Tenant Liable for Damage Beyond Wear and Tear
📌 In brief
The Tenancy Tribunal ruled that the tenant must pay for specific damages beyond fair wear and tear, such as curtain cleaning and remedial painting, but dismissed claims for general cleaning and carpet cleaning.
⚖️ Legal holding
A tenant is liable for damage caused by their actions, including unintentional damage, provided it goes beyond fair wear and tear.
📖 What the law says
This section outlines a tenant's responsibilities, including keeping the premises reasonably clean and tidy, and leaving them in that condition when the tenancy ends. In this case, the Tribunal considered whether the tenant met these cleaning obligations.
This section states that a tenant is responsible for damage caused by themselves or by anyone they allow onto the property. This includes damage that is done intentionally or carelessly, which was relevant when assessing the tenant's liability for curtain cleaning and painting.
Plain-English explanation — does not replace advice from a lawyer.
📖 Technical summary
The Tribunal dismissed the landlord's claims for cleaning and carpet cleaning but awarded damages for curtain cleaning and remedial painting.
📜 Headnote Official document
The Tenancy Tribunal dismissed the landlord's claims for cleaning and carpet cleaning but awarded damages for curtain cleaning and remedial painting, finding the tenant liable for damage beyond fair wear and tear.
📚 Full judgment Official document
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[2025] NZTT 5034928
TENANCY TRIBUNAL - [Event location suppressed]
APPLICANT: [redacted]
Landlord
RESPONDENT: [redacted]
Tenant
TENANCY ADDRESS: [Tenancy address suppressed]
ORDER
1. An application for suppression has been made in this case, and the Tribunal orders suppression of the Tenant and Landlord names and identifying details.
2. [The tenant/s] must pay [The landlord/s] $1,017.75 immediately, calculated as shown in table below.
Description Landlord Tenant Water rates $55.75 Clean one pair of curtains (2) $69.00 Remedial painting $866.00 Filing fee reimbursement $27.00 Total payable by Tenant to Landlord $1,017.75
3. All other claims are dismissed.
Reasons:
1. Both parties attended the hearing held remotely (the landlord by its representative).
2. The landlord has applied for compensation for costs incurred following the end of the tenancy.
3. The tenant disagrees with some of the claims. She agrees that the final water bill is owing.
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What is the law on tenant obligations and damage claims? 4. At the end of a tenancy, the tenant must leave the premises reasonably clean
and tidy, remove all rubbish, return all keys and security devices, and leave all landlord chattels. See section 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v) Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA).
5. If making a claim for damage, a landlord must prove that any damage happened during this tenancy and is more than fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear is anything that would happen as a normal and ordinary part of living in the property.
6. A tenant is liable for any intentional or careless damage. Tenants are liable for the actions of people at the premises with their permission. Sections 40(2)(a), 41 and 49B RTA.
7. When working out compensation, the landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in had the tenant not breached their obligations and should not be better or worse off. This often means that the Tribunal considers the age and condition of the items at the start of the tenancy and their likely useful lifespan.
Decisions on the claims
8. Cleaning: the photographs from the final inspection satisfy me that the tenant left the premises reasonably clean and tidy. The floors were vacuumed, bathrooms and toilets cleaned, kitchen and laundry cupboards, benches, and appliances wiped. A landlord may choose to clean the premises to a higher standard ready for an open home or in preparation for the next tenants but that is at their own cost and effort as part of their tenancy business. I dismiss the claim for cleaning.
9. Carpet cleaning: there is no evidence of marks or stains on the carpet or any other reason why carpet shampooing might be needed. There is no legal obligation on a tenant to pay for carpet cleaning unless it is needed such as if it has been a long tenancy or there are stains or smells. This was a relatively short tenancy of less than a year. I dismiss the claim for carpet cleaning.
10. Curtain cleaning: the tenant accepts there was one blue ink stain on a curtain in the lounge (from a washable ink marker). There is one photo of a drink splash (or similar) on one other lounge curtain. I award $69.00 which is the cost to remove, wash and rehang one pair of curtains. I dismiss the claim to wash the other four curtains as no other marks or staining were proven.
Remedial painting:
11. The tenant accepts that she “patch-painted” many of the walls in the house to try to fix areas where the original paint was damaged. The landlord said she did
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ask permission first and he agreed to this if she used matching paint. She took a sample to a hardware store but unfortunately the paint she was sold did not exactly match and her patches were visible when they dried.
12. The tenant said that the damage she was trying to fix was where the paint surface was damaged when she removed “command hooks” (adhesive hooks intended to be able to be removed without damage), where the existing stickers were removed, in her son’s bedroom from attaching LED lights, and from bumps or scuffs from furniture and high use areas.
