The landlords’ appeal against that ruling was dismissed last week,with the tribunal again finding in favour of self-represented Pyrmont tenant Ryan Anderson,in a case that reflects common disputes between property owners and lessees about rental repairs.
A Pyrmont apartment building.Anna Kucera
According to,Anderson had complained since 2020 about a new convection oven that failed to reach 200 degrees and “does not become hot enough to cook anything”. He also complained of broken lights that were eventually replaced with LEDs,but these were incompatible with the studio apartment’s dimming switches,rendering them inoperable.
Senior member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal Philip French found both of these failures amounted to a breach of the landlords’ obligation to maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair.
Anderson complained to Fair Trading about the incomplete repairs in May 2023,and was served with an eviction notice the following month. French described this as “an abuse of power by landlords who are attempting to use their superior title in the property to defeat the tenant’s legitimate right to repairs”.
He ordered landlords Vince and Patricia Fimmano to repay Anderson more than $2600 in rent deemed to be excessive due to the incomplete repairs,and found the termination notice was retaliatory and unlawful. Anderson had asked for $15,000,but current tenancy laws restrict compensation to a 12-month period.
In a scathing judgment,French also accused property manager Dee O’Connor of Little Real Estate of falsely and maliciously portraying Anderson as a hoarder in correspondence to NSW Fair Trading.
O’Connor wrote to the watchdog in response to Anderson’s complaint,contending that during an inspection in May 2023,Anderson “prevented us from doing our job … he was very rude,abrupt and made us both feel unsafe”.
She said Anderson did not want photographs taken of the apartment “due to the hoarding,where he does not wish for anyone to be privy to the situation unfolding”.
French was satisfied this was “a transparent and childish attempt to co-opt NSW Fair Trading’s customer service officer into concealing information from the tenant based on these allegations”.
O’Connor’s claim that suppliers did not want information shared with the tenant was “false and ridiculous”,French found,and her overall response to the watchdog was “emotionally charged,vindictive and wholly unprofessional”.
O’Connor disputed French’s findings when contacted by theHerald,but would not comment. She referred questions to her regional manager,Stuart Clark,who declined to comment.
French was also highly critical of O’Connor’s manner during the October hearing,writing that she was “very agitated … particularly when the tenant was presenting his case”.
“She typed loudly on a laptop,gesticulated,pulled faces,called out to[her colleague] and used her mobile phone apparently to read or send text messages,” French wrote.
O’Connor had to be warned twice about this conduct and it “created a very unfortunate impression of her objectivity and professionalism”,French wrote.
Last week,two senior members of the tribunal,and Anderson,who again represented himself,was awarded a further $112.80 in printing and binding costs.
Landlord Vince Fimmano said he did not agree with the tribunal’s orders but was fulfilling them. Anderson could not be reached.
