Residential Tribunal/results

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From: Adam Randall


Hi
I posted a couple of months ago about a dodgy landlord wanting to take the entire bond off my girlfriends parents, after they kept the place spotless. I went to the tribunal with them as a witness last week, and was disappointed that the tribunal allocated 80 dollars towards the landlord.
Basically the landlord had no evidence,(had his agent turn up) to backup his case, and my impression was they gave the 80 dollars just to keep everyone happy.
The message to me as a Landlord from the South Australian Residential Tenancy Tribunal is plain and clear. Take every tenant you ever get to the tribunal for the entire bond, and 1 of 2 things will happen:
1) either the tenant won't be bothered disputing, and you will get all the bond.
2)Tenant will dispute the claim, but don't worry we will give you some pocket money for keeping us employed.
This system seems to be set up for greedy, lazy, or unscrupulous people who know how to milk the system on both sides of the fence.
Regards Adam

 

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Reply: 1
From: Terry Avery


Hi Adam,

I can understand your rage that a dodgy landlord got to keep some of the
money but perhaps your reaction was a bit strong. The tribunal is there to
deal fairly with the parties, it is not a court so don't expect justice.
Like the footy tribunal there will always be supporters who feel they have
been robbed. You went in well prepared, argued your case and probably had
the moral high ground but the tribunal don't know you and have to weigh up
the facts of the matter from both sides. It seems that $80 is a token amount
and that your girlfriend's parents seem to have kept most of their bond.
While it may be galling to give up a portion of it, it is a pretty broad
brush you are using to paint a picture of the tribunal not acting fairly. If
you had not prepared a good defence they may have lost a lot more so be glad
that your efforts were rewarded, you did well on their behalf. Remember that
the tribunal has to deal with dodgy landlords and dodgy tenants who will lie
just as much as the former.

Cheers