Landlord Demanding All Our Deposit Money.. Help!!!

tbs624

FOURCANDLES wrote: »

....we give a price of around £350 for a 3 bed deep clean the estate agent deducts this from the deposit of the tenant or so we are told on the instructions of the landlord who has stated the cleaning carried out by the tenant was not up to his standard, we have done loads of these for the estate agents over the last 4 years and on checking my records they amount to 5 different estate agents.

£350 quid for cleaning a 3 bedded house?? That's an awful lot of cleaning hours to justify...I reckon the Ts must have been pretty naive.

The fact remains that a LL cannot just unilaterally decide to deduct anything he chooses from a Ts deposit: it's open to challenge by the T. Have to say that I'd suggest to any T presented with a bill for 350 quid's worth of cleaning that they should indeed challenge it.

tbs624

wIcKiD wrote: »

For information purposes and future reference, can you please let me know what fair wear and tear actually includes?

Although you say your deposit is lodged with DPS you may find this LL guide from mydeposits helpful.FW&T is generally what would happen naturally over time - fading, flattening of carpet pile and so on.It tends to be a bit subjective in that some LLs will , for example,overlook small chips to paintwork (particularly if a young family has been in for a couple of years) and others will not.

wIcKiD wrote: »

Thanks for the info about the bed. Do I ask for an invoice for the bed (which he probably wouldn't have anyway)? The carpets in 2 of the bedrooms had few stains (drinks spilled I think) and they are charging us for replacing this.

If the LL wants to charge you he cannot just pluck a figure out of the air - he has to be able to justify them so, yes, ask him for an invoice or other proof of cost.Were the carpet stains so set in that cleaning would not shift them?

wIcKiD wrote: »

Deposit is protected by DPS. How does this actually work? Letting Agent had asked us for the DPS number. When I phoned for new DPS number, I was informed that it is my money and I don't have to give out the number to anyone if I didn't want to.

Ts should not give out their number to anyone. The LA has no right to that information and they are obviously hoping to be able to release your deposit without your agreement.

You need to keep the DPS folk advised from the earliest stages

Doozergirl

tbs624 wrote: »

If the LL wants to charge you he cannot just pluck a figure out of the air - he has to be able to justify them so, yes, ask him for an invoice or other proof of cost.Were the carpet stains so set in that cleaning would not shift them?

Presumably the landlord has proof as well of that carpet cleaning bill to show that they tried and failed to remove those stains before they purchased new carpet

FOURCANDLES_2

tbs624 wrote: »

£350 quid for cleaning a 3 bedded house?? That's an awful lot of cleaning hours to justify...I reckon the Ts must have been pretty naive.

The fact remains that a LL cannot just unilaterally decide to deduct anything he chooses from a Ts deposit: it's open to challenge by the T. Have to say that I'd suggest to any T presented with a bill for 350 quid's worth of cleaning that they should indeed challenge it.

Hi minimum charge, it is not for a quick dust round it is for a deep clean as we do not charge by the hour but by the Job and does not include repairs and looking at our franchised rivals seems to be on par with them uk wide .I would also add as one tenant told us they thought they had cleaned the property good enough the estate agent said if you are not happy then you would need to take the LL to court.

FOURCANDLES_2

Doozergirl wrote: »

Presumably the landlord has proof as well of that carpet cleaning bill to show that they tried and failed to remove those stains before they purchased new carpet

Which he would need to show in court hence why they bring us in for an invoiced deep clean , and not Mrs mop who is working for min wage and would pop the duster around and charge £25.The owner uses it as a chance for a deep clean at a cost to the tenant.

MissMoneypenny

FOURCANDLES wrote: »

I would also add as one tenant told us they thought they had cleaned the property good enough the estate agent said if you are not happy then you would need to take the LL to court.

Are these EAs and LLs complying with the law and protecting the tenants deposit? The law now stops the rogue landlords and EAs helping themselves to the tenants money: although of course, this is only good if the tenants are aware of the law on this.

FOURCANDLES_2

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Are these EAs and LLs complying with the law and protecting the tenants deposit? The law now stops the rogue landlords and EAs helping themselves to the tenants money: although of course, this is only good if the tenants are aware of the law on this.

I would assume they are the EA two of the biggest upmarket ones use us on a regular basis I cant imagine they would leave themselves open to any come back . I would also assume they the LL are permitted to remove a cost of a clean and a deep clean is an in depth one the LL is not having the money we are the LL is getting his property deep cleaned ready for another tenant basically he is getting a deep clean for free at cost to his tenant.

tbs624

FOURCANDLES wrote: »

Which he would need to show in court hence why they bring us in for an invoiced deep clean , and not Mrs mop who is working for min wage and would pop the duster around and charge £25.The owner uses it as a chance for a deep clean at a cost to the tenant.

Appalling - this is otherwise known as "betterment", and is not on.

To other Ts reading the thread - you only have to return the property in the same condition as when let, save for fair wear and tear. LLs cannot "use it as a chance for a deep clean at a cost to the T"

MissMoneypenny

tbs624 wrote: »

Appalling - this is otherwise known as "betterment", and is not on.

To other Ts reading the thread - you only have to return the property in the same condition as when let, save for fair wear and tear. LLs cannot "use it as a chance for a deep clean at a cost to the T"

I agree. I hope the tenants' do challange this payment in court. All the more reason why a tenant should make sure they take out the optional extra of Legal Liability (sometimes called Family Cover) with their house contents insurance: making sure that the exclusions do not state legal action defending or taking a landlord to court. My Legal Liability additional extra, costs me just under £20 a year.

My neighbour runs a cleaning business in the London/ SE area and they do a 'deep clean' service too. I recall last year that he told me they were deep cleaning 2 bed flats on the south coast, for £100 each. If his firm is charging that in this area, then your £350 for a 3 bed house in whatever are you are in, is very steep. Are you giving the landlord or EA a backhander from your £350 charge?

shortchanged_2

Typical landlord scam. How many times have you heard of crooked landlords not willing to return bonds?

If you feel they are being unreasonable stand your ground, don't be bullied. Unless there is major damage it is unlikely that there is over £1000's worth of repairs to be done.

£200 to get the garden done! If what your saying is correct i.e lawn and hedge needs trimming then they are seriously taking the michael.