Broken door lock - maintenance issue but being deducted from deposit?

EagerLearner

Morning Clutton,

I will speak to them Monday to double check, as it seems a little confusing that the DPS site says 'Dispute' yet allows us to request our deposit, if she can still add more deductions. If the ball is in her court I would imagine it would say 'Awaiting Landlord Response' or something? Weird...

All I can think is that actually the ball is in our court and once we submit this form querying the £80, she then has to reply to that.

Here is what I can find in the t&c's:

f. If there is a Dispute the Landlord and Tenant will be able to reconfi rm online
the amounts due to the Landlord and the Tenant. Alternatively, the Landlord
and the Tenant may confi rm on the paper Joint Deposit Repayment Form
the amount which is in Dispute. They will also both be required to confi rm
online or on paper that :
• they each agree that the Dispute be referred to Adjudication in
accordance with these Terms and Conditions; and

• they will be bound by the Decision of the Adjudicator.


Which leads me to think that as she has completed her form we now have to complete this repayment form, showing we dispute the £80 but allow £30 to be deducted.

See below - my Bold highlight:

Adjudication – The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Service
23. Eligibility to use the ADR Procedure
a. The ADR Procedure can only be used if both the Landlord and Tenant
have completed a Joint Deposit Repayment Form notifying The DPS
that there is a Dispute in relation to the repayment of the Deposit and
requesting that the Dispute be referred to Adjudication and confi rming
that Landlord and Tenant will be bound by the Decision of the
Adjudicator or if the Parties have completed the Single Claim Process
detailed in Sections 20 to 22 above.
b. Disputes will only be referred to Adjudication if both the Landlord and
Tenant comply with these Terms and Conditions.

EagerLearner

Hi all,
I have now spoken to DPS and completed the online form, leaving the £80 disputed, it now says 'Awaiting Landlord Response'. As far as I can tell, the remainder of the cash should now come to us, as the rest is not disputed, I just hope she is not allowed now to change her mind and increase with other 'found' charges.

EagerLearner

Hello all,

I'm feeling pretty despondent today, as we e-mailed the LL the locksmith's professional opinion last night and she has still rejected our deposit being returned.

She visited the property several times in December and never raised lock issues, raised a few other things which we agreed to sort.

Then she asked us to meet her for final checkout for the things she had raised to be checked. Once we were there and as we had done them she canceled meeting us at the check-out saying only that if we had dealt with the items she'd e-mailed, we could go.

She has not even given us an inventory. It's only when we gave back the keys that she raised the issues.

Looks like it will be a long wait.

clutton_2

if there is no signed inventory - then no deductions....

EagerLearner

Hi Clutton, thanks that fills me with a little hope at least... We checked out on 30th December so being the 14th Jan now she's taking way too long.

clutton_2

i think DPS gives LLs either 10 or 14 says after tenant has moved out - so its not too waaay too long yet

EagerLearner

Hi Clutton hope you had a lovely weekend...just a quick update to say that we had a Check In inventory but not a check out one, as she attended after we had left.
Also we officially moved out 20th Dec as she wanted to get a tenant in, even though we'd paid until end of Dec.
Then on 30th Dec we attended to sort the final issues she had mentioned, which we did.
It was only after we left that she mentioned the lock/fridge shelf etc.

She has rejected our claim and has not replied to our e-mail, so end of this week / early next we will see where we stand. I really hope she is not permitted to add extra items to her 'list' now, if the check out was 30th Dec.

RabbitMad

I'm a bit disappointed. When I saw EL had a new deposit issue I was hoping for a rerun of last time. The fact that its an argument is only over £80 is a shame (for us - not for you EL)

Good luck EL and I can't wait to find out what happens.

EagerLearner

Hi RabbitMad, nooo way, this is stressful enough let alone more hassle... However, she hinted after we checked out that if we did not accept the £110 deduction for her lock and fridge shelf, there were 'around £300' of items she has listed (things like another lock that no longer works, a 2mm chip in a counter etc).

I must say that the DPS site is pretty uninformative, all is says for now is 'disputed', nothing to say who has to do whatm or by when, though as the LL was the one to reject our claim, ball is in her court. As Clutton says, LL still has time yet to enter info about why she's trying to charge for these.

clutton_2

EL do keep intouch with DPS by email (*cheaper than phone) - there is a £2k dispute thread on here at present, and the tenant did not keep in touch and now may lose her entire deposit as a result.. altho the SEO of DPS - Kevin Firth - has posted his email address on here - sorry can't do "cut and paste" for some reason today - give him an email....