Landlord withholding deposit

Tibbie's_mum

My mother's lsndlord is withholding a deposit of £650 saying she has actually done £657 worth of damage. Is she entitled to see the invoices for the supposedly new carpets they have fitted?

gone4gold62

hi i should think that your mum has every right to see what her deposit is been used for .

honeyD

I have read on this forum that carpets have a "life span" and if the carpet is so many years old they cannot take money for a brand new carpet. Im sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly though.

Soot2006

Tibbie's_mum wrote: »

My mother's lsndlord is withholding a deposit of £650 saying she has actually done £657 worth of damage. Is she entitled to see the invoices for the supposedly new carpets they have fitted?

She is allowed to see an itemized bill ... and also to dispute it if she does not agree!

When did she move into her rental?

Tibbie's_mum

Soot2006 wrote: »

She is allowed to see an itemized bill ... and also to dispute it if she does not agree!

When did she move into her rental?

She moved in June 2005 and moved out back in July 2008, but she did signed a bit of paper the landlord produced saying she would continue to rent fronm June 2007 to July 2008 at an increased rent but he sneakily didn't give her a new tenancy agreement. She has subsquently been going thru' tests for Alzheimer's, so even though I had my solicitor write to the landlord at the time, we haven't followed it up because of all the distress we had with her illness.

tbs624

As it's over 6 months since your mother moved out, what response did the solicitor get?

A LL cannot simply choose to deduct from a tenants deposit without properly justifying it. You can only be asked to return a property in the same condition as originally let, save for "fair wear & tear": ( FW&T is not damage or dirt though) A LL cannot use the tenant's deposit for "betterment", ie to put the property in a better condition than it was originally at the expense of the Tenant.

Was an inventory given to your mother at the start of the tenancy? Were the carpets new when your mother moved in? Did the LL come and do a proper check out when she moved out? Are you aware of any *damage* done to the carpets?