13. The landlord seeks compensation for the $3,500.00 cost to repaint the living areas, kitchen, hallway and stairs, and four bedrooms of the house.
14. My decisions are:-
a. The house was built in 2021 so was newly painted at that time.
b. The house had been rented out for two years before this tenancy.
c. There were decorative stickers left from previous tenants on two walls in one bedroom and on the dining room wall at the start of this tenancy. The tenant said some of these were coming unstuck.
d. There were existing picture hooks and nails in some places where pictures, mirrors and other fixtures had been attached by the previous tenants. Some of the fixtures were left on the walls.
e. No other damage or issues with the walls were recorded at the start of the tenancy.
f. The tenant said that the paint surface in the house seemed to damage easily as paint would flake off or be scuffed when even soft furniture (like her bedhead and a computer chair) bumped against it. I have not taken this into account because there is no evidence to show this (for example, photographs taken before she patch-painted) and it was not raised during the tenancy.
g. The tenant asked permission before patch-painting. I find the landlord should take some responsibility to advise her of the paint colour required.
h. The photographs from the exit inspection prove that the mismatched paint caused many visible patches in most rooms in the house (excluding the bathrooms).
i. I accept that it was reasonable for the landlord to repaint all rooms (except the bathrooms) because of the high number of mismatched areas.
j. The tenant is liable to compensate the landlord for the damage because although she did not intend to cause damage, she made the decision to do the patch-painting, so is responsible for it.
15. I calculate the compensation as follows:-
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a. The landlord should be returned to the position they would have been in if the tenant had not caused the mismatched patches. This is that there would have been stickers on three walls, various hooks and nails in walls, and the wear and tear scuffs and marks to be expected after three years of normal residential living.
b. The tenant supplied information suggesting that walls may need repainting every 3 to 5 years. I find this to be reasonable for tenancy premises.
c. In other words, the landlord could expect to need to repaint the walls at its own cost within the next two years.
d. A fair contribution by the tenant is one-third of the cost to repaint the house ($1,166.00) less an allowance for the existing damage from stickers on 3 walls ($300.00). This is $866.00.
16. I award the filing fee because the claim is partly successful.
17. I suppress the names of both parties. Both have been partly successful and there is a personal security issue affecting the tenant that persuades me her privacy outweighs any public interest. The landlord provided a positive reference to the tenant and agrees it is appropriate to suppress her name.
[NAME] 04 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.
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].
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/
Reasons:
⚖️ What tends to weigh in cases like this
✅ Tends to be accepted
- The tenant accepted responsibility for one pair of curtains with stains, leading to a compensation award.
- The landlord's request for reimbursement of the filing fee was accepted since the claim was partly successful.
- The tenant's patch-painting, although unintentional, was deemed damage beyond fair wear and tear, resulting in compensation.
❌ Tends to be rejected
- The claim for general cleaning beyond the tenant's obligation was dismissed as it was above what the tenant was legally required to do.
- The claim for carpet cleaning was dismissed due to lack of evidence showing stains or smells requiring such service.
- The landlord's request for full compensation for repainting the entire house was reduced after considering the house's condition and the tenant's partial responsibility.
Patterns observed in similar cases in this collection — every case is unique.
❓ Frequently asked questions
What did this decision decide?
The Tenancy Tribunal decided that the tenant must pay for specific damages beyond fair wear and tear, such as curtain cleaning and remedial painting, but dismissed claims for general cleaning and carpet cleaning.
What was the dispute about?
The dispute was about whether the tenant was responsible for various types of damage and cleaning costs at the end of the tenancy.
How did the court decide, and why?
The court decided that the tenant was liable for damage beyond fair wear and tear, such as curtain cleaning and remedial painting, but dismissed claims for general cleaning and carpet cleaning because no evidence supported these claims.
Which laws or rules were applied?
The Residential Tenancies Act 1986, sections 40(1)(e)(ii)-(v), 40(2)(a), 41, and 49B were applied.
What was the argument that mattered most?
The argument that mattered most was whether the damage went beyond fair wear and tear, which includes normal and ordinary parts of living in the property.
Was the decision for or against the person who brought the case?
The decision was partially for the landlord, as the tenant was found liable for specific damages, but mostly against the landlord, as other claims were dismissed.
What does this mean for someone in a similar situation?
For someone in a similar situation, they should ensure that any damage they are responsible for goes beyond fair wear and tear, and provide clear evidence to support their claims.
What evidence or documents mattered?
Photographs from the final inspection and the tenant's acceptance of certain damages were key pieces of evidence.