St George Community Housing v Kaya [2014] NSWCATAP 64

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: St George Community Housing v Kaya [2014] NSWCATAP 64 Hearing dates: 28 August 2014 Decision date: 16 October 2014 Jurisdiction: Appeal Panel Before: N Hennessy LCM, Deputy President S Westgarth, Deputy President Decision: Leave to appeal is refused Catchwords: Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NSW) -Internal appeal - whether substantial injustice because against the weight of evidence or decision not fair and equitable Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Cases Cited: Collins v Urban [2014] NSWTCATAP17 Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Eshetu [1999] HCA 21; 197 CLR 611 Category: Principal judgment Parties: St George Community Housing (Appellant) Nevin Kaya (Respondent) File Number(s): AP 14/46469 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 150003 Date of Decision: 2014-07-07 00:00:00 Before: M Eftimiou File Number(s): SH14/21670

reasons for decision

Background 1St George Community Housing (the appellant) has appealed against a decision of the Consumer and Commercial Division of the Tribunal to dismiss its application against a former tenant, Ms Kaya (the respondent). The appellant claimed that Ms Kaya had breached the tenancy agreement and should pay compensation of $1965.73. 2The respondent has lived in the premises since 1991, initially with her husband who was the tenant pursuant to a residential tenancy agreement. When she and her husband separated in 2008, she signed a residential tenancy agreement in her own name. She gave vacant possession to the appellant landlord on 9 April 2014. The appellant's application to the Tribunal was for the respondent to pay compensation for the repair costs it said she caused the appellant to incur by building a fence around a garden bed and installing concrete in the yard during the period of her tenancy. Both parties agreed that the critical factual issue for the Tribunal was whether the fence and concrete had been installed by the respondent since her tenancy began in 2008.