Communication between tenants and landlords is crucial in avoiding rental disputes, a local real estate agent said.
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Tweed Sutherland First National director Matt Leonard said landlords and tenants have a common goal.
"Rental disputes only impact a very small percentage of residential tenancies," Mr Leonard said.
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The Real Estate Institute of Victoria is concerned the tenancy disputes system is struggling to resolve cases in a timely manner.
There is a backlog of 4000 rental cases at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and about 1000 disputes still to be resolved through the Dispute Resolution Centre Victoria process.
"It is totally unacceptable to have a system that was meant to assist in negotiations have thousands of unresolved disputes," REIV chief executive Gil King said.
The REIV said the number of backlogged cases at VCAT and the DSCV will only increase, with the government extending its rental evictions moratorium for another three months.
In August, the state government's ban on rental evictions was extended until December 31.
"Some opportunistic people are taking advantage of this system overload by simply refusing to pay rent or negotiate, resulting in massive arrears," the REIV said.
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Nearly 32,000 rent reduction agreements have been lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria, with tens of thousands more being worked out by mutual agreement.
"The balance of power clearly is in favour of tenants, knowing they cannot be evicted until next year," REIV president Leah Calnan said.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said for thousands of renters, this is the first time they have faced hardship.
"Victoria's renters can breathe a sigh of relief that they will continue to be protected from evictions if they fall behind on rent," Ms Beveridge said.
