CIVIL CLAIMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26640, 10 December 1947, Page 2

CIVIL CLAIMS

DISPUTED PROPERTIES MAGISTRATE'S COURT HEARING In what was described by the Magistrate, Mr W. H. Bundle, as another difficult case where the plaintiff desired to occupy a property he had bought, but which was already in the possession of tenants. Thomas Kennedy (Mr E. J. Anderson), claimed possession of a property at 52 Ravelston street, Tainui, from Benjamin Christie Abernethy (Mr F. W. McElrea), in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The plaintiff and his wife were living in unsuitable rooms, the Magistrate said, while the house was quite suitable for tho defendant. It was reasonable for the defendant to have one spareroom, and to have the house to himself over Christmas. The court was reluctant to interfere with the privacy of tenants, concluded Mr Bundle. If no agreement was reached between the parties before January 27, the case would be heard again then. Decision Reserved

The Magistrate reserved his decision when John Roy James Rennie and Eric Harold Ashton (Mr ,J. C. Robertson) claimed vacant possession of a property at 309 Vogel street from Robert Tait (Mr G. T. Baylee), Counsel for the plaintiff stated that the defendant, his wife, and child, came to live in the house with the previous owner, the late Mary Calder, on the understanding that thev supplied Mrs Calder with meals, but <3id not pay rent. The defendant was thus not a tenant but a licensee, and the licence expired with the death of Mrs Calder. Ashton’s arrangement to allow the defendant to stay in the house was purely charitable, and it was stipulated that Tait was to leave as soon as a purchaser was found. The point at issue was the existence or not of any tenancy, said Mr Baylee, counsel for the defendant. He claimed that there was, and the plaintiffs had not given adequate notice to quit. There would not be a case if the defendant could find other acommodation, but the housing situation to-day was desperate. Judgment by Default

Judgment by default was given for the plaintiff in ' the following undefended cases:—Otago Daily Times Co., Ltd. (Mr G. T. Baylee) v. J. Morland (claim), £1 Os 9d, with costs 9s; Otago Daily Times Co Ltd v. E. O’Brjen (claim), £3 16s 3d, costs £1 4s 6d; Otago Daily Times Co., Ltd., v. B. R. Trainor and L. H. Irvine, (claim), £lB 8s Id, costs £3 ss; Beda Ivy McCallum (Mr F. W. Guest), v. Gavin Wilson, balance of claim, £ll 17s loa, costs £3.