In a recent claim, both the landlord and tenant successfully claimed against each other for damage to floorboards and excessive water and gas charges respectively.

The landlord sought compensation for repairs to and polishing of timber floors and relied on evidence from the ingoing and outgoing inspection, photos taken when the tenants had
vacated, and evidence from a cleaning company and a floor sanding company. There were deep grooves in the floorboards caused by the removal of the fridge without adequate protection underneath, and the claim was for $1,046 for repairs and $110 for polishing.

The report from the floor sanding company indicated that the scratch marks and dints were due to a heavy object being dragged across the floor with “absolutely no effort by the tenant to minimise any damage by protecting the floor
from scratching and dinting”. They quoted $2,093 and the landlord sought 50% of this cost as compensation. The tribunal found this figure to be too high and ordered the tenant to pay 25% of this amount, being $523.25 plus
$110 for the portion of the cleaning service.

The tenant made a claim for additional water and gas charges caused by a faulty gas hot water system and the tribunal found that their request to fix the problem was not addressed
for nearly a month. The landlord was ordered to pay the difference between the tenant’s actual bill and the amount they would have paid had the problem been addressed immediately, to a sum of $477.71.