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Renters and landlords don't always see eye-to-eye and disputes can get ugly.
If
you do take your landlord to a court or tribunal, or end up being
called yourself, here are some ways to put your best foot forward.The ABC spoke to two tenants who won their cases.
Landlord tried to claim $1,700
Melanie Burge drew the line after her landlord took her to the tribunal at the end of her lease in Melbourne's inner-north in 2016.The landlord tried to claim the $1,700 bond, including $220 for steam-cleaning and unspecified amounts for cleaning, painting, gardening and a missing old wine barrel.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found only $50 worth could be proved, with Ms Burge securing the remainder of the bond.
What was your reaction when you found out you were being taken to the tribunal?
"I felt incredibly angry and disbelieving. I felt, 'Pinch me, are you serious, you're actually taking us to VCAT [Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal]?'" she said.
"We paid the rent on time every month. We were conscientious in letting the landlord know of issues.
"I wasn't in position to sacrifice any part of my bond but I think a stronger factor was, 'I can't let you get away with it, this is ridiculous!'"
What did you do to prepare yourself for the hearing?
"Not having had any experience of VCAT myself, I put a message on Facebook saying, 'Melbourne friends, have any of you had anything to do with VCAT?'" she said."People told me all kinds of stories, and the stories were quite eye-opening and they actually gave me a bit of confidence."They led me to believe that if I was organised and presentable and articulate and could stand up in a VCAT hearing room and tell my side of the story then I would be fine.
"I printed off copies of the various emails and notes that I'd made of correspondence between myself and the landlord over those three years and just focused on being ready to put my side of the story in a respectful and articulate way."
How did you feel after the ruling?
"I felt a lot of relief and vindication; however, I still felt quite angry," she said."The cumulative effect of living in a rental property for three years where you're never confident that a breakdown or something that you need to be fixed quickly is going to be attended to, is that you don't feel very confident or relaxed in your own home.
How to prepare for rental disputes:
Don't get emotionalStick to the facts.
"Keep calm, rational and objective," says Allan Anforth, a tribunal member in the ACT and former member in NSW.
"A tenant who's angry or full of conspiracy theories and says nasty things to everybody including the tribunal members is really unhelpful."
Prepare your evidence
"If you have the piece of paper to prove what you're saying is what happened, that's what you need," says Leo Patterson Ross from Tenants NSW.
When you first move into a place, keep a record of all correspondence between you and the agent or landlord.
Emails, texts and letters can be provided as evidence.
Bring a witness such as a housemate.
Read a statement if you're nervous
On hearing day, you'll probably have to speak before a tribunal member or magistrate and may be asked questions.
Write down your story and be clear and honest about what happened and how you want the dispute to be resolved.
Try resolving a dispute outside a tribunal
Depending on the disagreement, there are ways to resolve things before going to a tribunal.
Speak to your landlord or agent first or seek advice from tenancy advocacy services.
Some state consumer bodies have dispute resolution services.
"While I felt relieved and vindicated I still felt stressed. It's like, 'That's the end of that, thank God,' but it's going to take me a little while to unclench.
"The feeling that came to me later was a kind of secondary feeling of anger on behalf of tenants who maybe aren't English-fluent.
"They might be precariously employed in shift work, it might be very hard for them to take half a day off work to trek out to a VCAT hearing.
"The idea that these tenants can be exploited in such a shoddy way made me really sad and angry."
Was it worth it?
"I don't think there was any question I would have [defended myself]. It was absolutely worth it," she said.So, you're a happy renter now?
"I am such a happy renter [now]. In fact, after the Coburg experience I feel like my ship has come in. I'm renting with a different agent. The real estate agent is responsive, he's friendly, he's courteous," she said."I feel he respects my time and more importantly my right to enjoy my home that I'm renting."
Do you have any thoughts on how to have a good relationship with your landlord?
"People have such widely-diverging experiences between really supportive and positive, to absolutely direly negative," she said."If you are in the market for a rental property, keep your eyes open, take advice.
"Be mindful of your own responsibilities as a tenant, it's not a one-way street. If you're signing a lease you're undertaking a responsibility to maintain someone else's property.
"But be aware of your own rights and don't be cowed or intimidated or ignored into feeling like your rights as a tenant don't matter."
Winning back bond, plus interest
Carla Garetti's time living at a Blue Mountains granny flat turned sour at the end of her lease in 2017, when the landlord alleged she had damaged some bathroom tiles.
The tiles were chipped and the landlord claimed it would cost $1,485 to repair the bathroom.
Carla ended up fighting the landlord in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, winning back her bond of $1,200 plus interest.
With help from the tenants' union, she gave the tribunal the original condition report which noted the damage and statutory declarations backing her evidence.
Were the tiles already damaged before you moved in?
"I noticed the tiles in the bathroom were chipped and so I did claim it on the ingoing report," Ms Garetti said."Nothing was mentioned in the nine months of renting from the landlord or the real estate agent.
"It's not my nature to [fight]. I don't like conflict so it was really difficult for me to stand up for myself."I decided to stay strong and fight for what I know was right because I didn't damage any part of the property."
How were you feeling during the hearing?
"English is not my first language, so being in that circumstance was quite confronting, especially because the setting doesn't allow proper communication. The judge sits far away and it's not easy to hear what the judge is saying," she said."The judge was very firm on finding common ground and asked several times for me and the real estate agent to [negotiate]. I was intimidated by this; however, I understand that that's the judge's role to push for negotiation.
"I was quite nervous, but I kept repeating to myself that there was nothing to worry about."I decided that I wanted to stand up for myself and not come down to compromises because I would have lost money for no reason."
What's your advice to other renters?
"Have faith in yourself and have faith in the law. The law is there to defend what is right," she said."Be very careful. Take a lot of pictures of whatever you see around the property. That's what I said to myself for the next tenancy."
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