Q. Re repairs following checkout

sciencegeek

Hi, ive done a search but cant find the info im looking for, I hope someone can help.

I have recently moved out of a rented house - during checkout no problems were mentioned in fact the agent said 'everything seems fine' so I signed the paperwork and awaited the paperwork with my deposit return information (the deposit is protected in a scheme).

Now a couple of weeks on, the agent has informed me that the LL has employed someone to prof clean a small area of carpet (and wants to charge £35). When i queried this the agent told me he had put something in his notes but 'didnt mention it' because he 'didnt know what it was'. Sounds fishy to me!!

I have two questions:
1) As no problems were raised at checkout, am i liable to pay this charge (for the record i have no idea what this stain could be the carpets looked fine to me)
2) Is the landlord supposed to obtain 3xquotes for the work or can they just employ whoever they want to and charge whatever they like? - I would ideally like to see an offical guideline about this rather than a personal opinion if you know what i mean.

Many many thanks in advance

SG

princeofpounds

There isn't a strict legal requirement to apply for three quotes but the LL must not act unreasonably. For a £350 job you'd certainly expect some shopping around but £35 not so much.

As for whether it is your liability - if you did it, pay for it. If you don't believe you did it, then state that your check-out was clean, that it must have happened after you left and raise a dispute with your deposit protection scheme. It will then go to arbitration and the LL will be expected to prove the problem and the cost, you can disagree and they will rule.

sciencegeek

thanks,

i was hoping he would have to show that it is a fair price - i recently had two full carpets professionally done and that was only £45 so i felt 35 for a spot clean was steep.

I really dont think we made the stain and as nothing was raised with us at checkout i think i will dispute it on principle. We had to pay them over £80 checkout fee so i think the least he could do is a proper job raising issues at the time.

cheers

Fire_Fox

Most of the cost of a professional carpet clean will be callout/ minimum charge, so £35 for a spot and £45 for two rooms is not unreasonable. I'd pay the £35 for the stain and then claim back the £80 checkout fees on the grounds the letting agent did a sh*t job!!