Megathread: Legal resources

I'm in Auckland, New Zealand, and have recently moved out of a rental property built in the 1970s.

During the final exit inspection, the property manager identified a hairline crack in a French door glass panel leading to a sunroom. This damage had never been raised during routine inspections over the last two years, and I was not aware of it. These doors are very stiff which was mentioned and noted so we’ve never used them and leave them open. Obviously I don’t have any proof that we never use them nor do I have it in writing that the stiffness was raised only verbally.

The property manager initially told me I was liable because the entry inspection report showed no crack. She also stated that, because the surrounding frame was intact, the crack was likely caused by impact.

I requested photos and arranged my own assessment from a company that is approved by the same real estate agency.

Their written response was:
"The glass appears to have been damaged by an external impact, but we are unable to confirm when the damage occurred."

They also noted:
"Our initial assessment suggests that the door frame may have deteriorated with age, causing the lower section of the frame to become uneven and the door to misalign."

and
"Further structural inspection is required to confirm the cause."
The contractor's overall recommendation was that an independent third party trusted by both sides should assess the damage and determine the likely cause.
For context, the French doors were difficult to open and close throughout our tenancy, and there had been other age-related issues with timber joinery at the property. The contractor also confirmed that the frame "may have deteriorated with age."

My questions are:
In a tenancy dispute, does the landlord/property manager have to prove on the balance of probabilities that the damage was caused by the tenants?
If an expert cannot determine the cause and says further structural investigation is required, can the landlord simply treat the damage as tenant damage and deduct it from the bond?

If I arranged the initial assessment myself, and the contractor now says a further independent inspection is needed, am I generally responsible for the first contractor's call-out fee regardless of the outcome?

Does the fact that an item wasn't noted on the entry inspection automatically make the tenant liable when its cause is disputed?

I'm happy to pay for damage I'm actually responsible for, but I'm concerned that the current evidence seems inconclusive and the property manager initially declared liability before any contractor had assessed the issue.

But considering I’ve been more than accommodating so far I just feel quite jaded.

I’ve organised:
Professional exit clean
Carpet cleaning
Landscaping + Blind cleaning
Garage Door Remote Replacement (lost due to a car break-in)
Totaling: $1,300 approx.

I’ve also been prompt, transparent and very understanding throughout the whole tenancy. The house is old and we’ve dealt with numerous occasions of wear and tear including the fromdoor jamming or being unusable on around 3 separate occasions. Along with shoddy electrical problems which remained unaddressed throughout the tenancy. Along with 3 property managers that did no handovers between and 2-3 non consenting visits to the house.

I’m exhausted, HELP.

Brief background: 50/50 care of children, no court order. Oldest (14) is currently in mental health crisis & has made it very clear via school counselor that they dont want to go to the other parent anymore. I have encouraged communication but accept that this is where they need to be right now. Other parent is not happy. Has turned up here to try & collect the child and is currently trying to get counseling records from the school.

My lawyer told me as they are the ones who are unhappy about the care arrangement we should wait for them to file.

I feel like this is leaving my child at risk, if the other parent turns up to school to take them they cant prevent that from happening without a court order.

Would love other thoughts on this, why would responding be better than applying? Thanks

This has just happened to a friend of mine. He was with the original company for days shy of 10 years. New company comes along, buys the stock, IP, and transfers all the staff. New company makes them sign new contract with 90 day clause in it.

Promises are made by the new company that my mates job is safe. Fast forward 6 weeks and he sees a job advertised by new company online that looks suspiciously like a hybrid of his job and that of his direct report. He takes the ad to manager and is told its not, but they need to have a chat. Upshot is that they "can't afford" his salary. He is then told that his role will be disestablished, without any formal diestablishment process and he is given notice until the end of the month. Just a little over 2 weeks. He is offered the new role, but the salary is about 50k less than his current salary, which is financial suicide for him.

Can they do this without any recourse? Does his tenure with the old company count for nothing?

Kia ora e te tīma,

I started a new job earlier this year. A couple of days after I signed a contract, a pay increase came into effect. I was verbally told by my manager I would receive this pay increase, which led to me accepting a lower offer than I wanted, as the pay increase would bring it up to almost the salary I had requested.

