Squabble Over Invasion of Privacy

When landlord Frank vd Horst entered tenant Gabrielle Gawlowski’s rented backyard flatlet without knocking, she saw it as an invasion of privacy, and objected.

He considered her objection as a “breach of our relationship of trust”, and gave her notice to leave.

The saga led to a dispute before Commisisoner Sol Epstein, about the refund of her damages deposit.

Ms Gawlowski said she’d lived in the rented home for two years without any problems, but added: “The only problem was he walked into my flat without knocking.”

The commissioner responded: “I’m not interested in your personal vendettas.”

The commissioner seemed taken aback when, asked for invoices to justify amounts he’d taken from the deposit, Mr vd Horst said: “Because I do my own repairs, I write out my own invoices. I haven’t got any invoices here, but I will write them out afterwards.”

Commissioner Epstein said the only amounts Mr vd Horst could deduct from the deposit were for repairs, electricity and water.

The court had to have invoices as proof of the expenditure, and could not accept the rough or approximate amounts suggested by Mr vd Horst.

Commisisoner Epstein rejected a counter claim for R400, and said it, also, was a “think sum”. Mr vd Horst was ordered to refund R1 143 of the R1 280 deposit.