NSW Land and Housing Corporation v George Katanasho & Anor [2014] NSWCATCD 198
“The notice of hearing was addressed to the tenant with his full name in capital letters. The notice of hearing was returned to the Tribunal with a letter attached, which in part stated:
“All capital letters refer to either a corporation or a slave. In the above mentioned address, no Corporation or a slave reside here. So obviously the letter mentioned above is either addressed with a misspelling or sent to the wrong address.” The letter was signed off: “Resident of the above mentioned address.”
The landlord’s representative gave evidence that the tenant doesn’t like the use of all capital letters in his name. Ms Parkinson stated that the tenant was still definitely residing at the premises but was not surprised that the letter was returned to the Tribunal due to the capital letter issue. The Tribunal was persuaded by the landlord’s representative’s evidence that it was the tenant that had returned to the Tribunal the notice of hearing with the attached letter. The letter stated that it was sent by the “Resident of the above mentioned address”. The Tribunal accepted that the tenant was still the resident at the premises. The Tribunal found that the notice of hearing of today’s proceedings was posted to the tenant and the tenant had been given an opportunity to make himself aware of today’s proceedings, but he had decided to return the notice of hearing to the Tribunal. The Tribunal did not accept that the use of capital letters in the tenant’s name was a justifiable or sufficient reason for the tenant to ignore and return the notice of hearing to the Tribunal. However, the Tribunal did amend the tenant’s name in accordance with the tenant’s preferred format.”
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