A similar thing has happened in New Zealand. The Tenancy Tribunal exists to mediate disputes between the landlord and tenants, both the landlord and the tenant

A similar thing has happened in New Zealand. The Tenancy Tribunal exists to mediate disputes between the landlord and tenants, both the landlord and the tenant can bring cases. For example, landlords can use it to get tenants to pay for damage caused, and tenants can use it to get the landlord to fix something they are legally obliged to fix. The tribunal is non-biased, and the decisions they make tend to be fair. The problem though is that all tenancy tribunal case are public. With the names of the tenants and landlords published, as well as the case and the outcome. A lot of rental applications ask if you have ever been to the tenancy tribunal, and a lot of real estate agents will search the tribunal records (which go back 5 years) when you apply for a rental. It doesn't matter if you were in the right or wrong, or if you won or lost. Landlords are reluctant to rent to anybody that has been to the tribunal, as they are considered troublemakers. Because of this, tenants are scared to go to the tribunal, even for justified cases, where they are in the right and would win. The opposite doesn't occur for landlords because there is more demand than supply for tenants, and also tenants often don't know that they can search the tribunal records.