Published tribunal order
Tenancy Tribunal case 9079384 — Tenancy dispute in Ellerslie, Auckland
Decided 16 Jun 2026 · Published 16 Jun 2026 · Application 9079384
Landlord favoured
- Costs
- Interest
- Unit Titles
Order
- Apple Ayas Limited must pay Body Corporate 88633 $6,947.89 immediately, calculated as follows: DescriptionsApplicantRespondent Costs: Body Corporate debt collection costs $2,185.00 Costs: S.124 Solicitor's costs$3,658.50 Interest: to 23 February 2026$270.89 Costs: Solicitor's appearance fee$333.50 Filing Fee$500.00 Total award$6,947.89 Total payable by Respondent to Applicant $6,947.89
Reasons
- Both parties attended the remote hearing.
- The owner is the owner of the two units referred to above.
- The body corporate has applied for recovery of 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. See sections 80(1)(f) and 121(1) Unit Titles Act 2010.
- The body corporate has determined the levies payable and unit owner's share has been calculated according to their utility interest.
- The body corporate fixed the due date for the levies to be paid (9 September 2025), and the unit owner did not pay the levies by that date. See section 124(1) Unit Titles Act 2010. The owner paid the levies in full on 23 February 2026.
Is the Unit owner 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. See section 128 Unit Titles Act 2010.
- 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 date to the date the levies were paid by the owner.
Is the Unit owner liable for costs?
- Pursuant to section 124 UTA, and as resolved at meetings of the Body Corporate, 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 (of the District Court and Court of Appeal respectively) in Body Corporate 162791 v Cheah DC Auckland, CIV2014-004- 0120, 24 June 2014 and Body Corporate 162791 v Gilbert [2015] NZCA 185, 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. I am satisfied that the costs ordered above are reasonable.
- The owner said that she had not received seen the correspondence from the Solicitors for the body corporate as it had gone to her email address junk mail. The obligation on the body corporate is to forward correspondence to the email address for the owner registered with the body corporate. I am satisfied that this occurred. The failure to look at the correspondence does not limit liability for the owner.
- As the body corporate has succeeded with the claim, I have ordered the owner to reimburse the filing fee. Section 176(1) Unit Titles Act 2010 and section 102(4) Residential Tenancies Act 1986.