Inventory: what to include and what not to

ellawaude

Btw, most estate agents are only really tied down by letters sent by recorded delivery through the post (cost 75p more, on top of you stamp). This was stated in our contract, so check yours to see if they specify email or anything similar.

BitterAndTwisted

Who is this "he" you are referring to: the agent? Never forget that the agent is acting on behalf of the landlord, not you, so in whose best interests might they be acting? Please accept the advice you have been offered for you own protection. This might appear to be encouraging you to be unnecessarily cautious but posters' views might have been jaundiced by some of the horror stories read on here almost every day. Putting everything formally in writing is the best way to protect yourself should the very worst happen at the end of your tenancy. Expect the best outcome but be prepared for the worst is a sensible strategy in my opinion. The landlord has already shown that they're not a particularly good one already by letting the property in a dirty state and it wouldn't surprise me at all to know that the previous tenants have been charged for the cleaning. Cleaning which you are about do for them free of charge.

Yep, the digital camera pics being date-marked and printed (two copies: one for the inventory and one for your files) is the safest way. Mobiles can be lost or damaged: Computers can crash and lose all their data.

dustinjames

he is letting agent.
yes i know he has best interests of his company and the landlord (his close friend).
not sure what to make of the agent, some things they say and do are reasurring and issues are solved.
But sometimes is so cold and formal and i dont know if they are being unhelpful on purpose.
Maybe i should be speaking to ARLA about what the agent is supposed to be doing or not (eg meter readings).
If i am billed for dates before i moved in, that is fraud is it not?

the big lounge window is not listed on the inventory. And the window is jammed kind of and very difficult to close, i spent ages on it yesterday. and the curtain shutter gets in the way and it is so hard and awkward to close the shutter and window at same time, hard work. and shutter is damaged at top. Both of these things are not even listed in inventory. The window opens slanted, but the agent said its the design, it opens slanted if you turn the handle a certain way and opens a diff way if you have handle a diff way... i thought one of the hinges at top were disconnected/broken.

toilet flushing triggers loud rumbling noise after flushing for a few secs, sounds worrying and troubling. (noise is behind the walls, pipes or something) then it stops.

DVardysShadow

You are making heavy weather of this. I doubt you will get a more useful answer from ARLA about the meter readings that you are getting here. In the same way that the Agent is not so much your friend as the Landlords friend, so ARLA is more the Agent's friend than yours.

You should list issues like the window - if you want to avoid the Landlord getting a new window at your expense.

dustinjames

i was told my supplier is souther electric.
called them up, they have no record of my address.
they said i am within my rights to see the meter readings NOW.
and it doesnt cost to call engineer out, and they have never heard of an agent
telling them to email them meter readings and dealing with it like that several weeks after tenancy starts.

clutton_2

you really are making heavy weather of this... you are of course correct that you should have sight of your meter... write to the agent about this and ask who your supplier is....

southern electric can give you a number to find out who does supply you and you can then ask them for a meter reading

as a LL i would be quite happy if a tenant wanted to do a thorough and full inventory on their own sheets of paper and signed each one... as long as i had had the opportunity to check it out and sign it myself...

Fire_Fox

Agree with the others that you are making this far more complicated than it needs to be. Do not take advice from the letting agent, they work on behalf of the landlord: e-mail is NOT formal communication, if this ends up at arbitration for a deposit dispute you need a written record of ALL contact.

If the inventory is a work of fiction, I'd be inclined to photograph everything then write to the landlord AND letting agents by recorded delivery pointing this out in general terms. Then request a professional attends to complete an accurate inventory, include copies of photos or e-mail them. For all you know the landlord may be paying the letting agent to complete a check-in inventory, and then you are being expected to do all the legwork for free! I would not be signing anything.

As far as meters are concerned if you are paying the bills you get to dictate who the supplier is (after 'deemed contract' is set up), really you should not be denied sight of the meters. I'd ask - again in writing by recorded delivery - to be given access to the meters at the same time as the inventory is redone. I would note that in my building you cannot gain access to the meters in the basement without going through a shop (!) so there is the possibility that the letting agents do not have access. I would not be adding my name to any bills until the meters had been read by me or by the supplier.

sequence

6 months on....

Letter before action:

Dear Tenant,
in response to your request of your deposit of £350 we are unable to return this due to the following items:

Broken Window Lock £250
New carpets in all rooms due to tenant damage: £850
Re-painting of all rooms £450
Professional clean of all rooms : £250

Please pay the outstanding balance within 14 days, failure to do so will result in court action. We have enclosed receipts for this work

Regards,

Your landlord.

This is why you get the inventory in order and photographed....

DVardysShadow

sequence wrote: »

... This is why you get the inventory in order and photographed....

Exactly. There is a lot of money hanging on this, which is why you make prints, sign and date them and list the prints too on the inventory

Fire_Fox

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Exactly. There is a lot of money hanging on this, which is why you make prints, sign and date them and list the prints too on the inventory

This is a moneysaving website, why should the OP have to shell out for prints? The landlord and/ or the tenant will already have paid whichever admin fee covers a thorough inventory, why should he have to spend his bank holiday weekend doing this task? We are always asking tenants if there was a dual signed inventory, which the landlord needs to prove that any damage occurred during the tenants occupation.