Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand

Contract / Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) / Applicant owned property / Respondent moved into room at property and was to pay rent of $280.00 per week / Respondent paid $280.00 once / Respondent later paid a further $600.00 / Applicant claimed $6,160.00 for unpaid rent / Held: RTA did not apply to agreement between parties / Applicant was owner of property and used property as his principal place of residence, therefore tenancy was outside jurisdiction of the Tenancy Tribunal and claim could be heard by Disputes Tribunal / Parties agreed Respondent would pay $280.00 per week while living at property / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $5,560.00 being the actual amount of unpaid rent / Claim partially allowed.

Contract / Misrepresentation / Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 / Applicant purchased second hand baler from Respondent / Respondent stated baler was in good working condition / Applicant took baler to get checked by mechanic who found it needed repairs /  Applicant claimed Respondent misrepresented machine which induced him to buy it / Applicant claimed $6,659.79 plus GST / Held: misrepresentation was proven / Applicant suffered additional costs of transporting baler to the mechanic / Applicant entitled to damages / Respondent much pay Applicant $7,388.75, purchase price of baler, transportation costs and GST / Claim granted.

Contract / Property Law Act 2007 / Parties purchased house together / Each party owned one third share / Relationship between parties broke down / Respondent convicted of assault and bailed away from house / Respondent stopped contributing to mortgage and outgoings / Parties agreed to sell house / Applicants claimed $10,000 for Respondent’s unpaid contributions / Respondent counterclaimed $16,706.43 for costs relating to property / Held: parties had agreed to equal contributions to property outgoings, and equal shares in proceeds from any sale / Respondent being bailed away from address did not absolve him of responsibility for contributions / Respondent liable for $9,120 mortgage contributions / None of Respondent’s counterclaims successful / Orders made for equal distribution of sale proceeds minus deductions for successful claims / Claim allowed and counterclaim dismissed.

Contract / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 / Applicant engaged Respondent to move house contents / Afterwards, Applicant discovered several items were missing and many items were damaged or broken / Applicant claimed $10,100.00 compensation / Held: more likely than not that the items were damaged or went missing while in Respondent’s care / Parties’ contract for carriage stated all goods were carried and or stored at owner’s risk / Respondent did not intentionally damage or lose Applicant’s goods / Applicant’s claim not proven / Claim dismissed.

Rehearing / Respondent applied for a rehearing because he missed call for original hearing / Held: no procedural unfairness when a party was informed of hearing date and choose not to attend / No miscarriage of justice from not being heard, as Respondent did not present evidence to support his claims / Rehearing not granted / Claim dismissed.

Negligence / Vicarious liability / Applicant purchased wine barrels from Respondent / Respondent’s staff member assisted with carrying the barrels to Applicant’s vehicle and loading them / Applicant claimed barrel slipped and scratched his bumper / Applicant sought $773.38 for repairs / Respondent claimed it was a “joint lift”, it was Applicant’s side that slipped and it was not intentional nor careless by the staff member / Respondent paid half of Applicant’s repair invoice ($386.69) on the basis the Applicant shared the blame for damage / Held: no evidence Respondent’s staff member breached his duty of care / Respondent not vicariously liable for damage / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Applicant conducted business from Respondent’s shop / Parties signed agreement detailing arrangement / Respondent later informed Applicant that the agreement was cancelled / Applicant claimed compensation for loss of income and related costs / Applicant claimed cancellation was unjustified and unlawful / Held: Applicant had contractual license to occupy part of Respondent’s premises / Respondent had legal freedom to revoke license at any time for any reason / Applicant had same freedom to cancel at any time for any reason / No agreement that consent of other party was required for revocation or cancellation / Respondent under no legal obligation to continue with arrangement / Respondent not liable for any costs or losses incurred / Claim dismissed.

Contract / Respondent booked into Applicant’s motel for two weeks / Standard night rate was $140 / Applicant claimed $1960 from Respondent on the basis that Applicant left without paying or checking out / Conflicting accounts of whether payment took place / Respondent claimed he did not receive notification of hearing / Held: Applicant’s account that Respondent made no payment was preferred / Evidence indicated Respondent was contacted about the hearing via mail, email and text message / Respondent ordered to pay $1960.00 / Claim allowed.

Contract / Applicant did some farm work as a contractor for Respondent / Applicant claimed $2,239.00 for work done in July 2023 / Respondent denied claim on basis Applicant did not do any work for him in July 2023 / Held: parties disagreed about when arrangement between them ended / Respondent claimed Applicant told him at the end of June that she did not want to work for him anymore / Applicant claimed that conversation happened at the end of July / No independent evidence about when conversation took place / Fact that Respondent paid Applicant for work done in first week of July supported inference that conversation took place at end of July, not end of June /  Respondent failed to prove Applicant had cancelled contract and did not do any work in July 2023 / Respondent breached agreement by failing to pay Applicant for time invoiced / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant invoiced amount of $2,239.00 / Claim allowed.

Contract / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant purchased a second-hand fridge from Respondent for $600 / Applicant paid $30.00 for delivery / Months later, Applicant contacted Respondent stating the fridge was no longer cooling food /  Respondent repaired fridge at Applicant’s address / Shortly afterwards Applicant contacted Respondent to advise the problem did not appear to be fixed / Respondent advised that Applicant would have to bring the fridge in to be fixed / Applicant sought a refund for the fridge of $600.00 and $30.00 for delivery and $45.00 for the Tribunal filing fee / Held: Respondent did not succeeded in remedying the fault within a reasonable time frame / Applicant can reject the goods and get a $600 refund / Respondent failed to succeeded in remedying the fault / Applicant not entitled to a reimbursement of fridge delivery fee, $30 / Delivery was separate from the purchase and no fault with service / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $600 / Applicant ordered to r…

Consumer law / Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 / Applicant engaged to carry out specialised cleaning job on Respondent’s home / Work  completed and invoiced for $3,153.05 / Payment made to Applicant for $2,000.00 / Respondent disputed outstanding balance of $1,153.05 as being an unreasonable price / Held: invoiced amount for specialist clean was a reasonable price / Comparable invoices for similar jobs carried out by Applicant were consistent in pricing with Respondent’s job / Respondent ordered to pay Applicant $1,153.05 / Claim allowed.

Contract / Applicants entered sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to sell their home to Respondents / Respondents were unable to settle on Friday settlement date, and sale settled the following Monday / Applicants claimed $5392.38 for losses due to delayed settlement / Respondents disputed amount claimed as unreasonable / Held: Applicants entitled to claim costs for losses after settlement in accordance with clauses in the SPA / Applicants entitled to reasonable costs associated with breach of contract / Applicants entitled to $388.23 for 1 ½ hours mover’s waiting time, $2070.00 for storage and redelivery, $172.50 for additional legal expenses, $266.67 for food, pet boarding and additional petrol and travel, and $333.33 for meat and groceries that perished in moving truck / Respondents ordered to pay $3187.73 / Claim allowed in part.

Contract / Applicants and Respondent were neighbours / Respondent contacted Applicants about the possibility of removing trees located on Applicants' property near the boundary of their properties / Respondent withdrew previous offers to contribute to cost of removing trees / Applicants proceeded with the work / Applicants claimed tree felling cost contribution from Respondent including cost of removing and reinstating the fence / Held: no concluded agreement in respect of the amount that Respondent would contribute to the cost of the tree felling / Respondent not required to contribute to completed work cost /  Respondent also entitled to have fence reinstated to previous condition / Claim dismissed.