Landlord, Vankat Raylu also claimed water rates arrears and termination of Mohammed Rahiman’s Mt Eden flat tenancy, which started in September 2005.

Raylu’s evidence to the tribunal included multiple pages of handwritten rent summaries with various start and end dates.

Some of the dates overlapped so there was duplicate information, but Raylu says they were copies from his rent schedule book which held payment information for the entire tenancy.

However, he did not keep a copy of all of the receipts given to Rahiman. Sometimes Raylu would write confirmation of the payments on previous rent receipts or on a piece of paper.

Rahiman confirmed this and added Raylu would collect rent randomly when it suited him. The landlord argued he was making concessions for Rahiman’s fractured income from his taxi business.

The practice of payment by Rahiman in various lump sums seems to have become a norm for both parties. It occurred throughout the entire tenancy which made it challenging to reconcile the rent arrears, the tribunal says.

Raylu produced copies of 38 receipts which he managed to photocopy during the tenancy.

The receipts indicated a failure to refer to the rental address. Raylu was advised of the requirements for certain particulars to be shown on receipts and the importance of retaining proper duplicate copies.

Rahiman told the tribunal that in addition to not always receiving receipts, he did not receive rent summaries.

He says he did not pursue these vigorously at the time because Raylu assured him he was keeping records. Rahiman felt it was also culturally appropriate to accept the landlord’s explanations given Raylu’s seniority.

The tenant raised discrepancies in the landlord’s evidence, when Raylu says he was unable to locate the tenancy agreement and the start date of the tenancy was April 19, 2004. Rahiman had a copy of the tenancy agreement verifying the tenancy started on September 9, 2005.

He also took exception to Raylu’s rental summary recording no payment from September 18, 2017 to March 26, 2018. Rahiman produced a receipt from Raylu confirming payment of $4,000 on October 9, 2017 and a bank receipt showing a deposit of $1,900 on February 22, 2018.

It was claimed by Raylu that a nil payment was recorded because the money was allocated to previous arrears.

Raylu gave the tribunal copies of letters dated December 2016, September 2019 and November 2020 sent to Rahiman about rent arrears. Rahiman claims he only received the December 2016 letter and this was the first time he became aware of the $12,060 in arrears.

The landlord told the tribunal he had many conversations with Rahiman about the arrears and the tenant never questioned it at the time, so he interpreted this as acceptance. Rahiman, however, argued he always queried the arrears and asked for rent summaries.

When asked by the tribunal why he did not apply to it sooner given the arrears were substantial for over five years, Raylu said this was “because he sympathised with Rahiman’s financial circumstances and relied upon his repeated promises to pay the arrears”.

The tribunal accepted Rahiman’s evidence that he was only given notification of the $12,060 arrears in 2016 and that he was never given rent summaries.

It said Raylu did not produce any late payment notices he said he sent to Rahiman prior to 2016 before the arrears became substantial.

“If the tenant had been provided with them he may have reduced the amount of outstanding arrears.”

In its decision, the tribunal said Raylu did not prove his claim for rent arrears to the required standard because of his failure to keep proper records and duplicate copies of the rent receipts and the discrepancies shown by Rahiman.

Water rates arrears were also not proved to the standard required said the tribunal and the tenancy termination had to fail.