Landlord's Claims Dismissed for Insufficient Evidence
📌 In brief
The Tenancy Tribunal dismissed the landlord's claims for rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs because the landlord did not provide enough evidence to support these claims.
⚖️ Legal holding
A landlord cannot prove claims for rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs without providing sufficient evidence.
📖 What the law says
This section outlines a tenant's responsibilities, including paying rent on time, keeping the property reasonably clean and tidy, and leaving it in a similar condition when moving out. In this case, the landlord claimed the tenant did not meet these responsibilities regarding rent and cleaning.
Plain-English explanation — does not replace advice from a lawyer.
📖 Technical summary
The landlord's claims for rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
📜 Headnote Official document
The Tenancy Tribunal dismissed the landlord's claims for rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs due to insufficient evidence provided by the landlord.
📚 Full judgment Official document
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[2025] NZTT 5033848
TENANCY TRIBUNAL - Remote Location
APPLICANT: [redacted] Liu
Landlord
RESPONDENT: [redacted]
Tenant
TENANCY ADDRESS: [ADDRESS], Te Atatu South, Auckland 0610
ORDER
1. The application is dismissed.
Reasons:
1. [NAME], representing the landlord, attended the teleconference hearing. The phone number for the tenant, the last three digits being 190, was called, with no response. As the tenant was served, the hearing proceeded in their absence.
2. The landlord has applied for rent arrears, compensation, outgoings, and reimbursement of the filing fee following the end of the tenancy.
How much is owed for rent and water rates?
3. The tenancy ended on 8 September 2024, according to the landlord. The landlord said they took over the property management for the tenancy from another company just before the tenancy ended. The landlord first claimed $670.00 in rent arrears in their application. They provided a rent summary that showed $670.00 rent arrears to 29 August 2024, from an earlier property management company. However, during the hearing, the landlord amended the
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rent arrears claim to $1,754.29 up to 8 September 2024, the end of the tenancy. There were other figures put forward by the landlord for rent arrears owing by the tenants that were different, including an amount of $1,084.29. The landlord acknowledged they did not provide a rent summary covering the tenancy up to the end of the tenancy, only the rent summary from the earlier property management company, which did not cover the whole tenancy. As such, due to insufficient evidence, the landlord has not proved their claim. Therefore, the claim for rent arrears is dismissed.
4. The landlord initially claimed $906.32 in their application for water rates. The landlord only provided one water invoice for the period 29 July 2024 to 28 August 2024, but not for any other periods during the tenancy. The landlord initially provided an internal ledger that showed the tenant owed $906.32 for water. However, during the hearing, the landlord amended their water rates claim to $1,270.05 up to the end of the tenancy but did not provide any evidence to support this claim. Due to insufficient evidence, the landlord’s claim for water rates from the tenant is therefore dismissed.
Did the tenant comply with their obligations at the end of the tenancy?
5. At the end of the tenancy the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy, remove all rubbish, 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 tenant is required to replace worn out smoke alarm batteries during the tenancy. See section 40(1)(ca) Residential Tenancies Act 1986. The tenant must also replace standard light bulbs.
6. The landlord said the tenant did not leave the premises reasonably clean and tidy and did not remove all rubbish.
7. The landlord provided some pages of an Ingoing Inspection Report dated 24 August 2021 with typed comments, but the copy of the Ingoing Inspection Report provided before the hearing did not contain any photographs of the property’s condition at the start of the tenancy.
8. The landlord provided some separate photographs which they said were taken on 9 September 2024, the day after the tenancy ended. These photographs show some rubbish in the basement of the property, mainly old boxes, a few other rubbish items, a dirty oven, dirty shower floor and carpet stains on a stairs carpet, amongst other things.
9. The landlord provided an invoice for $1,334.00, which included $780.00 (exclusive of GST) for cleaning services, $100.00 (exclusive of GST) for carpet cleaning and $280.00 (exclusive of GST) for removing and disposing of rubbish.
10. The landlord said it took the cleaning company one day to clean the property and another day to clean the carpet and remove the rubbish, for a total of 2
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days’ work. If one day of cleaning amounted to $780.00 exclusive of GST, then this would result in an hourly rate of $780.00 divided by 8 hours = $97.50 exclusive of GST, which I pointed out to [NAME], as being very excessive. He then thought that perhaps the cleaning and carpet cleaning were done over the 2 days, which would lead to a lower hourly rate of $55.00/hour, and that the $280.00 that the invoice said was for removing and disposing of rubbish, was just the rubbish disposal fee. It was clear the landlord did not understand the breakdown of the invoice, as requested for each claim.
