Getting My Deposit Back

meropis

Hi All I am a new poster been on the site for a long while now and thought I would ask the good people here for some help advice.

My situation is that a year ago I was renting a flat from the estate agents Goodchilds. I had put down £1100 as a deposit I did not have a guarantee at the time.

I was in the property for a year. When I left they asked me to sign out which I had done not aware that they had actually made me sign a document that said the cooker needed cleaning the walls needed painting and the carpets needed redoing and the sofa that i was unable to take with me. (I had been told verbally that, that was ok)

Not only that but when I had put my notice in they are claiming they never recieved it on time even though it was sent first class and dated.

Basically they want to pay me £100 out of the £1100.

I had signed the contract a month before the deposit scheme came into place.

Anyone any tips of who best to speak to?

tbs624

I think you will learn from this that you should :

(a) never *ever* sign anything without reading it
(b) always send important letters by recorded delivery
(c) never take a LAs verbal assurance to mean anything

You have to take a measure of personal responsibility here - you are presumably an adult so no-one can "make" you sign anything, & it is up to you to protect your own interests.

That said, have the LAs office confirmed the full reason for the deductions, and a breakdown of the costs, in writing to you?

They can only ask for you to return the property in the same condition as when let, save for fair wear and tear. Even if something is damaged or dirty they cannot put themselves/the LL in a better position than they were at the start of the tenancy and use your deposit money to fund that. So, you may have "inadvertently agreed" that the "walls needed painting & the carpets need redoing" but they would have to justify the actual costs for any work they want to do.

Was an inventory done at the start of your rental? Did you take photos when you moved in and out?

You may want to talk to the private sector Tenancy Relations Officer at the local Council and see if this LA is already known to them. If the agent is signed up to ARLA, UKALA, NALs or OEA schemes you can try making a formal complaint there but, in the circumstances, you probably won't get very far.

ILW

meropis wrote: »

I was in the property for a year. When I left they asked me to sign out which I had done not aware that they had actually made me sign a document that said the cooker needed cleaning the walls needed painting and the carpets needed redoing and the sofa that i was unable to take with me. (I had been told verbally that, that was ok)

How did they MAKE you sign the document?

meropis

tbs624 wrote: »

I think you will learn from this that you should :

(a) never *ever* sign anything without reading it
(b) always send important letters by recorded delivery
(c) never take a LAs verbal assurance to mean anything

You have to take a measure of personal responsibility here - you are presumably an adult so no-one can "make" you sign anything, & it is up to you to protect your own interests.

That said, have the LAs office confirmed the full reason for the deductions, and a breakdown of the costs, in writing to you?

They can only ask for you to return the property in the same condition as when let, save for fair wear and tear. Even if something is damaged or dirty they cannot put themselves/the LL in a better position than they were at the start of the tenancy and use your deposit money to fund that. So, you may have "inadvertently agreed" that the "walls needed painting & the carpets need redoing" but they would have to justify the actual costs for any work they want to do.

Was an inventory done at the start of your rental? Did you take photos when you moved in and out?

You may want to talk to the private sector Tenancy Relations Officer at the local Council and see if this LA is already known to them. If the agent is signed up to ARLA, UKALA, NALs or OEA schemes you can try making a formal complaint there but, in the circumstances, you probably won't get very far.

Yeah I am an adult and I guess I am not in much of a position, I just feel they are taking the micky slightly.

I never took any photos or anything as I thought they were decent and all seemed ok with me. Yeah there were a few marks but nothing major.

I think what I will do is ask for the reciepts for the work they have carried out and speak to my local council like you said.

I have definitely learned from this.

Just grieves me £1000 of my money.

meropis

ILW wrote: »

How did they MAKE you sign the document?

The agent was talking with me and laughing and said "that's us you just need to sign here and then we all done". I stupidly presumed that their was nothing the matter and that was the case closed.


Lesson learnt the hard way.