Cleaver v Stringer

CITATION:

Cleaver v Stringer & Anor [2017] QCATA 72

PARTIES:

Tracey Cleaver

(Applicant/Appellant)
v
Brett Stringer
Sophie Stringer
(Respondents)

APPLICATION NUMBER:

APL387-16

MATTER TYPE:

Appeals

HEARING DATE:

9 May 2017

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

Senior Member Stilgoe OAM

DELIVERED ON:

Ex tempore 9 May 2017

ORDERS MADE:

1.    Leave to appeal is refused.

CATCHWORDS:

APPEAL – LEAVE TO APPEAL – LANDLORD AND TENANT – RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES LEGISLATION – where tenant filed claim for rent decrease pursuant to s 94 of the RTRA Act – where claim supported by mould test of one room and photographs – where tribunal found that rent reduction only applied to one room that was mould tested – whether grounds for leave to appeal

Caruana v Harcourts Proactive Results Pty Ltd [2012] QCATA 55

APPEARANCES:

APPLICANT:

Tracey Cleaver

RESPONDENT:

Brett Stringer

Sophie Stringer

REASONS FOR DECISION

1. Ms Cleaver entered into a tenancy agreement with the Stringers on the 29th of November 2014.  By the 4th of May 2015, it was clear that Ms Cleaver wasn’t particularly happy in the tenancy as there was an email from the Stringer’s property agent to Ms Cleaver offering to release her from the tenancy agreement without penalty.  Nevertheless, Ms Cleaver stayed in the tenancy.  In March 2016 – and it may have occurred earlier, but at least at March 2016 – there was an email from Ms Cleaver to the property manager complaining about the mould in the property.

2. From there, there was a series of events and tests which resulted in Ms Stringer bringing a claim before the tribunal for compensation.  Her total claim was $20,754.79.  That was a 100 per cent rent reduction from the 11th of June 2016 until the termination of the tenancy and a 20 per cent rent reduction for the six months prior to that plus the costs of remediating bedding and linen, the cost of treating the car and also some additional costs for pet accommodation, food, toiletries, those sorts of things.

3. The tribunal below ordered that there would be a rent reduction of one-sixth from the 16th of June 2016 to the 29th of August 2016 and then a further rent reduction until the tenancy was terminated.  The tribunal also awarded some expenses, principally the reimbursement of an invoice from AMC Ozone Testing. 

4. Ms Cleaver has applied to the Appeal Tribunal for leave to appeal that decision.  Because this is a decision from the tribunal in its minor civil disputes jurisdiction, leave is necessary.  In order to establish successfully leave to appeal, Ms Cleaver must demonstrate two things:  firstly, that there’s an error by the tribunal, and, secondly, that the error created a substantial injustice.

5. Ms Cleaver has four grounds of appeal.  Firstly, that the tribunal below relied only on the mould testing report as a means of determining mould contamination, and, secondly, that there were other ways in the evidence to establish that there was contamination of mould and that that evidence was ignored by the tribunal below.  Specifically, Ms…