Does the landlord have to provide a rent receipt?
When a tenant pays rent to their landlord, it’s important that there is proof that this has happened. With most people now paying by automatic payment, this proof exists through the electronic records kept by the bank at both ends of the transaction and so the landlord is not required to provide a separate written receipt.
A receipt is not required where rent is paid:
- through an automatic payment or personal cheque from the tenant's bank account to the landlord's bank account, or
- into a bank account used only by the landlord for their rental properties, or
- directly from the tenant’s WINZ benefit or pay into the landlord’s bank account.
If however, the rent is paid another way, ie, by cash, then the landlord must give the tenant a written receipt for their rent payment (s 29 RTA). For a cash payment the receipt should be provided to the tenant immediately. In other cases, it has to be provided within 72 hours.
What does a rent receipt have to include?
The law states that receipts for rent must have the following information (s 29(1) RTA):
- The address of the rental property or a code or reference to identify which property the payments relate to.
- The amount and nature of the payment.
- The date the payment was made.
- The name of the person making the payment, if this is known.
What if the landlord refuses to give a receipt?
Occasionally a landlord won’t want to issue receipts for cash payments of rent (possibly because they know they’re doing something illegal). Without receipts for their rent payments, the tenant is in a vulnerable position and they should be advised not to accept this, even where there is some apparent advantage to the tenant (eg, they are being offered cheaper rent for their cash payments).
If a landlord doesn’t provide a receipt, or a statement of rent payments when this is requested in writing by the tenant, this is an unlawful act (s 29(5) RTA).
What if there is disagreement about whether rent has been paid?
If there is a disagreement it will come down to what proof there is that the payment has or hasn’t been made. This is why automatic payments between bank accounts are preferred. In these situations the tenant should be able to access their own bank records online or by going into their local bank and download or print the transactions for the relevant period as proof that the payment has been made.
If the tenant has paid in cash, or by some other method where the payment can’t be tracked, and they don’t have a receipt (eg, they weren’t given one or have lost it) they need to put together evidence to show that the rent was paid. This could include:
- Asking the landlord for a copy of their rent record for the relevant period. The landlord must provide a statement of the tenant’s rent following a request by the tenant in writing (s 29(3) RTA). Asking for this information from the landlord may prompt the landlord to review their records and help to show up a recording error. It also gives the tenant the opportunity to test whether the landlord is keeping accurate records as required by law (s 30 RTA). If the landlord is not keeping proper records this may help the tenant’s case if the matter gets taken to the Tenancy Tribunal.
- Getting any other person who saw the payment being made to make a formal statement, ie, a flatmate who accompanied the tenant to the property manager’s offices. This could even be in the form of a statutory declaration.
- If the tenant has a mobile phone they may be able to use their location history to show where they have been and when. This may help to show that they visited the landlord’s address at a particular time and date for the purpose of paying the rent.
Ultimately, if the dispute cannot be resolved, either party may decide to make an application to the Tenancy Tribunal to resolve the matter.
Case study
The landlord claimed the tenant owed $2,250 in rent. The landlord would collect the rent in cash and then spend it on groceries, rather than banking it, so there were no bank records. The landlord kept a rent book, but many entries had no dates next to them and were not signed.
The Tenancy Tribunal found that the landlord’s rent records were unreliable and that there was not adequate proof of rent arrears. They dismissed the landlord’s claim. The Tribunal also required the landlord to pay $200 in exemplary damages for failing to provide rent receipts.
They said a landlord must keep proper business records showing all payments of rent and bond by the tenant. The Tribunal noted that proper business records are records that are orderly, to a high standard, completed when the payment is made, and that marks on a calendar or a scrap of paper are not good enough.
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