Ray White Broadbeach v Mitchell - [2025] QCATA 55

QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

CITATION:

Ray White Broadbeach v Mitchell [2025] QCATA 55

PARTIES:

RAY WHITE BROADBEACH

(applicant/appellant)

v

ROBERT LEE MITCHELL

(first respondent)

and

STACEY MITCHELL

(SECOND RESPONDENT)

APPLICATION NO/S:

APL359-23

ORIGINATING APPLICATION NO/S:

MCD Q 1718/23 (Brisbane)

MATTER TYPE:

Appeals

DELIVERED ON:

26 May 2025

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

A/Senior Member Lember

Member Lumb

ORDERS:

1.     Leave to appeal the decision of 28 September 2023 (Q1718-23 - Brisbane) is granted.

2.     Appeal allowed.

3.     The decision in Q1718-23 – Brisbane made 28 September 2023 is set aside and substituted with a decision that the application for minor civil dispute -residential tenancy dispute filed by the respondents on 1 June 2023 is dismissed.

CATCHWORDS:

APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – APPEAL – GENERAL PRINCIPLES – RIGHT OF APPEAL – WHEN APPEAL LIES – ERROR OF LAW – where applicant applied for leave to appeal – where tenancy dispute involved compensation claims by tenants after tenancy ended – where air-conditioning unable to be repaired - where uncontested that lessor not in breach of obligation to maintain – whether out of time to bring loss of amenity claim for rent reduction

Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 Qld s 94, s 164, s 165, s 169, schedule 2

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld) s 3, s 146

Bourke v Kenjad Rentals [2019] QCATA 81

Cachia v Grech [2009] NSWCA 232
Duncan v Friend [2023] QCATA 63
Ericson v Queensland Building Services Authority [2013] QCA 391
Glenwood Properties Pty Ltd v Delmoss Pty Ltd [1986] 2 Qd R 388
Gould v Mazheiko & Gill [2020] QCATA 10
McIver Bulk Liquid Haulage Pty Ltd v Fruehauf Australia Pty Ltd [1989] 2 Qd R 577

QUYD Pty Ltd v Marvass Pty Ltd [2009] 1 Qd R 41

APPEARANCES & REPRESENTATION:

This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act2009 (Qld) (QCAT Act).

REASONS FOR DECISION

What is this application about?

The Mitchells rented a Broadbeach property managed by the applicant agent, Ray White, for a fixed term commencing on 21 October 2022 and ending on 20 April 2023, experiencing maintenance issues throughout, including a TV aerial and a dishwasher that each required replacing, a plumbing issue and, relevantly, air-conditioning that broke down in November 2022, was not repaired until 9 January 2023 and that again broke down on 13 February 2023 and was not repaired before the tenancy ended.
By an application for minor civil dispute – residential tenancy dispute filed on 1 June 2023 (the MCD Application) the Mitchells claimed compensation in the amount of $10,000.00 pursuant to:
(a)s 169 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) (RTRAA) for ‘loss of amenity, a service or facility’; and
(b)s 94 of the RTRAA, for ‘Rent decrease – premises are partly unfit to live’.
By a decision made 28 September 2023, the learned Adjudicator ordered that Ray White pay to the Mitchells the sum…

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 Ray White Broadbeach v Mitchell

Details

AGLC: Ray White Broadbeach v Mitchell [2025] QCATA 55
Case: [2025] QCATA 55
Decision Date: 26 May 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Ray White Broadbeach, sought leave to appeal against a decision rendered by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) on 28 September 2023. The original matter, Q1718-23, involved a dispute between the applicant and the respondents, who were tenants, concerning compensation claims following the termination of their tenancy. The tenants alleged that the property, which they had rented from the applicant, was not fit for habitation due to a broken air-conditioning system that could not be repaired. The tenants sought compensation in the form of a reduction in rent. The applicant contested the claims, asserting that they were not in breach of their obligation to maintain the property.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the applicant had the right to appeal and whether the appeal was within the allowable time frame. Specifically, the court had to determine if the tenants' claim for loss of amenity due to the air-conditioning issue was made outside the allowable time frame. The court also needed to decide if there was an error of law in QCAT's decision.

The court granted the applicant leave to appeal and allowed the appeal. The tribunal had overlooked the fact that the tenants' claim for loss of amenity due to the air-conditioning issue was out of time, as it was made after the tenancy had ended. The court found that the tribunal erred in not considering this aspect and concluded that the tenants' claim was not valid. Consequently, the decision rendered by QCAT on 28 September 2023 was set aside, and the application for a minor civil dispute concerning the residential tenancy was dismissed.

Orders

Orders of the court

1. Leave to appeal the decision of 28 September 2023 (Q1718-23 - Brisbane) is granted.

2. Appeal allowed.

3. The decision in Q1718-23 – Brisbane made 28 September 2023 is set aside and substituted with a decision that the application for minor civil dispute -residential tenancy dispute filed by the respondents on 1 June 2023 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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