026
Carpet Cleaning	$333.50	Carpet Cleaning
Replace carpet in lounge/dining and bedroom	$1,100.00	Replace carpet in lounge/dining and bedroom
Window repairs	$471.17	Window repairs
Electrical fittings replacement/repair: AC remote	$140.00	Electrical fittings replacement/repair: AC remote
Carpet cleaning	$200.00	Carpet cleaning
Repair wallpaper	$100.00	Repair wallpaper
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$874.96
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$874.96

Both parties attended the hearing which was held by video conference. Ms Melville represented 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 30 March 2026. The tenant questioned the accuracy of this date, but accepted the dispute amounted to very little and conceded the issue. The landlord provided rent records which prove the amount owing at the end of the tenancy was $702.29. The tenant did not dispute this amount.

The claim and amount ordered are proved.

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, 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 that at the end of the tenancy the carpet needed cleaning and the air conditioning remote was not returned. The landlord is also making a claim to replace parts of the carpet that were badly stained. I address this later in this order.

The landlord is claiming $333.50 for cleaning the carpet and $140.00 to replace the remote.

The landlord said the carpets were approximately two years old at the start of the tenancy.

The tenant said she accepted the carpet got dirty during the tenancy but she made an effort at the end of the tenancy to clean them.

The tenant said she had the air conditioning remote in her car and had been meaning to return it to the landlord.

When I look at the photographs from the Ingoing Inspection and compare them with the End of Tenancy photographs, I can see the carpet is much dirtier at the end of the tenancy than at the start. I take into consideration the carpets were not new at the start of the tenancy and had some light staining in some areas. I determine the carpets were not reasonable clean at the end of the tenancy.

These claims and the amount ordered are proved.

Is the tenant responsible for the damage to the premises?

A landlord must prove that damage to the premises occurred during the tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. If this is established, to avoid liability, the tenant must prove they did not carelessly or intentionally cause or permit the damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. See sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA.

Where the damage is caused carelessly, and is covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to the lesser of the insurance excess or four weeks' rent (or four weeks' market rent in the case of a tenant paying income-related rent). See section 49B(3)(a) RTA.

Where the damage is careless and is not covered by the landlord's insurance, the tenant's liability is limited to four weeks' rent (or market rent). See section 49B(3)(b) RTA. Where insurance money is irrecoverable because of the tenant's conduct, the property is treated as if it is not insured against the damage. See section 49B(3A)(a) RTA.

Tenants are liable for the cost of repairing damage that is intentional or which results from any activity at the premises that is an imprisonable offence. This applies to anything the tenant does and anything done by a person they are responsible for. See section 49B(1) RTA.

Damage is intentional where a person intends to cause damage and takes the necessary steps to achieve that purpose. Damage is also intentional where a person does something, or allows a situation to continue, knowing that damage is a certainty or near certainty. See Guo v Korck [2019] NZHC 1541.

The landlord is seeking compensation for the following damage to the premises: a. Replace carpets with heavy staining in the lounge, the hall and one bedroom, b. Two broken windows, c. Replace a kitchen cupboard door, d. Replace torn wallpaper.

The landlord said the carpet was heavily damaged by red soda drink stains in the lounge, hallway and one bedroom.

The tenant did not dispute the stains in the lounge and one bedroom, but she did dispute staining in the hallway carpet.

When I look at the photographs, I do not see heavy staining in the hallway carpet.

The claim for damage to the carpet in the bedroom and the lounge are proved. Damage to the carpet in the hallway is not proved.

I consider it is reasonably foreseeable that young children will spill drinks. Tenants are responsible for the actions of other people on the premises with their consent and this includes their children. If a tenant knows something is likely to happen and fails to take steps to prevent it happening, this goes beyond carelessness and becomes intentional. This is the case in this claim: An adult tenant can anticipate that a child will spill a drink, and not taking steps to prevent it happening amounts to intention. In this case the consequences have been large unsightly stains on the carpet.

The landlord provided a quote to replace the carpet throughout the house for $5,474.00. The landlord couldn’t say how many square metres that covered, but they did say the house was about 90 square metres.

A modest lounge and dining room is approximately 25 square metres. A good sized bedroom is approximately 12 square metres. These are estimations only. Added together this amounts to 37 square metres. If I divide $5,474.00 by 90 I get a cost per square metre for the carpet. If I then multiply this by 37 I get the cost to replace the carpet in the two rooms with proven damage. This is $2,250.00. If I multiply this by 0.75 to account for depreciation of a two year old carpet, I get $1,687.00.

The landlord is seeking $550.00 insurance excess for each room. This amounts to $1,100.00 for the two rooms with proved damage. $1,100.00 is considerably less than the $1,687.00 approximate residual value of the carpet that I have calculated.

The amount of $1,100.00 being the lesser amount, is proved.

The landlord is claiming $471.17 for two broken windows.

The tenant accepts responsibility for breaking one window. The other she says happened because she had to force the window closed due to it being very tight.

I determine that forcing a window closed in the circumstances described by the tenant, amounts to carelessness. This claim is proved.

The landlord is claiming $200.00 to replace a kitchen cupboard door.

The tenant said the door was old and loose so she took it off. It was then inadvertently thrown out.

I determine this amounts to more than fair wear and tear; it amounts to intentional damage. The claim is proved.

The landlord is claiming $150.00 to replace wallpaper that was torn during the tenancy.

The tenant said the wallpaper was old and coming away from the wall in places. She said her children then pulled at the wallpaper and tore it.

The landlord said the wallpaper was approximately 10 years old. The tenant said the wallpaper was much older than that.

The photographs show the house to be an old house in fairly run down condition at the start of the tenancy. Many of the fittings look original. From the photographs I believe the wallpaper is more than 40 years old. This is far beyond the expected life span for paint or decoration in a rental premises.

However, the wallpaper was still serviceable and in damaging it, the tenant has caused loss to the landlord. I consider the landlord should be compensated for this nominal loss. The amount I consider to be reasonable is $100.00.

This claim is proved.

I have taken into account betterment and depreciation. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations, and should not be better or worse off. In calculating depreciation, I have taken into account the age and condition of the items at the start of the tenancy and their likely useful lifespan.

Because Barfoot & Thompson Limited has substantially succeeded with the claim I have reimbursed the filing fee.

Reasons

Claims and awards in Tenancy Tribunal application 5455593 — net $874.96 NZD. Amounts reconciled from the published order (claims sum and net total). Verify on MoJ.
Claim	Landlord	Reason
Rent arrears to 30 March 2026	$702.29	Rent arrears to 30 March 2026
Carpet Cleaning	$333.50	Carpet Cleaning
Replace carpet in lounge/dining and bedroom	$1,100.00	Replace carpet in lounge/dining and bedroom
Window repairs	$471.17	Window repairs
Electrical fittings replacement/repair: AC remote	$140.00	Electrical fittings replacement/repair: AC remote
Carpet cleaning	$200.00	Carpet cleaning
Repair wallpaper	$100.00	Repair wallpaper
Filing fee reimbursement	$28.00	Filing fee reimbursement
Net award	$874.96
Total payable by Tenant to Landlord	$874.96