Juhar v Carter - [2022] QCATA 184

QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

CITATION:

Juhar and Anor v Carter and Ors [2022] QCATA 184

PARTIES:

HOSSAIN JUHAR

(appellant)

RAY WHITE FOREST LAKE

(appellant)

v

BRENDON JAYMES CARTER, SAMANTHA ROGERS, CHRISTOPHER HANSEN AND KATELYN O’NEILL

(respondents)

APPLICATION NO:

APL265-21

ORIGINATING APPLICATION NO:

MCD173/21 (Richlands)

MATTER TYPE:

Appeals

DELIVERED ON:

12 December 2022

HEARING DATE:

On the papers

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

Member JR McNamara

ORDERS:

The application for leave to appeal and appeal is dismissed

CATCHWORDS:

APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – GENERAL PRINCIPLES – RIGHT OF APPEAL – where tenants were awarded compensation for excessive water bills – where the excessive water bills were result of the failure of the lessor to properly maintain the property – where the rental bond was refunded – where the lessor was represented before the tribunal by the property manager – where a counter-application by the lessor for compensation due to alleged property damage caused by the tenants was dismissed –where the lessor appealed against findings of fact made by the Adjudicator – where evidence was not put before the tribunal at first instance– where the lessor appealed on the grounds of financial hardship

Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) s 169, s 185, s 419, s 420

Cong v Awad [2021] QCATA 25, cited

Cui v Kim & Ors [2014] QCATA 33, considered
Dearman v Dearman (1908) 7 CLR 549, cited

Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118, cited

APPEARANCES & REPRESENTATION:

This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld)

REASONS FOR DECISION

Brendon Carter, Samantha Rogers, Christopher Hansen and Katelyn O’Neill (collectively, the tenants) were tenants of 14 Columbine Street, Inala (the property). The tenants have been represented before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the tribunal) by Mr Carter. The property is owned by Hossain Juhar (the lessor). The property was the subject of a fixed term residential tenancy agreement between the lessor and the tenants, starting 18 May 2020 and ending 17 May 2021.
During their tenancy, the property manager (Ray White Forest Lake)[1] forwarded water bills to the tenants for payment. Water bills were generated quarterly. It appears that the tenants paid the first two quarters in full. The bills for the 25 November 2020 to 10 March 2021, and 11 March 2021 to 10 June 2021 quarters were unpaid.
[1]Ray White Forest Lake were a party to the originating application, and remain so in this application for leave to appeal and appeal. However, their role in these proceedings is more accurately viewed as that of an agent representing the lessor. By way of an email dated 24 November 2021, Ray White Forest Lake informed the lessor that they would no longer act for, or otherwise assist, the lessor in this matter and took no further part in these proceedings.
The water bills reflected extremely high levels of water consumption…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Juhar v Carter

Details

AGLC: Juhar v Carter [2022] QCATA 184
Case: [2022] QCATA 184
Decision Date: 12 December 2022

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter of Juhar v Carter involved a dispute between tenants and their landlord regarding excessive water bills resulting from the landlord's failure to maintain the rental property. The tenants were awarded compensation by the tribunal, and the rental bond was refunded to the tenants. The landlord, represented by the property manager, had also filed a counter-application for compensation due to alleged property damage caused by the tenants, which was dismissed. The landlord subsequently appealed the findings of fact made by the Adjudicator, arguing that evidence was not presented at the initial tribunal hearing and that the appeal was based on financial hardship.

The legal issues before the court included whether the landlord had the right to appeal the findings of fact and whether the tribunal had erred in its decision-making process. The court needed to determine if the evidence presented during the appeal stage could be considered and whether the landlord's financial hardship justified a new trial or appeal.

The court found that the landlord's appeal was not well-founded. It held that the evidence presented during the appeal stage was not admissible as it was not put before the tribunal at the first instance. Additionally, the court determined that the landlord's financial hardship did not constitute a valid ground for a new trial or appeal. The court concluded that the tribunal's decision was correct and that there was no basis for overturning the findings of fact. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal and the appeal itself were dismissed.

Orders

Orders of the court

The application for leave to appeal and appeal is dismissed

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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