Confusion puts rent $19,000 in arrears
A tenant has been ordered to pay more than $19,000 in missed rent that accrued because she thought she was meant to pay $550 a fortnight – but it was actually $550 a week.
Both the tenant and landlord, who each have name suppression, filed an application to the Tenancy Tribunal.
The original landlord died on February 28 last year and his will appointed his son and daughter as executors of his estate.
The son then became the ‘‘personal representative of a deceased landlord’’, therefore becoming the tenant’s landlord.
The landlord wanted the Tenancy Tribunal to terminate the rental agreement, and require the tenant to pay rent arrears and return furniture previously stored in the garage.
The tenant claimed the landlord harassed her, unlawfully entered the property, did not comply with the Healthy Home rules and did not lodge the bond with the bond centre.
The tribunal noted the tenant moved into the Auckland property in October 2021, but was unclear on the amount of rent agreed upon between the landlord and tenant.
The tenancy agreement stated the rent was originally $575, but it had been crossed out and replaced with $550.
The tenant told the tribunal that the $575 rent payment was fortnightly rather than weekly.
She said that the original landlord then agreed to the rent being reduced to $550.
The tribunal noted that on the tenancy agreement the box for fortnight was ticked, but that box followed the word ‘‘frequency’’.
‘‘I consider that the tenant was mistaken in her belief that the rent was $575 or $550 fortnightly rather than weekly,’’ the tribunal said.
The tenant stated she was paying the rent weekly in order to have a balance in advance and she had not paid rent since April 2022 because she was so far in advance with her payments that the original landlord told her that she did not need to pay any rent for the remainder of the tenancy.
The tribunal did not accept this claim. She had underpaid the rent by $19,048 over the course of her tenancy.
The tribunal found the original landlord did not lodge the bond with the bond centre at the start of the tenancy, while the current landlord was found to have breached the Residential Tenancies Act on the grounds of harassment.
When he did not want the tenancy to continue because of rent arrears, he served the tenant with a trespass notice and entered the property without warning.
It also found the home did not comply with the Healthy Home Standard.
The landlord was ordered to pay the tenant $4820 in total for the bond refund and exemplary damages relating to the bond not being lodged, not complying with Healthy Homes and harassment.
The tenant was ordered to pay a total of $14,227 to the landlord for unpaid rent.