Taking Tennant's to court

Hi All
Anyone been down this road, and how did you go? would you do it again or go about it differently any advise would be greatly welcomed.
I may be in this boat in the not to distant future. Tennant has broken lease and left the property in a poor state. Will not pay repair invoices, rent or re-advertising costs all up about $1200

Thanks

 

The residential tenancy tribunal may be the more appropriate jurisdiction.

 

The OP is from WA though

 

The property manager has informed me via email that it may have to go to court to finalise the bond whatever court that maybe in WA

 

In WA it's the Magistrate's Court. If your PM has evidence (photos, documents, etc) then you should get a reasonable outcome. You may not get the whole lot back, but you should still get a reasonable amount of your costs covered.

That is, of course, assuming your PM has followed up on non payment of rent etc promptly through the correct processes.

 

I have in WA and VIC. I did well in VIC. I did not do well in WA. In WA I agreed to mediation where the mediator immediately started advocating for the tenant and bullying me. My mistake was not standing up for myself. After more than 4 hours, I caved and accepted a low offer. However, I was just about to gut the house for a reno and I was awarded enough to cover the materials to repair the damage the tenant caused. My problem was that I planned a lot for that day and I was running out of time.

Positives: being awarded enough to cover materials to repair the damage done by the tenant

To do better next time: set aside a full day, stand up for myself, don't accept being bullied.

It wasn't a disaster, but certainly lessons learned.

 

You don't really have a choice if you want to claim the bond and/or damages. The bond can only be disposed by consent or court order.