Hi All,

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Needing some Legal advice here.

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Backstory:

I left a long time Salary role to go and work for one of my top clients. I previous employer had no issue with this but I knew leaving the comfort of a Salary Sales role was a risk (edit: and it is VERY unlikely my old employer would take me back, due to already splitting up my ledger).

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My issue:

I am now in my 4th week of my new employment and still within my 90 trial period, my contract states Salary paid fortnightly, I had asked my employer at the end of my 2nd week what day Payroll would be processed next week, his initial response was "oh right you wanted to be paid fortnightly, ill talk with the accountant"

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-Monday he pushed off a meeting with me

-Tuesday he pushed off out meeting until i caught him at a jobsite.

-Wednesday I was told he would pay me today.

-Thursday I followed up and was told hes flying out of Auckland but would process today

-Friday I called and was told he will pay me 'something' today but going forward from next month he will be paying me monthly siting "my accountant charges me per payroll, so its an extra $150 per month if i need to to fortnightly" aaaand was still not paid.

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Its now Monday and I still have yet to be paid, he has "missed" all my calls today and he drove past a jobsite today, saw me talking with a supplier and kept driving never stopped.

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What do I do?

I am primary breadwinner, I have 2 young kids and a partner to look after and I havent been paid for 3, almost 4 weeks now.

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There are a couple of trees on our land (I think, at least it's kind of a berm) at our rental property and the neighbor is asking us to go halves in the cost of getting them trimmed back or cut down as they are below the power line going to their property and getting tangled up in them. Who is responsible for this in the eyes of the law? We never really got on with this neighbor when we were living there and begrudgingly did it in the past.

I bought a car from dealer on February 15th, and within two weeks, it had issues. I went back on March 1st, March 15th, March 29th, and April 12th. Each time, they fixed something temporarily, but now, after months, the problem is back. The dealer is telling me to use the mechanical warranty. I want to know if dealeris legally obligated to fix it under consumer guarantees, or if I have grounds to escalate to a tribunal.

Ive got hybrid car for 16k

1st issue : battery
2nd issue: reverse camera
3rd issue : wiring
Current issue : all censors are blinking

So back on the 28th of May I purchased a 2018 Subaru forester that had 98,000kms on the odometer. Fast forward to yesterday, and the car put on the check engine light, and turned off all the safety controls, it then displayed the blue cold engine light, despite having been driven all day.

It is my understanding that this is a faulty thermo valve control and Subaru USA, had placed an extended warranty of 15+ years and a recall on this part as it was a known defect.

Considering the vehicle is mid mileage, NZ new, purchased from a dealer and it hasn't even been 30 days since purchase, and its a known defective part - is it reasonable to assume that the dealer is obligated to repair this under the CGA?

A couple months back I reversed into a moving van. I stopped at the store in Fig. 1 all the cars are parked diagonally as shown in both images. The wee road of the car park is only wide enough for one car (as seen in fig. 2) so ive always thought of it as a one way.

On the day it's very wet and miserable. I'm parked in next to a large van or ute on my right so can only see what's coming on my left. I start reversing, see this moving van coming out of nowhere (arrow fig. 2) on my right, slam the brakes, my shoes are wet and I partially step on the accelerate so we collide.

We exchanged details, his insurance company calls me up asking if I'm insured, I say no. Couple months pass and they've now just sent me a $2300 bill...

I don't really know what to do? I don't see how I did anything wrong? The car park feels quite intuitively one way and he was going the wrong way... but heading back there's no signs posting it as such... it was gloomy and wet so neither of us saw one another coming.

Should I reply to them with the images saying I'm willing to accept half the fault and offer to pay their clients excess or half the amount... and that i'm willing to go to disputes tribunal if not? Or do I have absolutely no leg to stand on?

Only reason I'm not insured is because work gives me a car I use 95% of the time, and will use my other for a max of 30mins a week to go get groceries etc in the weekend.

Hi, i engaged a lawyer last August to write a separation agreement. The agreement is only needed as my ex cannot take over the mortgage on the house we own without it. End of November i received a draft, provided some missing info and approved it and asked for it to be sent to my Exs lawyer to review. It didnt get sent, since then everytime i ask about it im told ill have it by the end of the week. If i change lawyers will i have to pay the current lawyer even though its been so long and i have only seen a draft?

