The rights and obligations of tenants and landlords in a tenancy have been placed under the microscope recently with the case of Sharon Salt and her family. The Salt family was initially ordered to leave their state house in Auckland after the Tenancy Tribunal found serious breaches of their tenancy agreement with Housing New Zealand.

On appeal, Sharon Salt was granted a rehearing that subsequently resulted in the Tribunal ruling in her favour and determining that there was insufficient evidence to terminate the tenancy. The Tribunal adjudicator criticised Housing New Zealand for a lack of specific evidence concerning complaints made about the family following the issue of the original breach notice earlier in the year. The adjudicator considered that the evidence presented was neither specific nor sufficiently recent and that it would therefore be unjust to terminate the tenancy.

Housing New Zealand has indicated an intention to appeal the Auckland Tenancy Tribunal decision to allow the Salt family to remain living in their state house. It is likely that the appeal and resulting decision will be significant in further defining the exact nature of the relationship between landlord and tenant.

Tenancy Tribunal

The Tenancy Tribunal is a court charged with the responsibility of determining disputes between landlords and tenants.  Decisions of the Tribunal are made in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act and those decisions affect the interpretation and application of the Act.  A hearing before the Tribunal is a public hearing and parties may attend with support people.  Generally lawyers will not appear although there are special circumstances where they may.

At the hearing, the adjudicator hears evidence from both parties together with any relevant witnesses. In most cases the adjudicator will give a decision immediately after the hearing.  In more complex cases a written decision may be provided at a later date, such as in the Salt case.

The Tribunal has authority to make a variety of orders. The most common are described below.

Possession Order

This involves the termination of the tenancy. This can happen where a tenant is behind in rent, has substantially damaged the property, has assaulted the landlord, other tenants or neighbours, or is in default under the tenancy agreement.  To obtain a possession order, the landlord must give at least 10 working days notice to address breaches and the tenant must have failed to remedy the breaches within the designated time.

Monetary Order

This requires either a landlord or a tenant to pay money to the other. For example, a payment could be for rent arrears or refund of overpaid rent, payment for damage, cleaning, reimbursement of costs, payment of exemplary damages for legal breaches, or payment of compensation for loss of goods or loss of use through poor repair.

Work Order

The Tribunal can make an order requiring a person to remedy damage or repair the property.

Conclusion

The Salt case highlights that the relationship between landlord and tenant is not always a smooth one.  It also illustrates that the eviction process can be time consuming and stressful for those involved. In the final analysis, prevention is almost always better than cure and therefore tenant selection is everything.