Disagreeing with Tribunal decision
Question from Bruce updated on 1st November 2019:
I have a situation where a Tenancy Tribunal Adjudicator has ordered my agent to pay almost $5,000 on a case where a 90 day notice was issued. One year later the tenant is still at the house. The adjudicator misinterpreted the Act. Apparently, the owner is not the landlord. Aso, they accepted tenant’s statements with no evidence and rejected ours with evidence. I was not allowed to be added as a name to the matter. My question is who can I talk with about this?
Our expert Steve Watson responded:
If a party to a Tenancy Tribunal proceeding disagrees with a decision made or the handling of a case at the Tenancy Tribunal, you have two options. You can either apply for a rehearing or appeal to the District Court. You can apply for a rehearing if you think that the decision was substantially wrong or that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.
Rehearing: You apply for the rehearing at the District Court where the original hearing took place. You have five working days after a decision is issued to apply for a rehearing. The Court will decide if a rehearing is granted.
Appeal: You can appeal to the District Court if you think the decision is wrong (based on the law). Lodge an appeal at the District Court closest to where the Tribunal hearing took place. You have 10 working days after the decision is issued to lodge an appeal. If you lodge an appeal, you must pay a filing fee and a hearing fee to the District Court: the filing fee is $200 and the hearing fee is $900 after the first half-day.
It isn’t an option to apply for a rehearing or apply for an appeal to the District Court because a party doesn’t like a decision. If you were not a party to a proceeding, you can contact the Ministry of Justice for further information about this matter. You can contact the Ministry of Justice on 0800 268 787.
For more information on adjudicator’s decision go to www.tenancy.govt.nz/disputes/tribunal/disagree-with-the-tribunals-decision/. You can also subscribe to our e-newsletter Tenancy Matters here.
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