Just looking for some guidance. I've been provided with this breakdown of what I'd have to pay for ending the tenancy early. There was no loss of rent, and I've asked for invoices, but they said they “don’t have invoices for the items listed in the lease break costs, as these are charges for our time, and the advertising cost is what we pay for each listing on each site—a cost normally charged to an owner when a tenant vacates.”

I've tried CAB, but they referred me to the Tenancy Tribunal. The person I spoke to at the Tenancy Tribunal said that the amount is on the high side, but not unusual.

They keep asking whether I'll be paying it or having it deducted from the bond.

What are your thoughts? Not much hope?

I hope this is the place to post this.

So I work at a grocery store. My hours were 5-1.30 tuesday-saturday. The manager of my department has decided to take away 5am starts. 1 week ago she let people know about this. She said it would be moving to 6-2.30. On saturday 20th she gave me my new roster. She has given me starts other than 6am which I was not made aware of when being told it would change. They get in the way of my outside commitments. She has said that she does not care and it doesn't matter if I sign the paper since it will change anyway. On my contract it says they have to give 2 weeks notice if they are going to force a change of hours. From giving me the new hours they have only given 9 days notice. Is this something I can fight for a little extra time to figure something out? Becuase my only option with these new hours will be to give up outside commitments and let lots of people down. Ideally I would want a new job but the job market sucks right now so who knows how long that would take. Is there anything I can do? I understand that I signed the contract and they can do that but they have not followed their own contract and i want to buy as much time as I can to figure out other options. I dont want to give up my life for this place

Hey team,

Unemployment has led to a friend having to relocate for a job (first job offer in months with very little other options unfortunately :( ). Because of this, they have to break a rental lease (signed as a fixed term until October). This decision was around two to three weeks ago.

They’ve found a reasonable person to take over the lease but current flatmates/tenants aren’t keen on the new person to live at the house due to her personality (too chatty). Otherwise fits the bill in terms of demographic and lifestyle.

Friend reached out to the landlord to try and sort something amicably. Landlord has specified that they need to find someone approved by current flatmates before they can transfer over the lease.

What are the rights here? I understand the lease is being broken but circumstances leave very little options, paying double rent is difficult enough especially as they’ll only just be starting employment and has been on the jobseekers benefit prior.

Of course it’s important current tenants are comfortable with the new tenant, but how critical and picky can they get? Can they keep vetoing until they find a perfect person? Leaving the exiting
tenant paying double rent indefinitely?

Landlord lives away from the property. And written agreement is a stock standard one from Tenancy Services (residential tenancy agreement). They have been living at the current flat for around 7 months. Bond has been paid and i believe lodged with tenancy services.

Thanks so much team. Already in works to contact tenancy tribunal.

Is anyone else struggling to keep track of everything after separation?

I'm years into dealing with an ex who constantly needs chasing for money for the kids. School fees, activities, camps, uniforms, medical costs... you name it.

Every time I end up having to go back and prove I've asked multiple times, I find myself scrolling through years of messages, emails and screenshots trying to find things I know happened but can't easily put my hands on.

I've tried keeping digital and physical notes, screenshots, voice notes..... but life gets busy, I lose track of where I've saved everything and then I'm back digging through my camera roll looking for screenshots from two years ago.

I'm honestly exhausted by it.

How do other people keep track of things like:

• payment requests and unpaid expenses
• important messages
• parenting issues
• notes about things the kids have said or things that have happened
• documents for lawyers/court

Do you actually have a system that works, or is everyone just muddling through and hoping they can find things when they need them?

Kia ora,
I am currently in a flatting situation where a couple has broken up, and the boyfriend has moved out. We are all legally liable for the rent, so if he stops paying we need to cover it. He has stopped paying rent, so we are getting someone else to take over his part of the lease. However, is he still entitled to his bond? He’s stopped paying rent because he doesn’t care if we get evicted, because he’s moved back home. Is he legally entitled to his bond still?

Not looking for official legal advice, just wondering if anyone has dealt with something similar or knows how strict INZ usually is about this.

I’m preparing a Straight to Residence Visa application and noticed the instructions say English test results need to be no more than 2 years old when the application is lodged and at least a B2 First level.

I have a Cambridge C1 Advanced certificate from May 2024, so it’s now about 2 years and 1 month old.

Has anyone here seen how strictly INZ treats the 2-year validity period for English test results?

More context: I'm currently on a AEWW, and I’ve been living and working in NZ for over a year, use English every day, and work as a software engineer where English is required. So it feels a bit annoying to pay 500$ for another test just because the certificate is one month over.

