Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand

Contract / Quasi contract / Property / Applicant and Respondent were flatmates / Applicant moved out of flat / Applicant refused to pay rent further than five weeks until Respondent found a new flatmate / Respondent reduced Applicant's bond / Applicant claimed rent and debt collector costs / Held: agreed in the flat that a flatmate remained liable to pay rent until a new flatmate was found / Therefore, Applicant obliged to pay all the rent until a new flatmate was found / Applicant's flatmates not liable to pay debt collection costs / Claim dismissed.

Property / Applicant was head tenant of a property / Respondent moved into the flatting situation and signed a fixed term agreement for three months / Within three weeks of moving in Respondent advised he wished to move out in two weeks / Applicant claimed Respondent owed him $2,700.00 because he did not stay for fixed term as agreed / Held: Respondent breached agreement by leaving flat before fixed term ended / Respondent was legally liable to pay rent until end of term / Respondent stated he wanted to leave early as the property was unsanitary, but failed to provide evidence / However, Applicant had a duty to mitigate losses by finding a new flatmate as quickly as possible / Actual loss suffered as a result of Respondent’s breach was loss of rent between when he moved out and when a new tenant moved in / Applicant did not provide enough evidence to prove he was unable to find replacement flatmate until end of fixed term agreement / Applicant failed to prove he suffered a loss and tha…

Contract / Respondent, Applicant, and his partner were flatmates / Respondent was the head tenant and others entered into a flat sharing agreement with her / Applicant and his partner moved out after four weeks / Respondent returned five days rent, and after four weeks refunded most of Applicant’s bond, retaining $120.00 for cleaning and $38.00 for utilities / Applicant claimed $1,999.00 for balance of his bond, hardship, racism and harassment / Held: Tribunal cannot hear claims about racism or harassment / Under the contract Applicant and his partner were not obliged to pay anything further towards utilities / Insufficient evidence to establish who was responsible for specified spills and stains, as they were in common areas / Not proven that Applicant and his partner failed to leave the property reasonably clean / Respondent not entitled to retain $120.00 cleaning fee / Not appropriate to award damages for the failure to return the bond immediately / Respondent ordered to pay $158.00…

Contract / Applicant and Respondent were flatmates / Respondent was the head tenant / Dispute arose over the bond paid by the Applicant / Applicant claims $540 being 3 weeks rent. One week bond was paid to the former flat mate she replaced, and she was liable for the 2 week delay in finding a replacement flat mate / Held: text message evidence proves there was some confusion around the payment to the previous flat mate but ultimately it was done on instruction from the Applicant / Dispute over the bond caused the delay in finding a replacement flat mate / Delay was not due to the respondent / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Applicant entered into flatmate agreement with Respondent / Applicant paid $500 bond / Respondent repeatedly queried Applicant’s financial circumstances prior to offering him the room / Once Respondent was satisfied with Applicant as a suitable flatmate, she sent the agreement to Applicant / Applicant signed agreement and paid $500 bond /  Parties agreed that Applicant would pay $750.00 for rent in advance / Later, Respondent further enquired about Applicant’s financial circumstances / Parties argued and Respondent cancelled contract / Respondent refunded Applicant’s $750.00 but refused to refund bond / Held: Respondent entitled to decide who may share her home with her / Unreasonable for Respondent to enter into contract with Applicant, receive payments and then cancel the contract on previously known information / Respondent ordered to pay $510.22, $500 refund and statutory interest / Claim allowed.

Contract / Applicant was a flatmate of the Respondents / Applicant paid a bond of $800 / When Applicant moved out, Respondents withheld the bond claiming the Applicant’s cat had damaged the sofa / Applicant claimed for bond refund and overpaid rent / Respondents counterclaimed for compensation for repair costs of the sofa / Held: claim that the cat caused damage to the sofa was not supported by evidence / Rent was found to be overpaid by seven days / Respondents ordered to pay Applicant $1040, bond and overpaid rent / Claim granted and counterclaim dismissed.

