36Disputing liability to reimburse

36 Disputing liability to reimburse

(1)  [Section 36 Subsection (1) amended by No. 53 of 2003, Sched. 1, Applied:25 Sep 2003] If the owner disputes the liability to reimburse the tenant for repairs carried out under section 33 or 34 the owner may apply to the Court to determine the liability.

(2)  An application is to be made within 14 days after receiving the documents under section 35 .

(3)  The only grounds on which liability may be disputed are as follows:

(a) that the owner was not notified of the need for repair;

(b) that the need for repair arose as a result of –

(i) the fault of the tenant; or

(ii) a non-compliance of a provision of the residential tenancy agreement;

(c) that the tenant gave an authorisation to carry out repairs within the 24 hour period referred to in section 33(2) and the repairs were carried out in that period.

(4)  [Section 36 Subsection (4) substituted by No. 53 of 2003, Sched. 1, Applied:25 Sep 2003] The Court may order that the owner –

(a) reimburse the tenant for the full amount or part of the amount as the Court considers appropriate; or

(b) is not liable to reimburse the tenant for any of the amount.

(5)  [Section 36 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 49 of 2003, s. 16, Applied:25 Aug 2004] This section does not apply to boarding premises.