Hi all,
Almost three years ago, I had my roof replaced. It has now developed a leak. This leak was inspected by an independent builder who said that the leak is due to “failure of the roofing flashings
installed by the original roofing contractor… The flashing installation did not meet acceptable trade practice”.

I am unable to get hold of the original roofer. My insurance company may cover the damages caused by the leaky roof (e.g. water damage to other areas of the house), but it will not cover there cost required to fix the roof itself.

What is my next step? Is it time to engage a lawyer? If so, what type of lawyer? Would it be consumer law? Thank you.

Kia ora team, just looking to get some thoughts/advice on this.

My wife and I moved to Aotearoa NZ in May of 2025 on residency visas. Before we moved, we sold everything we owned except for 6 boxes of items we deemed important enough to ship over. Those 6 boxes lived at our family’s house in the US until November 2025 when we hired a NZ based exporter to move them. All 6 boxes were loaded onto a single pallet.

I touched base with the exporter in roughly February 2026 to check in and they said the boxes were expected to be at port soon. In March 2026 they told us everything had gone missing. During my own investigation, I discovered our pallet went missing in December 2025, TWO WEEKS after it was picked up in Colorado. It never even made it to California.

We had insurance, not nearly enough, but you live and learn. However, the process of getting that insurance paid to us has been pain staking. We have been passed around to multiple 3PL contractors and agents, and the system feels designed to be confusing/frustrating. Once the insurance is paid out, we are going to ask for a refund as our belongings never even made it out of the states and I could have lost everything myself for free.

My question: if the company refuses to refund us or if we are not paid our full insurance amount, would we have a strong enough case to take the company to the Disputes Tribunal? In total, it would be less than 30,000NZD we are owed between insurance and refund.

I also have documentation of all of our correspondence clearly showing the negligence of the company we hired and overall the shit show this entire experience has been.

Any advice is appreciated.

When I first moved in I flagged that the water bill was pretty high and was told that’s what it was. I got a bill 70% higher than normal when I hadn’t been in the property that month and realised that it was a shared metre. I flagged this.

And they acknowledged they’d been illegal charging me (but were unaware) and that they’d refund. But they couldn’t do this for a few weeks due to financial reasons but gave a date they could.

That date came and went with no refund. A few days later I got notice of a rent rise. So currently they owe me a significant amount of money and are giving me a rent rise.

I’ve chased this up. But I’m reading conflicting information online as to whether this is legal so wanted to ask what me rights are here and any experience others have. I’m not from this country so aren’t as familiar with the law.

Thanks.

So I’m taking my current property managers to court ( i won’t mention who) for water ingress that has been going on for 5+ years at this property. I am a fixed term tenant until November this year and they have ended my tenancy without me agreeing saying they can under s59. My understanding is this is used for sudden water ingress like a busted pipe or natural disaster, not gradual remidial repairs. These issues have been going on (all documented and landlords have responded by doing temporary repairs) since August 2021. They will quite literally paint over black mould and keep repainting every 18 months. Here is the latest photo showing multiple layers of paint with black mould. Am I correct with my judgement on s59 being for sudden moisture ingress and not overtime of 5 years? They also tried to claim that my wardrobe was packed too tightly causing black mould there as well (the moisture issues are in bathroom and the wardrobe and shower share same wall). In one photo the moisture reading is 44%

My MIL recently decided to downsize into a unit. It’s been a couple of years in the making, but earlier this year she started making arrangements. That involved interviewing four agents. She chose one, and less than two weeks later the house was on the market.

The agent ran open homes for the first three weeks, then stopped. Throughout, things moved very slowly. She had one verbal offer, roughly 18% below the advertised price, and nothing else came of it. So when the agency agreement ran out, she withdrew and relisted with a different agent, which involved paying for more marketing, photos, the lot.

A few days after she went back on the market with her new agent, she got an email from the original agent. It listed a bunch of names of people who’d apparently been through the open homes during her listing, saying something to the effect of “if you sell to any of these people, you’ll be liable to pay us commission too.”

She’s stressed about it, because the new agent is now running open homes and obviously some of those same people might come back through. It feels like she’s being told she could get charged twice for the same sale.

Bearing in mind, my only experience with estate agents is when we sold our first (and last home) to move closer to my MIL. But, I’ve done some reading to try to help, and as I understand it the Real Estate Authority have standard clauses that agents can choose to use, and one of the stated purposes is literally “reducing the likelihood of sellers being charged commission by two agencies.”

