Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Miscellaneous provisions

134: Waiver by landlord of breach by tenant

You could also call this:

“If a landlord lets a tenant break a rule once, they can still enforce it later, but the Tenancy Tribunal might consider this if the landlord wants to end the tenancy.”

If you’re a tenant and you break a rule, your landlord might not do anything about it. This is called a waiver. But just because your landlord doesn’t do anything once, it doesn’t mean they can’t take action later.

If you keep breaking the same rule, your landlord can still tell you to stop in the future. If you break a different rule later, your landlord can still do something about it.

However, if your landlord tries to end your tenancy by going to the Tenancy Tribunal, the Tribunal might consider the fact that your landlord didn’t do anything about your earlier rule-breaking. This could affect their decision about ending your tenancy.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM96403.

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Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions

134Waiver by landlord of breach by tenant

  1. A waiver by the landlord of any breach by the tenant, or a failure by the landlord to enforce any obligation by the tenant, shall not,—

  2. where the breach is of a continuing nature, prevent the landlord from enforcing the obligation in future; or
    1. where the breach is not of a continuing nature, prevent the landlord from exercising any remedy in the event of a subsequent breach by the tenant;—
        1. but any such waiver or failure to enforce may be taken into consideration by the Tribunal if the landlord subsequently applies to the Tribunal for an order terminating the tenancy.