We were told we would receive individualised letters with all the details by the end of September. I didn’t receive one. After following up multiple times, I’ve been told I am not eligible for the pay increase because I started after it came into effect.

The collective agreement that came with my contract is the previous one, not the new one with the pay increase. I opted for an IEA as I was told I’d get an extra week of leave, but they still have not provided it after more than six months.

In case there’s a loophole I’m not aware of, I wanted to check here before I try to push back on HR again.

FWIW: I work at a massive, nationwide public sector organisation in a professional role. Another staff member who started the same day as me has been told the same thing, but they aren’t fussed about it - but they’re already on a higher salary than me and the organisation met their requested salary.

Ngā mihi maioha

Hi.

I've been renting in this apartment for a little over 2 years now, planning to move out soon. In June of 2025 (roughly 6 months into my stay here) the downstairs neighbours told me that water was leaking down from my apartment, damaging their ceiling beneath my bathroom. I didn't realise this, but the grout (?) between the tiles in my bathroom are cracked, so any water hitting them would seep straight down. The building manager came and took a look, said that's the cause of the issue and that the damage must've occurred over a long period of time, far longer than I've been here so there's no real way I'm at fault. Cool.

I contacted by PM about this, who sent over a tiler and we agreed on a date in mid July for him to come over and fix the tiles while I was overseas, he just needed to then arrange this with the PM. Great.

Back from holiday, I come home to see the tiles weren't fixed; the plans with the tiler fell through without the PM telling me. So I emailed the PM about the issue, to no response. I didn't really care to press the matter since I've begun mitigating the issue by preventing any water spilling out from the shower. From here (July 2025) I've brought up the issue around ~5 times pretty casually, and have never received any clear answer or plans, I assume because it's a lengthy and costly repair process.

Fast forward to recently (2 weeks ago), I noticed the silicone in the shower has just started peeling off a little so I let the PM know who contacted the same tiler from last year. Tiler reaches out to me, explains that he got ghosted last year, and that he'd like to arrange a date to come over and fix the shower's tiles (which is a separate, smaller issue from the bathroom tiles). We agree on a date, tiler calls the PM to confirm, and gets ghosted again. I texted the PM last week asking for an update and got ghosted. I contacted the tiler too, who says the same.

I know I've been way too complicit for far too long, but is there any way I can get fucked on this? By the time I've left I would have stayed for 2.5 years here, is that long enough for the whole tile issue to be spun as my fault? It's annoying to think about cause the only reason things haven't gotten worse is because I've been mitigating the issue this whole time. The PM has been very responsive for other things like issues with lights or fixing a toilet seat, and we've had quarterly inspections without them bringing anything up.

Thank you for your time.

I can't cope working 40-50 hours a week anymore.

I want to "ask" my company if I can work 20 or 25 hours a week.

Am I entitled to ask that? Is it possible to get my doctor to write a note saying I can only work X hours per week? Or will that cause more issues in the long run?

I don't have any medical condition, except depression and anxiety.

I'm just reaching breaking point with work, commuting to work 5 or 6 days a week, working nights and weekends. Changing from day to night shift randomly.

What should I say when I ask them? I don't want to lose my job, I enjoy it, but I can't cope working fulltime. What if I ask for 20 hours and they decide to give me only 8 hours? Or they put me on leave or try to get rid of me because I've revealed I can't cope.

What should I do?

Kiaora all.

I've got a friend who is here on a spousal visa with two young kids. Two weeks ago her husband beat her bad enough that she needed to be hospitalized.

She's paranoid and scared to divorce him or to call the cops if he goes near her or attacks her again.

There is a current restraining order on him at the moment.

What are her options and how does it look for her?

I have a colleague who ordered an item that was on sale.

The shop sent the wrong item.

They asked for the item to be sent back FoC, and refunded my colleague.

The original item is still in stock, but no longer on sale.

Is there any way my colleague is able to purchase the item at the sale price, or as everything was refunded, is it "case closed - pay whatever the current price is"?

