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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

The Tenancy Tribunal - Appeals

117: Appeal to District Court

You could also call this:

“If you're not happy with what the Tribunal decided, you can ask a higher court to look at your case again.”

If you’re not happy with the Tribunal’s decision, you can appeal to the District Court. This includes decisions about whether to give you a new hearing or not.

You can’t appeal against some orders. These include temporary orders, orders about money if the amount is less than $1,000, or work orders if the work costs less than $1,000.

The District Court can hear these appeals even if the amount is more than they usually deal with in other cases.

To appeal, you need to file a notice at the nearest District Court to where the Tribunal met. You must do this within 10 working days after the decision.

The court will tell you when and where your appeal will be heard. They will also tell the other person involved in the case, who can come to the hearing too.

Just because you appeal doesn’t mean the Tribunal’s decision is stopped. You have to ask the Tribunal or a District Court Judge to stop it.

If you’re appealing about having to leave your home because you didn’t pay rent, you need to show proof that you weren’t behind on rent when the Tribunal made its decision.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM95954.

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Part 3 The Tenancy Tribunal
Appeals

117Appeal to District Court

  1. Subject to subsection (2), any party to any proceedings before the Tribunal who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Tribunal in the proceedings may appeal to the District Court against that decision.

  2. A decision referred to in subsection (1) includes the decision to grant, or refuse to grant, an application under section 105 for a rehearing.

  3. No appeal shall lie—

  4. against an interim order made under section 79; or
    1. against an order, or the failure to make an order, for the payment of money where the amount that would be in dispute on appeal is less than $1,000; or
      1. against a work order, or the failure to make a work order, where the value of the work that would be in dispute on appeal is less than $1,000.

        1. The District Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine an appeal under this section notwithstanding any limits imposed on such courts in their ordinary civil jurisdiction by sections 74 to 79 of the District Court Act 2016.

        2. The provisions of section 85, with any necessary modifications, shall apply in respect of the hearing and determination by the District Court of an appeal brought under this section.

        3. An appeal under this section shall be brought by the filing of a notice of appeal in the District Court nearest to the place at which the Tribunal sat in the proceedings to which the appeal relates.

        4. Every such notice of appeal shall be filed within 10 working days after the date of the decision to which the appeal relates.

        5. As soon as practicable after a notice of appeal has been filed under this section, the Registrar of the court shall cause a copy of the notice to be lodged with the Tribunal's records relating to the proceedings to which the appeal relates, and, on receipt of that copy, the Registrar of the Tribunal shall send the Tribunal's file on the matter to the court.

        6. The Registrar of the court shall fix the time and place for the hearing of the appeal and shall notify the appellant.

        7. A copy of every notice of appeal together with a notice of the time and place for hearing the appeal shall be served by the Registrar on the other party to the proceedings before the Tribunal, and that party may appear and be heard.

        8. The filing of a notice of appeal under this section shall not operate as a stay of proceedings, unless the Tribunal or a District Court Judge, on application, so determines.

        9. Where the appeal relates to an order terminating the tenancy made on the ground of non-payment of rent, a stay of proceedings shall not be granted unless the application for stay is supported by a receipt or other written evidence tending to show that the rent was not in fact in arrear at the date of the hearing before the Tribunal.

        Notes
        • Section 117(1): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).
        • Section 117(1A): inserted, on , by section 79(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
        • Section 117(2)(b): replaced, on , by section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
        • Section 117(2)(c): inserted, on , by section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
        • Section 117(3): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).
        • Section 117(4): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).
        • Section 117(5): amended, on , by section 79(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).