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Question Details: The bond money is worth two weeks' rent.
Filed under Tenancy | 1352 View(s)
Community Law Wellington & Hutt Valley
Yes, your landlord can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal if you don't pay your rent. If you have a reason for not paying your rent, you should discuss it with your landlord and try to settle your issues.
A landlord is required to have a written tenancy agreement with you. Even though you don't have a written agreement, your payment of bond and rent indicates that you do have a tenancy agreement - it's just not in writing.
Your landlord must also deposit your bond with the Department of Building and Housing. To claim any of it they must have you sign a Bond Refund form. If you don't, the landlord can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for some of the bond to cover any rent owed. You may even have to pay extra if the bond is not enough to cover the total amount owed.
You can call the Department of Building and Housing to check whether your bond has been registered: www.dbh.govt.nz. For further information about resolving disputes you should see www.dbh.govt.nz or www.communitylaw.org.nz.
Answered 7 Aug 2013. The IMPORTANT NOTICE below is part of this answer.
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