Completing your application

Make sure all the details of your application are entered clearly and correctly. This will help us resolve your dispute as quickly as possible.

When completing the application form, use simple language to explain the issue. You don’t need to:

• use ‘legal’ language
• quote the law
• provide specific sections of the Residential Tenancies Act.

It’s the adjudicator’s job to apply the Act.

We may need to ask you to provide more information.

What supporting documents do I need?

You need to include all relevant supporting documents with your application. They must be:

• on A4-sized paper
• clear and easy to read
• one-sided (as they’ll be scanned or photocopied).

Do not include original documents, photos, or bank statements. You can bring these to the mediation or the hearing.

You should provide copies of:

• the tenancy agreement (if there’s no written tenancy agreement, note this on your application)
• 14-day notice to remedy (if any)
• letters between you and the other person (if any).

If you’re seeking overdue rent:

Include a full rent summary of the tenancy to show what’s overdue. These records should set out:

• the weekly or fortnightly payments
• which of these payments were missed
• the total amount overdue.

Keeping receipts and accurate records

If you’re seeking compensation for damages:

On the application form, include what the damages are that you’re seeking. Then include:

• a written list of the damages and the amount you’re seeking for each one
• the total amount of compensation you’re claiming, along with copies of invoices (if any), quotes and receipts for work done.

If the work hasn’t been completed when you apply, note this on your application. You’ll need to provide the invoices for the work at your Tribunal hearing.

Repairs and damages

If you’re claiming water rates:

State on the application the amount of water rates you’re seeking. Then include:

• a copy of the last water invoice (for a current tenancy)
• a special water reading or the last water invoice with a manual final water reading (for a tenancy that has ended).

Documents needed if applying for a disposal order:

Provide a list of abandoned items left behind by the tenants.

What to do with abandoned goods

Which names to put on the application

You need to include the full names of every person you’ve been dealing with.

If you’re a tenant

List all the tenants involved in the claim as the ‘applicant’. The ‘other party’ is the person or company named as landlord in the tenancy agreement.

If both a property manager and owner are listed on the agreement, you can include both names on the application. But, if your dispute is only with the property manager, just list their name.

If you’re a landlord

List all parties named as ‘landlord’ in the tenancy agreement as the ‘applicant’.

List the ‘other party’ as:

• all the tenants named in the tenancy agreement
• any tenants you have a verbal tenancy agreement with, even if they’re not named in the written agreement.

If the application involves a trust

If the landlord or tenant is a trust, provide the names of the trustees. For example, ‘Bob Smith and Angela John as trustees for The Bob & Angela Trust’.

Providing the address for service

You’ll need to provide an address for the other person so they can be served with notices of mediations and Tenancy Tribunal hearings. This is called an address for service.

If you’re a landlord applying to the Tribunal after the tenancy has ended

If the tenancy ended less than 2 months ago, you can either:

• use the tenancy address
• use the address for service written on the tenancy agreement.

If the tenancy ended more than 2 months ago you can’t use the address for service listed on the agreement. Instead, list one of the following:

• a new contact address for the tenant. This must be given to you in writing by the tenant in the 2 months before you made the Tribunal application.
• a physical address where the tenant now lives, or where notice can be served on the tenant personally. This could include a workplace.
• the name and address of a solicitor or an agent that the tenant has authorised to receive notices on their behalf.

If you don’t have their address for service

You can apply for substituted service, which serves the notice in other ways. Substituted service can serve the notice to the other party through:

• a relative or partner of the other party
• if the other party is a company, you can use their registered company address(external link).

You can apply for substituted service if:

• you can’t find the other party’s address for service
• you have evidence that the notice wasn’t received.

If you have contact details for family members, include these in your application. Also note in the application what you’ve done to try to find an address for service.