Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 9058344 — Tenancy dispute in Epsom, Auckland
Decided 9 Dec 2024 · Published 9 Dec 2024 · Application 9058344
Landlord favoured
- Interest
- Unit Titles
Order
- Junpu Wang must pay Body Corporate 525481 $12,167.85 immediately, calculated as follows: DescriptionsApplicantRespondent Levies$6,947.22 Debt collection costs$1,368.50 Legal costs$3,326.87 Interest$25.26 Filing Fee$500.00 Total award$12,167.85 Total interest Total award with interest$12,167.85 Total payable by Respondent to Applicant $12,167.85
Reasons
- Both parties attended the hearing. Ms Hoogerbrug represented the Body Corporate.
- The body corporate has applied for recovery of unpaid levies, interest, costs and the filing fee from the unit owner.
Does the unit owner owe the levies claimed?
- A unit owner must pay all body corporate levies and outgoings payable for the unit: sections 80(1)(f) and 121(1) of the Unit Titles Act 2010 (the Act).
- The Body Corporate has determined the levies payable, and the unit owner’s share has been calculated according to their utility interest.
- The Body corporate has fixed the due dates for the levies to be paid, and the unit owner has not paid the levies by the due dates: section 124(1) of the Act.
- The Body Corporate has provided records to prove the amount claimed.
- Mr Wang did not dispute the amount claimed but said that the property had been sold last Friday and his solicitor had paid the amounts outstanding. However, Mr Wang did not know how much was paid to the Body Corporate on Friday. Moreover, Ms Hoogerbrug confirmed that the Body Corporate had not received the payment (Mr Wang accepts that it could take a few days to be cleared). Given the uncertainties but in particular that the Body Corporate has not received the payment, I am satisfied that the Body Corporate is entitled to an order for the levies claimed and costs as set out in my order.
Are the unit owners liable for interest?
- If a unit owner fails to pay levies by the due date, interest accrues on the unpaid balance. A body corporate may charge interest up to 10% per annum: section 128 of the Act.
- The Body Corporate has resolved to charge interest at 10% per annum on unpaid levies. The Body Corporate has proved the amount of interest owing from the due dates to the hearing date.
Is the unit owner liable for costs?
- Pursuant to section 124 of the Act the Body Corporate is entitled to recover any reasonable costs incurred by it in collecting unpaid levies as a debt due by the owner to the Body Corporate. In accordance with the judgments in Body Corporate 162791 v Cheah DC Auckland, CIV2014-004-0120, 24 June 2014, Body Corporate 162791 v Gilbert [2015] NZCA 185, and more recently Body Corporate 346799 v Gueirard [2023] NZDC 19645, the Tribunal must order that the reasonable costs incurred by the Body Corporate in recovering the levies, objectively assessed, be paid by a defaulting unit owner.
- The documents provided by the Body Corporate and the invoices issued by the solicitors acting for the Body Corporate set out the work completed and the time spent in attempting to recover the unpaid levies. I am satisfied that the debt collection costs claimed by the Body Corporate are reasonable. I am also satisfied that most of the work completed, and time spent by the solicitors acting for the Body Corporate are reasonable. However, I note that approximately 13 hours were spent drafting and editing submissions for the Tribunal hearing costing a total of $2,438.00 (including GST). I do not consider this reasonable given that this is essentially a simple levy claim. In the circumstances I consider the sum of $1,438.00 (inclusive of GST) to be a reasonable sum for the drafting and editing of submissions. I have therefore reduced the amount claimed for solicitors’ costs from $4,476.87 to $3,326.87.
- The Body Corporate has been successful in its claim and is therefore entitled to payment of the filing fee: Section 176(1) of the Act and section 102(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.