11. I accept there was likely some rubbish removal and some cleaning required at the property at the end of the tenancy. However, I find that, as there were no entry photographs provided, and the cost of the cleaning, carpet cleaning and rubbish removal was far from being proved by the landlord, there was insufficient evidence provided by the landlord to prove the claims for cleaning, carpet cleaning and rubbish removal. Therefore, I dismiss this claim.
12. Further complicating matters, the landlord said they received the full bond of $2,600.00 on 20 September 2024, which the landlord said the tenant consented for them to have to cover rent arrears and other invoices. There was no evidence provided about what the bond of $2,600.00 might have already covered in relation to rent arrears and other invoices versus what the landlord was claiming in this application. From the landlord’s evidence, I find it likely that the parties agreed the bond would cover rent arrears and other invoices. This might be why the tenant did not attend the hearing. Despite this, I note the landlord has provided insufficient evidence for the claims, though and so all claims are dismissed.
Filing fee
13. As the claims are dismissed, I do not award the landlord the filing fee.
[NAME]
27 February 2025
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Please read carefully: Visit justice.govt.nz/tribunals/tenancy/rehearings-appeals for more information on rehearings and appeals.
Rehearings You can apply for a rehearing if you believe that a substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice has happened. For example: • you did not get the letter telling you the date of the hearing, or • the adjudicator improperly admitted or rejected evidence, or • new evidence, relating to the original application, has become available.
You must give reasons and evidence to support your application for a rehearing. A rehearing will not be granted just because you disagree with the decision. You must apply within five working days of the decision using the Application for Rehearing form: justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Forms/TT-Application-for-rehearing.pdf
Right of Appeal Both the landlord and the tenant can file an appeal. You should file your appeal at the District Court where the original hearing took place. The cost for an appeal is $260. You must apply within 10 working days after the decision is issued using this Appeal to the District Court form: justice.govt.nz/tribunals/tenancy/rehearings-appeals
Grounds for an appeal You can appeal if you think the decision was wrong, but not because you don’t like the decision. For some cases, there’ll be no right to appeal. For example, you can’t appeal: • against an interim order • a final order for the payment of less than $1000 • a final order to undertake work worth less than $1000.
Enforcement Where the Tribunal made an order about money or property this is called a civil debt. The Ministry of Justice Collections Team can assist with enforcing civil debt. You can contact the collections team on [PHONE] or go to justice.govt.nz/fines/civil-debt for forms and information.
Notice to a party ordered to pay money or vacate premises, etc. Failure to comply with any order may result in substantial additional costs for enforcement. It may also involve being ordered to appear in the District Court for an examination of your means or seizure of your property.
If you require further help or information regarding this matter, visit tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing- decisions or phone Tenancy Services on [PHONE].
Mēna ka hiahia koe ki ētahi atu awhina, kōrero ranei mo tēnei take, haere ki tenei ipurangi tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing-decisions, waea atu ki Ratonga Takirua ma runga [PHONE] ranei.
https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/tenancy/rehearings-appeals https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Forms/TT-Application-for-rehearing.pdf https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/tenancy/rehearings-appeals/ https://www.justice.govt.nz/fines/about-civil-debt/ https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing-decisions https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing-decisions http://www.tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing-decisions/
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A manaomia nisi faamatalaga poo se fesoasoani, e uiga i lau mataupu, asiasi ifo le matou aupega tafailagi: tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/enforcing-decisions, pe fesootai mai le Tenancy Services i le numera [PHONE].
Reasons:
⚖️ What tends to weigh in cases like this
✅ Tends to be accepted
- The cost breakdown for cleaning services was not understood by the landlord, making the claim difficult to prove.
- The tribunal found it likely that the bond had already covered rent arrears and other invoices.
❌ Tends to be rejected
- The landlord's initial claim for $670.00 in rent arrears was not accepted as it was later amended to a different amount.
- The landlord's initial claim for $906.32 for water rates was not accepted as it was later amended to a different amount.
Patterns observed in similar cases in this collection — every case is unique.
❓ Frequently asked questions
What did this decision decide?
The Tenancy Tribunal dismissed the landlord's claims for rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs.
What was the dispute about?
The dispute was about whether the landlord could prove that the tenant owed rent arrears, water rates, and cleaning costs.
How did the court decide, and why?
The court decided to dismiss the claims because the landlord did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the amounts owed.
Which laws or rules were applied?
The Residential Tenancies Act 1986, sections 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) and 40(1)(ca) were applied.
What was the argument that mattered most?
The argument that mattered most was the lack of sufficient evidence provided by the landlord to support the claims.
Was the decision for or against the person who brought the case?
The decision was against the landlord who brought the case.
What does this mean for someone in a similar situation?
For someone in a similar situation, it means that they need to provide strong evidence to support their claims in order to succeed.
What evidence or documents mattered?
The evidence and documents that mattered were the rent summaries, water invoices, and cleaning invoices provided by the landlord.