Problems, Help appreciated (end of tenancy)

LittleMissRolo

Hi

We've given 5 weeks notice to our landlord and are due to move out on Saturday. Our LL is claiming he first, received £500 bond (and told us we didnt have to pay our last months rent so in effect we would have our bond back, despite him knowing our monthly rent is £525pcm).

We told him we'd paid £790 deposit (confirmation receipts and also email confirmation from the DPS). The LL now claims he only received £550 bond.

The LL is a bit of a cowboy to be honest and i've listed below the problems we've had since moving in (we've ended the tenancy after 6 months its been a miserable experience).

We want to know who should inspect the property on Saturday when the tenancy ends as there was no inventory check done when we moved in.

We also want to know if we go to court over the dispute over the bond (should there be a dispute) can we claim compensation regarding the below?

We were not greeted by the landlord on the moving in date nor were we shown how anything worked (and I laugh as i write that as nothing does work, or when it does its not more than a few weeks before it breaks).

The fridge/freezer didnt work when we moved in

The sink leaked

The washer/dryer wasnt connected

The toilet in themain bathroom continues to leak water from the cistern into the pan

The central heating didn't work for approx 5 weeks when we moved in so we were left without heating

Asked for intructions for the boiler which we waited for over 4 weeks for

The fan in the en-suite stopped working in November, when this was highlighted we were told all tenenats had the same problem and we were to receive letters advising us when these would be replaced - we havent received any letter yet. At this time I made the landlord aware that there was mould starting to appear in the shower despite our best attempts to clean this and keep on top of it while there was poor ventilation.

The fire door upstairs used to access our property jams shut which is a safety hazard

The door downstairs locked/jammed shut on several occasions (one time we had guests coming and they couldn't get in and when this was notified to the landlord the phone was put down on me as when he got here to fix the problem someone had managed to gain entry, however this happened a few minutes before the landlord arrived)

The lights in the car park are never on

The apartment had not been cleaned before we moved in so before we could move in we had to clean it ourselves

There were several marks on the worktop which had not been cleaned/fixed (one area looks like theres a chunk taken out of it)

The windows hadnt been cleaned

The lights in the living room stopped working due to a loose wire which had to be fixed

The lights went again in the living room again approx 10 days before Christmas which was brought to the landlords attention and we have had no lights in the living room since as the electrician didnt turn up on two occasions when he said he would. We're now past the middle of January and still no working lights.

The patio door lock was open and the patio couldnt be locked for 5 days when we moved in so we couldn't move our possessions in the apartment straight away untill this was fixed, nor could we leave what we did move into the property unattended which caused us great inconvenience. This was then locked but we couldn't open it for over 3 weeks becuase the lock needed changing, again, more inconvenience.

The toilet in the en-suite only flushes on the large flush, not the smaller one

A crack has appeared around the door frame in the hall/porch

There is a water mark on the main bedroom ceiling near the doorway

The buzzer entry system does not work for our apartment so we have to go downstairs to let people in - again mentioned near to the beginning of the tenancy but no action taken, just a quick look over it.

Lights fixed and went again less 37 hours later (switched on 3 tines for no more than 5 mins each time).

Contacted Landlord at 8am the morning we discovered the lights had gone again, he said he'd contact the electrician, still no word from either one of them. These have still not been fixed and the electrician said they failed due to loose wiring (fire hazard)

Informed land lord we'd be moving out when the lease is up at the end of next month (21st Jan 2010).

Any help would be really appreciated.

Do we take this to SCC or accept our bond back (should this be agreed with the LL).

