102Costs

1. Except in a case to which any of subsections (2), (4), or (5) apply, the Tribunal shall have no power to award costs to or against any party to proceedings before it.

2. The Tribunal may make an order of a kind referred to in subsection (3) in any of the following cases:

3. where, in the opinion of the Tribunal, the proceedings are frivolous or vexatious or ought not to have been brought:
4. where any of the parties was represented by counsel:
5. where, in the opinion of the Tribunal, the matter in dispute ought reasonably to have been settled before the Tenancy Mediator but that the party against whom the order is to be made refused, without reasonable excuse, to take part in proceedings before a Tenancy Mediator or acted in any such proceedings in a contemptuous or improper manner:
6. where any applicant to the Tribunal, after receiving notice of the hearing, fails to attend the hearing without good cause.

7. In any case to which subsection (2) applies, the Tribunal may order a party to pay—

8. to the Crown, any 1 or more of the following:
   1. the reasonable costs of the Tribunal hearing:
   2. the fees and expenses of any witness that have been paid or are payable by the Crown:
   3. the reasonable fees and expenses of any Tenancy Mediator in relation to the preparation of a report under section 99:
   4. the reasonable fees and expenses of any valuer in relation to the preparation of a report under section 100; or
9. to another party, the reasonable costs of that other party in connection with the proceedings.

10. If the applicant—

11. has been wholly successful in his or her claim, the Tribunal must order that the respondent pay the applicant the filing fee paid for the application:
12. has been partly successful in his or her claim, the Tribunal may order that the respondent pay the applicant the filing fee paid for the application.

13. The Tribunal may make an order to give effect, in whole or in part, to a provision in a tenancy agreement requiring one party (the debtor) to reimburse the other party (the creditor) for any reasonable expenses or commissions paid or incurred by the creditor in recovering, or attempting to recover, any overdue payment that the debtor owes to the creditor under an order of the Tribunal.

Notes

• Section 102(1): amended, on 1 October 2010, by section 68(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
• Section 102(2)(a): amended, on 1 May 1996, by section 41(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
• Section 102(2)(d): inserted, on 1 May 1996, by section 41(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
• Section 102(3)(a): replaced, on 1 May 1996, by section 41(3) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
• Section 102(4): inserted, on 1 October 2010, by section 68(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
• Section 102(5): inserted, on 1 October 2010, by section 68(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).