With Marita I took some time off work this afternoon to watch my friends Tony and Rae* at their VCAT hearing, as their former agents (plonkers) and landlord (only the agent turned up) tried to claim some of their bond money for

(a) dents on a garage door that was part of a garage not even included on the lease

(b) scratches and marks on the front door

I’ve attended a VCAT hearing before, on behalf of my father. (Maybe it’s time to tell that story?) At the time I was impressed at how the chair of the Tribunal got straight to the point. No mucking about, and saw through all the bullshit.

Well it happened again. Claim (a) was thrown out offhand, since VCAT has no juristiction on damage to something not on the lease. The withering look and disbelief from Ms Tribunal Lady that the agent didn’t know this was very amusing to watch from the seats in the back row. I struggled to keep a straight face.

With claim (b) Tony asked that the damage be depreciated, since marks are bound to appear on a door over time due to wear and tear. The Tribunal was fine with that, and the net result was that of the $997 bond, $95 was awarded to the landlord, the rest to Tony and Rae. Since the agents no doubt charged a pretty penny to the landlord for even turning up at the hearing, you can bet that it was a lossmaking exercise for them, being so bloody-minded.

Ah, justice is good. And entertaining to watch.

*See what happens when four bloggers gather in one place? You get lots of accounts of the event.