Thanks

LittleMissRolo

Also the alarm has been beeping continuously on the fire alarm box for 2 weeks

The LL was also tapped into the water illegally and when we moved in we were only asked to notify an electricity supplier and coucil tax

We also received debt letters asking from the electricity company demanding entry or they would gain entry by force, we had to prove we'd just moved in and werent responsible for that bill

Fire_Fox

Any problems with the property should have been reported to the landlord in writing by recorded delivery and addressed at the time, they are nothing to do with the issue at hand which is your deposit. You should not have to attend court, there is a perfectly adequate dispute process within the DPS which you can use. If the correct amount of your deposit is lodged this will be returned to you - as there is no check in inventory the landlord will have a job proving you caused any damage. However you should cover yourselves by taking photographs of everything on your last day so it can be seen you have left the property in good condition.

G_M

LittleMissRolo wrote: »

Hi

We've given 5 weeks notice to our landlord and are due to move out on Saturday. Our LL is claiming he first, received £500 bond (and told us we didnt have to pay our last months rent so in effect we would have our bond back, despite him knowing our monthly rent is £525pcm).

We told him we'd paid £790 deposit (confirmation receipts and also email confirmation from the DPS). The LL now claims he only received £550 bond. You have a receipt for 790, the DPS has a deposit of 790 - what's the problem? When the deposit is released you will get it all. If not, dispute why.

The LL is a bit of a cowboy to be honest and i've listed below the problems we've had since moving in (we've ended the tenancy after 6 months its been a miserable experience).

We want to know who should inspect the property on Saturday when the tenancy ends as there was no inventory check done when we moved in. The LL or his agent.

We also want to know if we go to court over the dispute over the bond (should there be a dispute) can we claim compensation regarding the below? No need to go to court. DPS have dispute arbitration.

We were not greeted by the landlord on the moving in date nor were we shown how anything worked (and I laugh as i write that as nothing does work, or when it does its not more than a few weeks before it breaks). Irrelevant. Did you request in writing at the time?

The fridge/freezer didnt work when we moved in Did you report in writing at the time? Did it get fixed?

The sink leaked Did you report in writing at the time? Did it get fixed?

The washer/dryer wasnt connected Did you report in writing at the time? Did it get fixed?

The toilet in themain bathroom continues to leak water from the cistern into the pan Have you reported in writing ?

The central heating didn't work for approx 5 weeks when we moved in so we were left without heating Did you report in writing at the time? Did it get fixed?

Asked for intructions for the boiler which we waited for over 4 weeks for ditto

The fan in the en-suite stopped working in November, when this was highlighted we were told all tenenats had the same problem and we were to receive letters advising us when these would be replaced - we havent received any letter yet. At this time I made the landlord aware that there was mould starting to appear in the shower despite our best attempts to clean this and keep on top of it while there was poor ventilation. Did you report in writing?

The fire door upstairs used to access our property jams shut which is a safety hazard Did you report in writing at the time?

The door downstairs locked/jammed shut on several occasions (one time we had guests coming and they couldn't get in and when this was notified to the landlord the phone was put down on me as when he got here to fix the problem someone had managed to gain entry, however this happened a few minutes before the landlord arrived)

The lights in the car park are never on

The apartment had not been cleaned before we moved in so before we could move in we had to clean it ourselves

There were several marks on the worktop which had not been cleaned/fixed (one area looks like theres a chunk taken out of it)

The windows hadnt been cleaned

The lights in the living room stopped working due to a loose wire which had to be fixed

The lights went again in the living room again approx 10 days before Christmas which was brought to the landlords attention and we have had no lights in the living room since as the electrician didnt turn up on two occasions when he said he would. We're now past the middle of January and still no working lights.

The patio door lock was open and the patio couldnt be locked for 5 days when we moved in so we couldn't move our possessions in the apartment straight away untill this was fixed, nor could we leave what we did move into the property unattended which caused us great inconvenience. This was then locked but we couldn't open it for over 3 weeks becuase the lock needed changing, again, more inconvenience.

The toilet in the en-suite only flushes on the large flush, not the smaller one

A crack has appeared around the door frame in the hall/porch

There is a water mark on the main bedroom ceiling near the doorway

The buzzer entry system does not work for our apartment so we have to go downstairs to let people in - again mentioned near to the beginning of the tenancy but no action taken, just a quick look over it.

