Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010

57 Jurisdiction of Tribunal

• (1) Section 77 is amended by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:

  • “(1) The Tribunal has, subject to the Limitation Act 1950, jurisdiction to determine in accordance with this Act any dispute that—

    • “(a) exists between a landlord and a tenant or between a landlord and the guarantor of a tenant; and

    • “(b) relates to any tenancy to which this Act applies or to which this Act did apply at any material time.”

  (2) Section 77(2) is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

  • “(ab) to determine whether any premises are or are not, or were or were not at any material time, a boarding house as defined in section 66B:”.

  (3) Section 77(2) is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (k):

  • “(ka) to determine whether, and the extent to which, the guarantor of a tenant is liable to the landlord under the guarantee, and to order the guarantor to pay to the landlord any sum found to be payable under the guarantee:”.

  (4) Section 77(2) is amended by inserting the following paragraphs after paragraph (m):

  • “(ma) to make an order declaring a house rule of a boarding house unlawful, or requiring a landlord to apply a house rule in a particular manner, or to vary a house rule, or to set a house rule aside:

  • “(mb) to order the landlord to refrain from exercising the power under section 66R(2) to enter the boarding room of a tenant under a boarding house tenancy:

  • “(mc) to make orders under section 62B concerning goods left on the premises on the termination of a tenancy:”.

  (5) Section 77(2)(p) is amended by omitting “whole of the tenant’s interest” and substituting “rights of the tenant”.

  (6) Section 77 is amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4):

  • “(4A) The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to determine a dispute so far as it raises a question as to the landlord’s conduct in the landlord’s capacity as a provider of health or disability services and the conduct is of a kind about which a complaint may be made under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994.”

  (7) Section 77 is amended by repealing subsection (5) and substituting the following subsection:

  • “(5) Despite subsection (1), the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to require any party to pay any sum, or to do any work to a value, or otherwise to incur any expenditure, in excess of $50,000.”

  (8) Section 77(6) is amended by omitting “to a tenancy agreement to which this Act applies from abandoning so much of a claim as exceeds $12,000” and substituting “from abandoning so much of a claim as exceeds $50,000”.

  (9) Section 77 is amended by repealing subsection (7) and substituting the following subsection:

  • “(7) Subsection (5) does not affect a claim relating to a tenancy that is for a balance of not more than $50,000 that results from a set-off or any counterclaim in respect of the same tenancy, if the set-off or counterclaim is admitted by the claimant in the notice of claim.”