Property / Applicant moved into a flat where Respondent was the head tenant / Parties signed a one year fixed contract / Applicant gave notice to move out after 2 weeks / Applicant claimed for bond refund, $1350.00 / Respondent counter-claimed for $608.00, cost of a new mattress / Held: Applicant breached agreement by giving notice weeks after signing fixed agreement / Applicant legally liable to pay rent for fixed term / Respondent had a duty to mitigate any losses suffered by finding a new flatmate / Only losses Applicant liable to pay were directly resulted from him ending the agreement early / Cost of a new mattress not Applicant’s cost to cover / Applicant allowed to retain equivalent of one week’s rent ($450.00) as compensation / Respondent ordered to pay $900, for rent compensation and part of bond / Claim allowed in part.

Contract / Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 / Applicants and Respondents were flatmates in fixed term tenancy / Respondents moved out 3 months before fixed term expired / Applicants had to cover rent until lease ended / Applicants claimed Respondents breached flatmate agreement, / Applicants sought damages for rent and end of lease costs / Applicant also claimed stress caused failure of exam, sought additional $2750 for cost of repeating course / Held: agreement existed between parties / Respondents breached agreement by not paying rent after moving out / Applicants tried to mitigate loss by seeking replacement flatmates, but were unsuccessful / Respondents required to pay for rent and end of lease costs / Applicant’s loss from failed exam was unforeseeable and too remote from breach to be claimable / Respondents ordered to pay $3263.25 and $2087, respectively / Claim allowed in part.

Contract / Applicant entered into a flat sharing agreement with Respondent / Flatmate agreement specified that the flatmates would pay 50% of the cost of expenses each week / Applicant’s puppy ate pain relief tablets in the Respondent’s room / There was an altercation between the Applicant and Respondent that resulted in a trespass ordered against Respondent / Applicant claimed compensation for expenses / Respondent is liable to pay 50% of expenses / Claim allowed / Respondent to pay Applicant $636.69.

Contract / Applicant and Respondent were flatmates / They signed an agreement under which the Applicant was the head tenant / Weekly rent was $200.00 and bond was $4000.00 / Under the agreement, Respondent obliged to give 14 days’ notice if he wished to vacate the property / Applicant claimed the Respondent left without giving the required period of notice, and claimed for unpaid rent / Respondent stated that he informed the Applicant that intended to leave the flat, which he did on that day / Respondent outlined reasons he left the property including lack of cleanliness, noise concerns and flatmates having covid / Applicant said that Respondent had never complained about these issues / Applicant claimed $685.71 for unpaid rent / Held: Respondent lived at the property for six months without complaining about its condition / Flatmates who share a property may have different standards as far as cleanliness and noise are concerned, and some reasonable negotiation would be expected before …

Contract / Parties were flatmates / Respondent was head tenant / Parties signed renting agreement / Applicant had physical altercation with Respondent’s partner / Respondent was not willing to allow Applicant to return to property / Applicant obtained the intervention of the Police who obliged Respondent to return Applicant’s possessions / Applicant did not remove his possessions from his room until a month later /  To pay rent while room was unable to be let to someone else Respondent kept Applicant’s bond of $570.00 / Applicant claimed for return of bond payment subject to renting agreement / Whether either party breached contract / If so, what if any damages or compensation was payable / Held: Applicant not entitled to refund of his bond because it was used to pay for unpaid rent / If the Applicant had taken his possessions away earlier then the bond would almost certainly have been refundable / Applicant’s personal circumstances did not make any difference to his obligation to pay …

Contract / Tort / Flatting agreements / Two separate flatmate agreements between the applicant property owner and the respondents / Dispute over flood damage, furniture damage and rent arears / Applicant claimed $2,055.00 from Respondents for compensation and rent arears / Tenancy Tribunal had earlier determined that the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 did not apply in this claim / Whether any or all of the respondents breached their duty of care not to damage the property / If so, what foreseeable loss flowed from the breach / Question of when the tenancy ended and whether rent had been paid to that date / Held: respondents owed a duty of care not to damage the applicant’s property / evidence established some of the respondents were responsible for damage to the sofa / evidence relating to flood damage unclear / not satisfied the applicant has proven the claim on the balance of probabilities / rent claim not proven on the evidence / two of the respondents responsible for small amount o…