Tenency deposit/bond... and defects with the peoperty.

bagand96

Looking for some help from the good people at MSE with regards to some first time tenants!!

Myself and 2 friends have recently rented a property after being relocated with work. This is the first time any of us have formally rented a property and have a question. We have put down a sizeable deposit/bond on the place, as is standard when renting. Having lived here for a couple of weeks we have noticed some defects with a couple of things in the peoperty and the furniture within (its a furnished rental).

There is nothing major (eg a small tear in one of the sofas) and we are not complaining as such. However we do think we should put these in writing to the landlord, if only to formally make them aware so as to protect our deposit. What we don't want to happen is when we move out to be refused our deposit because of issues that were present when we moved in. (if its something we've done then fair enough - its our own stupid fault!).

Is this a pretty standard thing to do?! The deposit is protected with The Dispute Service. We are just thinking that if we get something on paper to the landlords, we will have proof if they do start being funny at the end of the tenancy.

Thanks in adcance!

N79

I take it there is no detailed inventory which lists the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy?

If not then what you are suggesting is a good way of protecting yourselves (and might even cause the LL to fix some of these annoyances)

bagand96

Nope we had no inventory. All we have from the agent is the tenancy agreement and the name and address of the landlord. Interestingly the property appears to be owned by a company, or at least managed by a company.

An an aside, the place was filthy when we moved in, well the kitchen in particular (food in fridge, the place hadn't been lived in for 2 months and the fridge had been off!), microwave was disgusting etc.... The things we didn't seem to check when looking round.

Will also be complaining to the landlords about that (for what its worth!).

clutton_2

having no inventory will mean that the LL will be unable to prove the condition of the property when you moved in - so it may be to your advantage to do nothing

Snakeeyes21

yep, no inventory means no deductions from the deposit, have you been living there for more than 14 days? have you recieved confirmation from a TDS that your deposit is protected?
if not write to the LL giving them 7 days to protect it before you proceed with legal action for failing to comply with a TDS, if they havent protected it you can claim 3x the deposit and the original deposit from the LL

theartfullodger

Do your own inventory, with an independent witness, taking lots of photos, noting age, condition, significant defects... btw it's a tricky job, so do it, check it, then ask someone else to do it & you'll be surprised what you missed.

Send a copy - with the photos printed, to the agent/Landlord. Keep a copy.

That's what the Landlord/Agent should have done if they were doing their job properly.

What would worry me is that if they missed something this basic they don't appear to be very professional or competent... That might work in your favour - or not..


It would be entirely reprehensible of me to consider thinking that it is a shame there is no record of that 42" Plasma tele & the 3-piece leather suite, brand new... ;-)

Cheers & Good luck renting!

Lodger (A Landlord since 2000).

tbs624

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

yep, no inventory means no deductions from the deposit,...

...it's not always that straightforward.

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

...... have you been living there for more than 14 days? have you recieved confirmation from a TDS that your deposit is protected?..

It's not relevant how long the tenant has been living there - the deposit regs "14 days" effectively begins from when the tenancy deposit is paid to the LL by the T.

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

.....if not write to the LL giving them 7 days to protect it before you proceed with legal action for failing to comply with a TDS, if they havent protected it you can claim 3x the deposit and the original deposit from the LL

Unfortunately the law does not work as many would like it to - provided that the LL registers the deposit with one of the three schemes (TDS, TDSL or DPS), or returns it in full to the T, at some point prior to any court hearing then any such action will probably be unsuccessful ( which makes the whole "14 day limit" a farce)

Snakeeyes21

now thats not true. it depends how a judge interprets the regulations, as previous cases have shown.
the 14 days refers to 14 days after the deposit was recieved by the LL.
wether a LL protects the deposit late and has still complied with protecting it, its up to a judge to decide if he / she breached the regulations by protecting it late.
some judges have taken the stance that even if the deposit was returned or protected late, the LL still didnt abide by the regulations.
my view on it is it should be changed, not a small sum of 3x the deposit, but the entire sum of rent from the tenancy.

tbs624

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

now thats not true. it depends how a judge interprets the regulations, as previous cases have shown.

What’s not true? That such an action will probably be unsuccessful?

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

the 14 days refers to 14 days after the deposit was recieved by the LL.

.....as I pointed out above - in your original post you referred to the length of time the tenant had been in occupation, rather than the date on which any deposit had actually been paid, so it’s good that you are now clear on that.

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

wether a LL protects the deposit late and has still complied with protecting it, its up to a judge to decide if he / she breached the regulations by protecting it late.
some judges have taken the stance that even if the deposit was returned or protected late, the LL still didnt abide by the regulations.

It is clearly a judge’s decision once a case has gone to court but please cite any cases brought within a Fixed Term where a LL has been ordered to pay the 3x penalty for being “late” registering the deposit but still got it registered within the first two or three months of that Fixed Term? It is not dissimilar to the way in which a T may beat off a repossession order for non-payment of rent by paying off some or all of the arrears immediately prior to a hearing. The fact is that there is no guarantee of a 3x payment in those circumstances and your post was misleading to suggest otherwise.

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

My view on it is it should be changed, not a small sum of 3x the deposit, but the entire sum of rent from the tenancy.

My views on the tenancy deposit regs have been stated on here many times: LLs should quite simply get all tenants’ deposits scheme registered. I would prefer that the law had said that the LL should be given 28 days max to get the deposit registered ( in case some of them take longer than average to understand the process) and if they fail to do so they may not serve a S21 for that tenancy *at all*, even after any late registration. Max compliance within a very short period.