Lights fixed and went again less 37 hours later (switched on 3 tines for no more than 5 mins each time).

Contacted Landlord at 8am the morning we discovered the lights had gone again, he said he'd contact the electrician, still no word from either one of them. These have still not been fixed and the electrician said they failed due to loose wiring (fire hazard)

Informed land lord we'd be moving out when the lease is up at the end of next month (21st Jan 2010).

Sorry - got bored half-way through. All these matters should/could have been dealt with during the tenancy. They are irrelevant once the tenancy is over.
Any help would be really appreciated.

Do we take this to SCC or accept our bond back (should this be agreed with the LL). There is nothing here to take to SCC. If you get your bond back, fine. If not, you can go to arbitration regarding why the LL is witholding it but the matters above are all irrelevant.

Thanks

See answers above

LittleMissRolo

Thanks FireFox

I read somewhere once that if a tenant is left without heating for a certain amount of time they can refuse to pay rent?

The deposit with the DPS says 'closed' which is causing us some concern.

LittleMissRolo

Thanks G_M

Our tenancy agreement advises us to report the issues, it doesnt state wether this should be in writing or not.

We notified them in writing we were ending the tenancy in writing as requested in the tenancy agreement. This is the only time it asks us to put anything in writing.

Appreciate the comments though

G_M

LittleMissRolo wrote: »

Thanks FireFox

I read somewhere once that if a tenant is left without heating for a certain amount of time they can refuse to pay rent?

The deposit with the DPS says 'closed' which is causing us some concern.

Heating... bit late now. Is the heating working at present?
Deposit - contact DPS and ask them to explain.

G_M

LittleMissRolo wrote: »

Thanks G_M

Our tenancy agreement advises us to report the issues, it doesnt state wether this should be in writing or not.

We notified them in writing we were ending the tenancy in writing as requested in the tenancy agreement. This is the only time it asks us to put anything in writing.

Appreciate the comments though

Complaints should always be in writing. Then if they are not resolved and need to go to arbitration/court etc you can prove what happened and when. Otherwise you get " I rang and complained...." "No you didn't...."

This doesn't just apply in tenancies, but in life generally.

As regards the long list of problems, had you followed each up, in writing, and chased, they could have been resolved or you could have ultimately witheld rent. You didn't. It's now too late. But you'll know for next time!

LittleMissRolo

Yeah it's working now

We were left without heating and hot water approx 4 weeks ago for 3 days in which period we had to go to our parents to wash. We had to ask numerous times to get this fixed.

I've contacted the DPS to confirm

We're making a recording AND taking photographs of the apartment on the last day of the tenancy.

There were also builders living here and they kept their tools here so the place was covered in dust when we moved in. Shame we cant leave it in the same condition, if only we could generate that much mess

LittleMissRolo

G_M wrote: »

Complaints should always be in writing. Then if they are not resolved and need to go to arbitration/court etc you can prove what happened and when. Otherwise you get " I rang and complained...." "No you didn't...."

This doesn't just apply in tenancies, but in life generally.

As regards the long list of problems, had you followed each up, in writing, and chased, they could have been resolved or you could have ultimately witheld rent. You didn't. It's now too late. But you'll know for next time!

There'll be no next time this experience has left me ill!

I can go to my phone company and request all the phone conversations to the LL number and also request recordings as proof

THI

G_M is correct that the issues during the tenancy are not now relevant. Tenancy schemes are there for the protection of both parties. If the LL / agent didn't provide an inventory the LL will struggle to prove anything.

Always protect yourself and take your own meter readings, photo's, notes etc in the event the Landlord does not provide inventory. It is not always the agents responsibility - depends upon their instructions regarding service. Many intro only services leave the inventory to the landlord who often doesn't!

Remeber these days all deposits sshould be registered / lodged with one of the three deposit schemes - go to direct gov website and search for tenancy deposit schemes - sorry not allowed to post the link!