Withholding bond not ‘reasonable’

A tenant, whose property manager tried to bill him for the cost of a light bulb and cleaning that never happened, says he was fortunate to be able to argue his case.

Sam Grover was renting a flat in Newmarket, Auckland, from Barfoot & Thompson City Rentals. The lease expired in December last year. The property managers tried to take $4.46 for a light bulb and $172 for cleaning costs from his bond.

But Grover argued the property was clean when he moved out – and the missing light bulb was normal wear and tear.

The Tenancy Tribunal sided with him and said his full bond, of $2880, should be released to him.

The adjudicator said the light bulb appeared ‘‘minor in the extreme’’.

The managers also tried to claim the cost of cleaning the property, although that did not happen until the property was relet some months later.

The adjudicator said tenants were not obliged to leave a property immaculate or even up to the standard a landlord might consider necessary for a new tenant.

‘‘The tribunal expects landlords to carry out some maintenance and cleaning between tenancies and it is not reasonable to expect all these costs can be passed on to the previous tenant.

‘‘In this case, I am not persuaded the premises were not left in a clean and tidy condition ... I am persuaded that he has met the standard required. This view is supported by the applicant’s evidence today that in fact the property has not been cleaned in the intervening three months.’’

The adjudicator said the minor matters complained about by the property manager had occupied significant time and meant Grover had not been able to access his bond.

‘‘The tribunal has concerns that such minor matters are occupying so much time and, in this case, appear to have deprived the tenant of the benefit of his own, not insubstantial bond, for over three months since the tenancy ended. This is simply unreasonable and had the tribunal workload not contributed to this delay, I would consider damages against the landlord for unreasonably delaying a return of the tenant’s bond over such a minor matter.’’

Grover said the managers had originally threatened to take more money from his bond.

He told them he would not pay anything and if they wanted it, they had to take him to the tribunal.

‘‘It seemed to me they were asking for a relatively small percentage of my bond and hoping I would just pay in order to get my bond back quickly.’’

He said he was fortunate to be able to move on without it.