(I am the tenant) Where do I stand with my tenancy contract? Lack of documents

[rb10347]

Throwaway account as my issue is quite specific.We have been the tenants of a property in Auckland since March 23 2019. We submitted the tenancy applications with the belief that we were entering into a fixed term contract for 12 months. I submitted all the paperwork required for my partner and I: the tenancy application, variation of tenancy agreement and change of tenant form. We submitted the tenancy application in which we stated we plan to take the property for 12 months (in the box that asks how long you want to take the property for).We never received anything back from this except that the bond had been received and was being held by bond services down in Wellington (or whatever they're called).So, at this point, we had no information on the terms of the tenancy we were entering into, no tenancy agreement, no insulation statement (which is a requirement and incurs a $500 penalty to the landlord), and essentially no contracts of any kind received from the property management company with any of their signatures on it.Anyway, they were aware that we are the tenants of this house and have been conducting inspections yadda yadda. Fast forward to Monday this week and I receive an email giving me 45 days notice to move out so that the home owner can move back in.This caught me by surprise as I thought I was signing up for a fixed term tenancy where you can't be asked to move out until the term of the tenancy is over. I told the property management company this who then told me that "No you have a periodic tenancy". They then quoted an email they sent me (before I started the tenancy) where I originally asked for a reduced fixed term length (6 months lease instead of 12), to which they replied saying that the owner "prefers a periodic tenancy" in broken English. I didn't reply to this email (I probably should have to reject it), as at the time I didn't really understand what they were asking (due to the broken English). So I in no way acknowledged that email which wasn't even worded as an offer, it was worded as a preference for the owner.The asked me to send them a copy of my lease agreement with them (knowing I don't have one) which I couldn't do, and in hindsight feel stupid for not clarifying the terms of the tenancy. I then asked them to send me a copy of my periodic tenancy contract/tenancy agreement in which they replied with the contract that the leaseholders from 2016 - 2017 had (nothing to do with me as I wasn't a tenant till March this year).I have lodged and application to the tribunal to have a fixed term lease honoured.

To summarise: We have had no indication of the agreement we were signing up for, no information on the tenancy proceeding ours and no contracts relating to the type of tenancy or a tenancy agreement.
My question is, where does my contract currently stand and how likely is it that the tribunal rules in my favour?

[sidinz]

If you signed a 'variation of tenancy' and 'change of tenant', it sounds as though you took over from someone else, like a former flatmate or family member? If so, the Tenancy Agreement that the previous tenant had is your agreement.

[artemis]

As Sidinz said, it sounds like the landlord took your change of tenant form to mean just that, not a new tenancy agreement. Acknowledgement from the Bond Centre means that the change of tenant form was countersigned by the owner, submitted and actioned. You are now the tenant.

A variation of tenancy agreement means nothing unless signed by all parties.

The landlord can give you a copy of the original tenancy agreement, now your agreement. However, there may be privacy concerns due to the considerable private information on the TA. You should have got a copy of the TA from the outgoing tenant at the time they and you signed the change of tenant form. Appreciate you were not aware of your responsibilities at that time, but from the info you provided the landlord seems to have done what they are required to do.

[rb10347]

Can't this only take place if at least one of the original tenants is remaining on the contract? The original tenant in this case was intending on leaving the contract and we have a copy of their agreement which shows their departure date was before their agreement was up. They were the only tenant on the contract.

[rb10347]

As I said to Sidinz, can't a change of tenancy only take place if at least one of the original tenants remain on the contract? In this case, the sole original tenant was leaving the contract before its expiry, meaning an entirely new tenancy would need to be started for me?

[sidinz]

Reasonably common in flatting situations for tenancies to be reassigned like this. There is no requirement for any of the original official tenants to remain on the contract. Let's say that Sally, Jim and Doris are sharing a property, but Sally is the only one on the TA. Sally moves out and Fred moves in. The LL does a change in tenant, and now Fred (or one of the other two) is now the sole legal tenant.