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Tenancy Tribunal

Resolving residential tenancy disputes in New Zealand

This section provides general information about the New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal. It is intended to assist landlords and residential tenants in understanding how tenancy disputes are raised, mediated, and determined.

The Tenancy Tribunal was established under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Its procedures are governed by that Act and by the Residential Tenancies Rules 2010.

Nature of the Tenancy Tribunal

The Tenancy Tribunal is a specialist forum that deals with disputes arising from residential tenancies. Common issues include rent, bonds, repairs, damage, termination of tenancies, and compliance with statutory obligations.

Proceedings are designed to be relatively informal and accessible. In most cases:

Parties represent themselves
Lawyers do not ordinarily appear
A Tenancy Adjudicator actively manages the hearing

Despite its informality, the Tribunal makes binding decisions, which may be enforced through the courts if necessary.

Mediation and timeframes

When a Tenancy Tribunal application is filed, parties may be offered mediation before the matter proceeds to a hearing. Many disputes are resolved at this stage without the need for a formal decision.

If a matter proceeds to a hearing, a decision may sometimes be given orally at the end of the hearing, particularly where the issues are straightforward.

In other cases, the adjudicator may reserve the decision in order to give careful consideration to the evidence or legal issues raised. These are known as reserved decisions and may take some time to be issued.

Timeframes vary depending on location, complexity, and workload. As with other civil forums, it is not possible to give firm estimates.

Important note on currency

Many of the articles in this section were originally published in 2015 as part of the CourtKeys public legal education project. While the material remains useful for understanding general structure and process, some information may now be out of date. Updated and revised material is included in Civil Litigation for Non-Lawyers.

Topics covered

The articles in this section address key aspects of Tenancy Tribunal proceedings, including:

Select a topic to view further information about that aspect of the Tribunal process.

Disclaimer

All legal information published on this website is general information about New Zealand law only. It is not legal advice or a substitute for legal advice. It does not address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity. It may not reflect current law, practice or legal requirements. No warranty, guarantee or undertaking is made about the accuracy or completeness of the information, or about results that may be obtained from the information. No responsibility or liability is assumed or accepted for any actions taken or not taken based on use of the information, or for any direct or indirect losses or damage of any kind arising from use of the information. Specific legal advice should be obtained from a lawyer about any circumstances.