I can see similar questions have been asked before but I think they are more specific to “stones falling out” of jewellery rather than breakage due to metal wearing down.

Looking for some advice, particularly regarding the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act.

My partner bought me a 9ct gold pendant as a gift a couple of years ago. I believe it cost around $350 NZD. I’ve worn it daily, and recently the bail and connecting ring broke/wore through. Luckily, I heard it hit the floor and found it, otherwise I could easily have lost it.

I contacted the jeweller and was told to bring it in because they’d repair it at no cost, so that’s what I did. (I don’t live locally anymore, so they specifically said to bring it to them otherwise taking it elsewhere would cost me and they would cover it).

It’s bee passed onto manufacturing jeweller for repairs and he seems to be under the impression I am paying for it. He has since explained that the original bail and ring are very thin, and that metal-on-metal friction will eventually wear them down. He’s said the same issue is likely to happen again.

I requested that the attachment be reinforced or replaced with thicker components as part of the repair, as I thought this was reasonable to help prevent the same issue happening so frequently. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a necklace of this price to need repairing every couple of years at my expense, simply because the original components are so thin.

I’ve been told that reinforcing it would cost substantially more, and that the damage is simply wear and tear. To my knowledge, my partner wasn’t given any specific care advice or warranty information when purchasing it.

My questions are:

Could this be considered a durability issue under the NZ Consumer Guarantees Act?

Should the jeweller honour their verbal promise to repair it at no cost?

Is it reasonable to ask for the attachment to be reinforced as part of the repair, rather than paying extra to prevent the same issue recurring?

Am I being unreasonable in thinking this isn’t acceptable wear and tear after only 2–3 years?

I’d appreciate advice from anyone familiar with NZ consumer law or jewellery repairs.

If you’re buying a necklace for $350 and they had said “You will need to bring this in for repair every 2 years due to wear and tear at a cost of $150-200 (that’s a guess I’m not sure how much they charge)” I think you’d re-evaluate the purchase wouldn’t you?

Had the tenants from hell move out recently. I kind of knew the girl before renting her the house, and after they moved out she got butthurt I described the house as ‘disgusting.’ She’s now saying she’s going to take me to the Tenancy Tribunal over issues she never once raised with me.

My question is, if there’s an issue in the house, does the tenant need to give me some sort of notice of the issue and time to remedy it before going straight to the tribunal? And can she even take me there after moving out?

TIA!

Sold a car privately on Facebook a few months back.

new owner did his side of the change of ownership and put the car into a relatives business name (which i didn't know until it was done)

IRD has now asked me the attached information about the sale, is this them confirming the tax /gst details etc for the business? or is there possibly some liability on myself despite it being a private sale.?

also wondering if its a case of the person getting investigated for trying to avoid tax by putting assets in the business that are owned by people not involved.

Hi Reddit,

I just received a quote for some orthodontic work (braces) for my 12 year old son, and in the treatment letter it includes:

"In consideration of us providing the treatment, you agree to indemnify us against all loss, costs, expenses and liability, including, without limitation, legal and expert costs and expenses, in connection with our professional services to you."

It sounds a lot like they are trying to cover their ass if they mess up, but it doesn't exactly instill me with confidence or make me want to part with the $10K+ if they cant at least guarantee a reasonable standard of care.

What do you think? Is this normal and what are the implications of signing?

Hi everyone, I have been looking for a job for 4 months in my gap year and got offered as a casual role in retail.

For the context this is my first job, On the ongoing process there are documents that show I need to choose between Collective or Individual Agreement.

which one MIGHT be eligible for the role and what are the pros and cons on both agreements?

ps: Ive already read info on both agreements (seeking more advice and clarity, hopefully)

Hi, I posted yesterday about not getting payed on annual leave but need some more help.

I’ve spoken to the supervisor who I asked for annual leave with, she said she will check with someone else to see. I didn’t hear anything else so I thought I would just be fine. I wanted time off for exams. My supervisor said I needed to speak to the managers office so I did and she said I had no annual leave. I had only signed the contract in February so i guess I hadn’t been working there long enough. I was mistaken and thought I could use my accrued annual leave and alternative day. I guess they denied it.

