Due to external circumstances I have had to move twice this year. Despite being a model tenant who left the houses extremely clean, each time the landlady/agent found reason to withhold a portion of my bond. In the first case the landlady wanted landscaping rather than the informal garden I had developed over a number of years. In the second case, it was without my agreement over reasons that I disagreed with.
I have since discovered that nobody in my circle of friends has ever had their full bond returned, even if they hired professional cleaners. However, the thought of the cost and stress of taking their cases to the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal has prevented them all from doing something about it.
