Reply To: Taking a neighbour to the Local Court

Hey Kaindub,

Thanks for your feedback.

You write:
As you have taken your case to a court already and had a a ruling, you’ll need to find some compelling ground to have it reviewed in a higher court.

Are the following points “compelling”?

1. The magistrate found that the neighbour’s actions (in renovating) were reasonable whereas NCAT found the exact opposite, which is why NCAT allowed my tenants to vacate without paying the break fee or the rent until the end of the lease;
2. In its judgement, the Court included some of the evidence (provided by my tenants to NCAT) which I submitted, that serves to paint me in a poor light because the Court excluded from its publication my responses to the tenants’ claims (also submitted to the Court);
3. Soon after the NCAT hearing I asked for reasons (in writing) why the NCAT Member claimed the premises were “uninhabitable” but NCAT told me that such reasons are not offered when consent orders are handed down;
4. NCAT does not offer a transcript of proceedings and therefore I did not seek a transcript of the NCAT hearings to submit to the Court given the high cost for a transcription service;
5. Cases I read indicate that many times renovations are part of life and folk have to put up with it. But if NCAT argued that the noise was unreasonable, so much so that the tenants could vacate without liability, then how can the Court find the exact opposite?

Surely there is something unfair about a neighbour making hundreds of thousands of dollars profit in buying, renovating and flipping a property and a neighbour having to wear the cost of losing a tenant which would not have occurred but for the renovations causing my premises to become “uninhabitable”.