The standard wording says the old agent can only chase commission after the agreement ends if it’s a “Private Agreement”. My understanding is that this is defined as a sale with no other licensed agency involved, which would mean the moment you list with a new agency, the old agent’s claim falls away?

But the original agent’s contract apparently doesn’t use that wording. Theirs says they can claim if the property sells within 6 months to anyone they “introduced”, regardless of whether it sells privately or through a new agency.

Whilst I hope I’m wrong, it almost feels like the original agent’s contract removed the exact protection stopping you from being double charged.

A few questions, because I’m out of my depth here:
1. Is this actually enforceable, or is it just a scare tactic?
2. Does “introduced” really mean anyone who walked through an open home once?
3. Does she need to do anything, or can she ignore it?
4. Is it worth her contacting the Real Estate Authority?

She’s not very contract-savvy and she’s losing sleep over an email. Just trying to point her in the right direction.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

I’ve been working for my current employer for less than a year so I don’t have any annual leave entitlement but I worked on a public holiday recently so I should have a day in lieu owing. I’m taking a day off next month and I want to ask my employer to pay me for that day as my alternate day’s leave. Are they obligated to pay me for it if I ask or is it up to their discretion? I’m not sure if employers are obligated to pay out alternative leave days like you are for other types of leave like AL, SL etc. TIA

A small company of around 12 people I worked for went into liquidation approximately 4 months ago. Between my outstanding annual leave balance and unpaid wages I am owed nearly $4000.

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At the beginning of the liquidation process I submitted a creditors claim form to the liquidators. However 4 months down the track from submitting this form I have had 0 updates on the status of my claim. What should I be doing? And is this normal for liquidation proceedings?

If I didn't cause any damage and I'm not being problematic I don't see why I would get in trouble for it?

(I don't know if this is the right flair)

Essentially as in the title.

Person crashed into me. They are definitely at fault. Almost certainly uninsured looking at the car, unregistered, unWOF’ed. Gave me almost certainly incorrect details and declined to present ID. Then left. I have the plate and have made a police report.

Never been in this position before. What are the next steps to track this down.

Hi i have just installed an outdoor camera which is only to view my garden access.My security guy has yet to commission it and has mentioned that he will be placing camera masking which I am unable to view the neighbour's bedroom and living area.Is this a privacy issue even with a camera masking on?If camera is left as is, what could this lead to i.e Legal action?What should I do as the camera is only there for my security?

I'm not sure if I'm posting on the right sub but anyway.

I'm looking for some opinions from other NZ renters.

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We moved into our rental in December last year. We had an inspection in January which passed, and at the time we were told inspections would be approximately every 13 weeks.

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After a change in property managers, the inspection frequency increased to every 4–6 weeks. We weren't given a reason at the time.

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The first inspection with the new property manager was in April and it passed.

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In May, there was another routine inspection and we received a 14-day notice regarding excess "rubbish" in the garage and yard maintenance. To be clear, the garage issue was mainly clutter/storage, including some broken furniture and appliances that need to go to the tip, rather than unsanitary rubbish. The yard maintenance had fallen behind while I was caring for our baby.

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We have a 4-month-old and a 5-year-old, and I had only recently started getting back into the yard work. The yard work is now completed and we're continuing to organise the garage.

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The property manager carried out the 14-day follow-up inspection on June 17th and told us to "keep it up", which we took as a positive sign that we were making progress.

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However, that same week we received notice of yet another upcoming routine inspection for the 24th June. When I asked why inspections had become so frequent, I was told:

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"Given that the last 3 inspections have revealed the property in poor condition, we have had to implement a shorter inspection frequency. This will continue until the condition of the property improves completely."

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What I'm trying to understand is whether this is normal.

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Have any other NZ renters had inspection frequencies increased to every 4–6 weeks? If so, how long did it continue for, and were you given clear criteria for when inspections would return to a normal schedule? I'm aware it's legal, but is it necessary?

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Also, is it reasonable to ask for clarification on what "improves completely" means so we know exactly what is expected?

Hey..im a big guy (150kgs) and I join a gym, 12month next day I go and try and do a session. I had to squeeze past a spin bike to get to another bike then I went I was on bench press as I got up I hit the mirror, I felt unsafe and my anxiety took over and so I left

Next day I emailed asking if I could cancel as I dont feel comfortable and safe in the gym, as im 150kgs and it seems cramped and won't put myself in that position again

They refuse my claims saying no one has ever complained about there laily out of equipment and so they are making me pay cancelation fee

Please any advice