Residential Tenancies Act 1997

This section applies if—

a tenant has failed to pay rent that has become payable under a residential tenancy agreement; and

the lessor has served a termination notice on the tenant because of the tenant’s failure to pay rent; and

the tenant has not vacated the premises in accordance with the notice.

The lessor may apply to the ACAT for a termination and possession order.

The ACAT may—

make a termination and possession order; or

make a payment order; or

refuse to make a termination and possession order or payment order if—

the tenant has paid any rent that has become payable and is, in the ACAT’s opinion, reasonably likely to pay future rent as it becomes payable; and

the ACAT considers it just and appropriate to do so.

If the ACAT makes a termination and possession order, it may suspend the order for a stated period of not more than 3 weeks if satisfied that—

were the order not suspended for the stated period, the tenant would suffer significant hardship; and

the tenant’s hardship would be greater than the hardship that would be suffered by the lessor if the order were suspended for the stated period.