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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

The Tenancy Tribunal - Enforcement and offences

109B: Tribunal may make pecuniary penalty orders

You could also call this:

“The court can order big landlords to pay money if they break important rules on purpose.”

The Tenancy Tribunal can order a landlord to pay a penalty to the government if they break certain rules. This can happen if you’re a landlord for six or more homes or if you run a boarding house. The Tribunal can do this when a landlord deliberately breaks rules about:

  • Keeping the property clean, well-maintained, and safe
  • Making sure there are working smoke alarms
  • Meeting the healthy homes standards
  • Dealing with contaminated premises
  • Giving a notice to end a tenancy to get back at a tenant
  • Trying to end a tenancy without a good reason
  • Making agreements that go against the law

If you break these rules, the government can ask the Tribunal to give you a penalty. But they have to do this within 12 months of finding out about what you did wrong.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS453113.

Topics:
Housing and property > Renting
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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109A: Tribunal may restrain further commissions of unlawful acts, or

“The court can stop someone from doing bad things again for up to 6 years if they break the rules.”

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109C: Maximum amount of pecuniary penalty, or

“A fine of up to $50,000 can be given for breaking this law”

Part 3 The Tenancy Tribunal
Enforcement and offences

109BTribunal may make pecuniary penalty orders

  1. The Tribunal may, on the application of the chief executive, order a landlord to pay to the Crown the pecuniary penalty that the Tribunal determines to be appropriate if the Tribunal is satisfied that,—

  2. at the time of committing the unlawful act, the landlord was—
    1. a landlord of 6 or more tenancies (see section 2(2B) to (2D)); or
      1. a landlord of a boarding house; and
      2. the landlord intentionally committed an unlawful act under any of the following provisions:
        1. section 45(1A) or 66I(4) (landlord’s responsibilities: cleanliness, maintenance, smoke alarms, healthy homes standards, and buildings, health, and safety requirements):
          1. section 45(1AB) or 66I(5) (landlord’s responsibilities: contaminated premises):
            1. section 54(3) (retaliatory notice of termination):
              1. section 60AA (acting to terminate without grounds):
                1. section 137(2) (contracting to contravene or evade the provisions of this Act).

                2. The chief executive may not make an application under subsection (1) later than 12 months from the date on which the chief executive first became aware of the unlawful act.

                Notes
                • Section 109B: inserted, on , by section 59 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).