WARNING: LENGTHY POST! GOOD NEWS STORY!
I had a good start to today. I had been helping an agency represent their client in the Magistrates Court (Federal jurisdiction matter). The hearing was just over a month ago and today was the Magistrates decision. The picture is the renters’ submission, the larger stack of paper with 821 pages, this was their claim for compensation claiming approximately to the VCAT allowed limit of $40,000. Their claim was property not meeting minimum standards, not reasonably clean at commencement, agent providing incorrect information about the ability of the renters to terminated the lease, and distress and disappointment, and an extensive range of claimed losses as a result. The smaller stack of papers is our submission in defence being 208 pages.
Now for the agent the thought of a $40,000ish claim and 800 pages of submission was intimidating, and it is intimidating, you need a process to deal with that much information. This is where Woolfall & Stone came in, I focussed on the law and removed the emotion. So what did the law tell me:
The property met minimum standards the issues the renters raised were maintenance in nature not a failure to meet the standard. - CLAIM DISMISSED
Was it reasonably clean on move in? Probably not, but there is a process to follow and the renters didn’t follow it, failing to mitigate their loss. - CLAIM DISMISSED
Did the agent lie about the renters' inability to terminate the lease prior to move in under section 91L? No, they didn’t section 91L allows termination if the property does not meet minimum standards and as the court agreed the property met the standards it was just some maintenance on minimum standard items needed to be done. - CLAIM DISMISSED
Did they suffer Distress and Disappointment? - I referred to a judgement from Justice Woodward in the matter of Sharpe V Anderson, and the magistrate agreed the matter did not reach the bar required for distress and disappointment. - CLAIM DISMISSED
The renters' claim was dismissed in full, because we focussed on the issues, the Residential Tenancies Act and past VCAT, Supreme Court and High Court determinations. We supported our defence with relevant material and knowledge, and presented the matter with my four words for VCAT in mind - Methodical, Organised, Calm & Respectful.
I was nervous this morning, I didn’t sleep well, running through my mind was thoughts of have I done enough, I always get those feelings, I get them because I care, to me those feelings are good to have as without them it would indicate I don’t care.
What can all property managers take from this? When you are confronted with claims from renters, work through them methodically to isolate the issues, focus on the law, what does the RTA say? And then put your submission together supported by the law and past cases. Here I focussed on three previous matters and in his decisions the magistrate was constantly referencing the paragraphs I had highlighted in those three decisions. Always take a deep breath, take your time, be organised, methodical, calm and respectful.
That was my great start to the day! Hope you have all had an equally great day!