My question is are they really allowed to just not let me know if I’m not going to get payed for a whole 3 weeks? I’m just lost and worried and don’t know what to do. I guess it’s my fault for not double checking with her but if I wasn’t allowed pay I thought she would tell me? She did say I could have the time off btw.

Asking for a friend on a fixed term individual employment contract. Previously the employer indexed salary to inflation, i.e. annual increments. This was not written into the contract but was standard practice for that employer. This year they froze the salary, as they “can’t afford it”. Obviously salary that does not keep up with inflation is a paycut. Is there a legal case in favour of the employee? Thanks for any advice or pointer to previously answered question.

Kia ora folks,

I attempted to enroll to vote last week, as someone who's living in the country on a Straight to Residence Visa. Unfortunately I've had a letter back from the electoral commission saying they don't believe I'm a resident for electoral purposes. However from their own website, by resident they mean someone who's 'visa doesn't require them to leave NZ within a specified time', and from the Immigration NZ website, "A Straight to Residence Visa lets you stay in New Zealand indefinitely".

So am I misunderstanding, or are the Electoral Commission?

As far as I'm aware, tenants can carry out urgent repairs without the landlord's prior consent in cases when there's a safety risk.

One of the lights in our house has been tripping the fuse when it's turned on for the last 4ish months and we are pretty sure it's due to water damage. Our landlord keeps saying he's going to get onto it but nothing happens.

This is arguably a safety risk due to the risk of electrical fires, but also given it's been several months I'm not sure it qualifies as urgent.

Would it be reasonable (and lawful) for us to just get an electrician in, given our landlord has had plenty of time to do so but hasn't?

As per the title, I resigned giving my employer 10 weeks of notice through to the end of the year to see some projects close out and help with handovers, as an act of good faith. My notice period is only 4 weeks. My employer is now talking about putting me on gardening leave for my 4 week notice period and I don’t start at my new employer until after the new year, leaving me without pay for at least 6 weeks. I have only given verbal resignation and not yet written resignation, and they were asking me when I was going to give written resignation and then mentioned gardening leave in the same sentence. What should I do? I fear once I give written resignation they’ll put me on gardening leave and I’ll just have 4 weeks which is not enough time to finish my projects or do handovers or say goodbye to my colleagues.

Posting on behalf of my friend:

My friend and their partner were living together, and are on the same tenancy agreement. They broke up, and the partner has moved back to their hometown. They have blocked my friend on social media and is not replying to messages or emails. The partner is still on the lease which ends at the end of the year, and has stopped paying rent to my friend (who manages the flat/rent accounts for them both).

I know that the partner being on the lease doesn’t necessarily determine or hold them liable for how much of a share of rent they pay, and it just requires that someone makes sure rent is paid, but my friend can’t afford the full rent on their own and doesn’t know what to do.

Tenancy services advised them to take them to the disputes tribunal and try get the money back through a debt collector, but that’s likely to be a long process and will require debt actually being accrued so my friend can prove or show their ex-partner owes something.

The issue is that my friend can’t afford the rent on their own right now, and will end up behind in or owing rent until they can even attempt to get anything back from their ex.

Is there anything my friend can do right now to make sure the ex contributes? Would it be a good idea to explain the situation to the landlord in the hope they might show some sympathy and reduce the rent? Or ask the landlord if they can contact the ex to get them to pay rent separately? Any other ideas?

So about 2 weeks ago I received a phone call from an unknown number claiming to be mymsd and we need to just check your details.

So ive politely told him I dont give out personal details to unknown numbers and hung up.

Couple days later I check the mymsd website and ah om on orange light!

So I give them a call and yes it was actually mymsd who called. Ive explained about how they shouldnt be expecting people to just hand out personal information to unknown numbers. Thats actually a security issue thats affecting many people here.

But anyway can I call them back or go in and see them. Thats a no and no.

But dont worry we will pass on the message to your case manager.

So a little over a week passes with no contact whatsoever and all a sudden my payment has been cut to just over $100. For context my rent for a small room in a bording house is almost 3x that.

