Vacating rental property

clairehi

Our letting agent seem to expect us to get Kim and Aggie in when we vacate the house next week to move into our purchase.

The have sent a letter stating that in addition to the normal things of cleaning kitchen and bathroom etc we have to:

Dry clean all curtains
Wash windows inside and out
Wipe down all paintwork
Get the carpets professionally steam cleaned ( and produce receipts to prove it!)
etc

We have asked the landlord nicely and he is not willing to let us off any of it. We have only been in the place 9 months!

But I want my £1000 deposit back so Ill be spending my Easter hols with the Marigolds on Grrrr :-(

sarahspain

I know with our property we have to get the carpets cleaned when we leave but this is stated on our original agreement.

Did they not state this at the beginning of the rental? is anything written down?

lynzpower

I rented a house from a woman like this, and she was a bloody nightmare.

Me & the girls I lived with were pretty obsessive about cleaning, when we moved out we took a week of work to clean. It was SPOTLESS, she withheld 600 quid from our deposits.

If its not in writing or in the inventory, dont do it. You can take your LL through the small claims court if they withhold deposit. My LL was whinging about a slightly brown mark on a white carpet by the door, and claimed that shes paid 400 to get a contract cleaner out. NO proof of her doing that, she was blatantly lying to scheme the money out of us. I hated her, she was such a bitter cow.

clairehi

TBH the house was immaculate when we moved in, and the carpets had been steam cleaned prior to our arrival.

And our contract says we have to return it to the same fair and good (or summat) state it was in when we moved in -so I think we're stuck with it really.

I dont want to give them any legitimate reason to withhold the deposit.

annoying though, as our vendors are under no such obligation so we will be spending all our Easter hols cleaning two houses!

cally1_2

We have had a similar letter as we have recently given notice. They have said it needs professional cleaning!! Though they haven't asked for a receipt. Was going to get my mum to help - she is a cleaner!

lynzpower

What you need to be aware of if you have a standard tenancy agreement, is that it allows for "reasonable wear & tear". My bitter ex LL was trying to do us for a dead plant in the garden and a dripping tap ( 70 per hour plumber call out :eek:) She charged us 4.50 for a lightbulb that had blown ( after we moved out, we are sure of that). Another thing is, if you think your LL is going to be a tough one, & withhold deposits, we got our letting agent, and the Private Lettings Officer from the local council to come round when we did the final inventory. Some of the stuff she was trying to have us for was hysterical, the lighbulb being one of them, would we leave her 2x new toilet rolls as she left 2x new toilet rolls, blah blah. the lettings officer from the council was just saying to her "unlawful" "not reasonable" after pretty much everything she said. When the letter came telling us about the dep she was withholding, went back to the Private lettings officer, and he wrote a letter to her saying, see you in the small claims court, you are unreasonable, and acting illegally.
All the money was eventually given back to us. the other thing, if they employ tradesman, contract cleaners they are billing you for they, by law, have to get 3 quotes and take the chepaest & present these as evidence in court. She knew she wouldnt have been able to as she probably did the work herself.

If the carpets were steam cleaned when you get in, borrow or hire a steam cleaner and DIY it. If they dont specifically stipulate that you MUST HAVE A PROFESSIONAL CLEANING CO do it, then dont.

Good luck xx

clairehi

lynzpower wrote:

Wwe got our letting agent, and the Private Lettings Officer from the local council to come round when we did the final inventory. If they dont specifically stipulate that you MUST HAVE A PROFESSIONAL CLEANING CO do it, then dont.

thank you!

they want receipts for the carpet cleaning :-(

my gut feeling is that the agent will not try and stiff us if they have any sense. this is a very small town and word gets around!

it took me by surprise as I have never previously been asked to get carpets and curtains cleaned - but it is a few years since I last rented.

I will look into whether our local council has a private lettings officer. that might come in handy if they try it on.

lynzpower

Every council HAS to, by law, have someone who is to all intents & purpose a private lettings officer. they may have a different name, or the duties may be shared by housing officers in general, but there does have to be a post, lets hope round your way its not vacant.

Do check with them, my advice was current 2 years ago, things may have changed, but I doubt it. If its not in the contract, then she has to prove it in court? And how?