Blooming landlord is doing my nut in. Problem with my bond

NUFCnutter

Does anyone have a link to a letter to a LA regarding this? I have been back to page 13 now and cant find one. Thanks.

Zebedee69

Hows about this?

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See what it says.... sorry for the huge link i cant make it small!

NUFCnutter

I honestly believe that the house is in as good (if not better) condition than when I moved in. I got permission from the LA to decorate one bedroom and the living room, and they were considerably better than when I moved in (the paintwork on the walls was streaky and obviously rushed through when I first moved in). If anyone can help with a letter I would appreciate it.

Microstar_2

Wear and tear and whether something is 'dirty' is very much a matter of opinion. As a LL I know that it is physically impossible for a carpet to be in the same condition after a 2 year let, as at the start of the let. There will be 'shading' (pile crushing or angling), possibly fading and some marking. Even if you shampoo a carpet thoroughly (Rug Doctor type machine) then it will show some deterioration. Really its part and parcel of the business and these costs and 'depreciations' have to be factored into the business plan. I have one property at the moment (largish detached) that had really good quality carpet put down 7 years ago. Its still sound, but faded and shaded with some patches of slight discolouration. It'll need renewing within a year.
Similarly, decorating needs doing every few years, it would be unfair to load all this cost onto the tenant. Without seeing the actual property it is hard to make a judgement, but the costs do look OTT.
If you are confident you are in the right, and there was no inventory, then I would advise to go in 'all guns blazing'. Send a LBA (send Rec. Delivery) giving 10 working days to refund and then take out a MCOL (£25 fee IIRC) if no response.

NUFCnutter

Just to check, what is a LBA?

barnaby-bear

NUF!!!!ter wrote: »

Just to check, what is a LBA?

Letter Before Action...

a) Fires warning shot that you know rights and are serious, if someone is trying it on often enough to make them back down
b) important part of process, if going small claims route to demonstrate to magistrate/judge that you are a reasonable person and tried to avoid taking up the courts valuable time and tried to resolve it before hand...

barnaby-bear

NUF!!!!ter wrote: »

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I have paid my rent up to date and kept the house clean (well apart from the carpet, but to be fair I would say that it was in a normal condition for a light beige carpet that had a young family in the house and was clean when I left it), tidy and well maintained. After speaking with my mam, she reminded me that there was a stain on the carpet when we moved in anyway, so my kids have added a couple of small stains that didn't come out when shampooed, the carpet is definitely clean though.

That sounds like an excuse - if you are going down the small claims route - adding in the bits given it's a light carpet and young kids sound like there was excess staining or something.... stick to the facts that you do not believe there is excessive wear and tear and given the lack of inventory demonstrating otherwise.... also throw in betterment (a rental carpet is expected to last 5 years so is only worth two fifths of its original value if it was new when you moved in) and if still fit to be used as carpet they can only charge a fraction of this for some staining.... paintwork is another - do some googling on betterment and OFT - the LA body even has some bits on it
http://www.arla.co.uk/infosheets/list.aspx?id=7
http://www.arla.co.uk/infosheets/list.aspx?id=7#details_68

barnaby-bear

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

To me wear and tear is things like the carpet getting worn down, faded, or frayed around the edges - not marks and stains. You have to pay for any marks/stains even if you think they are 'normal' for a young family as that is not what wear and tear means. If you have tenants insurance you may be able to claim on this depending on your coverage.

Having said that, how can you landlord prove what marks were caused by your family and which were there already if they have no inventory!! So you may have a good chance to get all your deposit back despite this.

First step is to write to landlord. There are loads of threads on here where people have claimed their deposit back so you should be able to find a template letter on one of these.

I generaly would have agreed but ARLA have an interesting take on it
http://www.arla.co.uk/infosheets/list.aspx?id=7#details_65

Fair wear and tear – this means making an allowance for: -

1. The original age, quality and condition of any item at commencement of the tenancy
2. The average useful lifespan to value ratio (depreciation) of the item
3. The reasonable expected usage of such an item
4. The number and type of occupants in the property
5. The length of the tenants occupancy

Microstar_2

This may be a useful sentence from the above ARLA website:

"It follows therefore (and is an established legal tenet) that a landlord is not entitled to charge his tenants the full cost for having any part of his property, or any fixture or fitting, ".....put back to the condition it was at the start of the tenancy."

paintpot

I agree with this, because fair wear and term has to reflect who and how many live in the property. You can't expect the same level of wear and tear from a single person as a family with 3 kids under 5. I am a landlord and regularly let to families so I know to expect a greater level of wear and tear.

In this scenaro, as has been posted, if no inventory exists then the landlord is on a hiding to nothing if the OP pursues this because they are unable to show any evidence of the condition of the property, fixtures, fitting and contents when the tenant moved in. Therefore, they will be unable to show what is and isn't wear and tear.

Also, unless it has been mentioned and I've missed it, where is the deposit, i.e. is it being held by the agent or in a deposit scheme? If it's in the latter then the ADR system will likely be involved but if it's the former then the landlord/agent can make like difficult and therefore a claim in the small claims court might become necessary. Therefore, a strongly worded letter before action will be required stating there is no inventory and the effects of that as previously stated.

barnaby-bear wrote: »

I generaly would have agreed but ARLA have an interesting take on it
http://www.arla.co.uk/infosheets/list.aspx?id=7#details_65

Fair wear and tear – this means making an allowance for: -

1. The original age, quality and condition of any item at commencement of the tenancy
2. The average useful lifespan to value ratio (depreciation) of the item
3. The reasonable expected usage of such an item
4. The number and type of occupants in the property
5. The length of the tenants occupancy