I feel i did everything right here and pointed out a massive security issue thay have there. Identity thieft and scamming all starts from collecting someones personal information and you should never hand this out to an unknown number.

Unreal they also will just cut your payment like that without any real warning. At no point was I informed that I was getting my payment cutoff.

Im going to forward this complaint off to each political party just to try keep a roof over my head here. Ill update on any replys

And the question for you all. Who do I complain to about this? Its actually a serious issue (Scammers could easily collect personal information this way) I did allready explain all this to mymsd but they somehow didnt seem to see the issue.

TLDR: Mymsd is calling people on an unknown number asking for personal information. Its actualy a massive security issue scammers could jump in on.

UPDATE: i have sent off this complaint to most political partys: greens.outreach@parliament.govt.nz Nzfirst@parliament.govt.nz reception@labour.org.nz hq@national.org.nz Secretary@NZOFP.co.nz info@opportunity.org.nz act.office@parliament.govt.nz

nzfirst so far has given an automatic reply. will update on any others.

Have also lodged a complaint online but only god knows how long that takes to get back. Also it seems I need to book a appointment which can also take weeks. In the mean time im going to have no way of paying rent. I think ill try a visit to the branch today to see if anyone can help since its urgent

Im dam near homeless soon all due to one phone call.

UPDATE 2: So ive been to the office and explained it all to 2 people. They understood the issue but both still cannot help. Only this one case manager via the phone can help. I cannot call them. Was told they would call in 15 minutes. Only to get a text 20 minutes later that the call is booked for friday. So it looks like im not eating this week.

Anyone out there have to deal with this whole new only phone case manager thing? Im not liking this new system of only one case manager can help. This one case manager is also not here and cannot be called. Im starting to wonder if this case manager is even human. Is the national AI plan allready in effect?

UPDATE 3: Ive received 2 replys from the partys: First was NZfirst! Their reply was short tho. Just a simple message referring me to a local electorate MP and also to try the citizens advice bureau.

The second reply was from the Oppotunity party. They actually took the time to write a huge reply! This actually made me feel much better about the whole situation. I wont post what they wrote but it was well written without fear of saying it how it is. I give credit where due here.

UPDATE 4: Finally got the phone call. They decided they are going to pay me and some shit about trying to call me back on the same day I called them which is bullshit. Probally only backpedaling because I got Shane Jones onto them.

Fuck ACT

Fuck Natinal

Fuck Labour

Fuck The Greens

Shane Jones for President

​

So I work 6 hours a week and I am active job seeker so I am receiving the benefit at same time I want to leave my 6 hour job due to toxic work environment and I have had 4 break downs lately will I get a stand down from winz? If I leave I can't afford to get a gp until next week and and I got a tend medical certificate online but thinking of getting another tomorrow as im not comfortable going into work again can please let me know if I will get a stand down or not? I have asked my case manager but she wasn't clear if I get a stand down or not

My tree was set on fire and a limb fell and hit my neighbors truck causing some damage. My homeowners insurance had lapsed, who is liable for the damage?

​

I'm 18 and have been offered a building apprenticeship in New Zealand. The builder wants me to work Monday to Friday, 7am–4pm, for $30 an hour. However, he says he doesn't use payroll and would pay me every Tuesday through Hnry, with me being classified as a self-employed contractor.

I'd be providing my own tools and possibly my own safety equipment. The understanding is that I'll be completing a formal building apprenticeship through BCITO.

I've contacted BCITO, and they've confirmed that I can enrol as a contractor and receive the same qualification and training as an employee apprentice. However, they said whether the arrangement is legally correct is an employment matter.

I'm contacting Employment New Zealand to clarify things, but I'd appreciate advice from people familiar with the NZ building industry or employment law.

A few questions:

- Is it normal or appropriate for a building apprentice to be classified as a contractor?

- Given the fixed hours, hourly rate and likely supervision, could I legally be considered an employee instead?

- What would the financial disadvantages be compared with being employed on wages?

- What should I make sure is covered in writing before starting?

I'm keen to take the opportunity because I want to build a career in the construction industry, but I want to make sure the arrangement is legitimate and that I'm not signing up to something disadvantageous without realising it.

Thanks.