Where the landlord believes the tenant has breached the tenancy agreement they may decide to take the matter to the Tenancy Tribunal. Following are a number of steps to take when working out how to respond.
Review the landlord’s claims
If a tenant receives notice of an application by the landlord, it’s important to review all of the information provided by the landlord, and also whether the landlord may be saving any additional evidence for the hearing. Each claim by the landlord will be backed by evidence. If these claims are disputed by the tenant, they will need to provide evidence for their position.
Decide on best response to the landlord’s application
There are generally four main options when responding to a landlord’s Tenancy Tribunal application.
- Reach an agreement with the landlord conditional on them withdrawing the application.
- Get the matter referred to mediation first, instead of a Tribunal hearing.
- Prepare to respond to the application, and / or
- File a cross application against the landlord.
As always, resolving the matter outside of a Tribunal hearing is preferable.
Consider making a cross-application
If a matter can not be resolved outside of the Tenancy Tribunal, and the tenant has legitimate issues to raise against their landlord, then they should strongly consider making a cross application. A cross application is where a tenant who is subject to a claim by the landlord, makes their own application against the landlord for the Tribunal to consider at the same time.
If a tenant wants to make a cross application, they need to do this with plenty of time before the hearing is set, so that the matters are able to be scheduled together. If a cross application is being made, this needs to be clearly stated on the application - there is a question early in the application form to indicate this.
Gather evidence
If the tenant disputes the claims being made by the landlord then they need to provide whatever evidence they can to prove that the landlord is wrong. For example, if the landlord is alleging rent arrears and the tenant disputes this, the tenant should provide evidence to support what they say such as bank records, WINZ records, and receipts for rent.
Looking at or citing similar Tenancy Tribunal cases may sometimes help provide an idea of how the case may go, or how an adjudicator may think. However, it’s important to note that the Tenancy Tribunal is not bound by the precedent of other Tribunal decisions. Find out about searching Tenancy Tribunal decisions.
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