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

wIcKiD

Svenena wrote: »

Was the carpet new when you moved in? Because otherwise they can't charge you to replace it with a new one, so this will impact the cost.

Why are you being charged for plastering the walls? What's wrong with them?

I am not sure if it was new, but obviously he will need to prove this, wouldn't he?

If it was, would I need to pay for it?

One of the bedroom walls had marks on them and had bits fallen off. I agree that this was not there when it was given to us, but it was not caused by us. I can take responsibility for the wall being dirty, but not for the bits fallen off. It happened few months after we moved in and we had informed the landlord and the letting agents about this, unfortunately not in writing. The landlord had agreed that he would look at this when he comes in to do other repairs. But for some reason, this kept on prolonging. Now he is refusing to admit that.

wIcKiD

clutton wrote: »

AS a LlL i can see this from both points of view...

tenants frequently make marks on painted walls by scraping when moving furniture, hanging pictures, using blu-tack etc etc and then expect a LL simply to paint over the mark... Decorating does not work like that, and in pretty well most cases the whole wall needs redecorating....

Whether a LL could claim for the whole room to be repainted as well is a moot point... i guess it depends on the length of time the tenant was in situ and whether the old paint has aged sufficiently for the new wall to look substantially a different colour....

Re marks on carpet.... for example red wine is almost impossible to get out of carpets... unless the spiller soaks up the wine with plenty of household salt immediately it is spilt.....

I would claim a new carpet - and would give a % discount off the new price for each year of age of the carpet.... I would probably need to show the receipt for the carpet to get a fair assessment by DPS arbiters

I would hope that DPS would also take into account the overall standard of the property's decor and furnishings when decided if a whole room/adjoning space also needed recarpeting.... This can only really be done by photographs

I get ovens cleaned (Iincluding hobs and shelves and grills) from £110-150 depending on which part of the country....

so £350 for a deep clean (including oven) could be a decent local rate depending on the part of the country - on the other hand it could be extortionate.....

Hi clutton

Thanks for your reply.

There are no such heavy marks on the walls (except one of the bedroom walls which I mentioned earlier). We have not nailed the walls for hanging pictures or used blu tack. There are few finger marks on some the walls, which is what we are being charged for repainting them. Considering we had a little kid in the house, we have been pretty careful looking after the property.

The paint has not aged in any of the rooms. In fact, the walls does not look much different to how it was given to us except for few finger marks and wallpaper scraped a little at one or two places.

The main carpet mark in question is a burn mark caused by iron. It is not deep. Iron fell accidentally and the surface has become a little bit rough.

Thanks.

Svenena

I think if there's a burn mark on the carpet, he'd be justified in replacing it (I wouldn't want to rent a house with a burn mark on the carpet). Cheap carpet is around £6 - £8 a sq. metre, but your carpet might not be cheap carpet. The original inventory should say what condition the carpet was in before moving in, ie whether it was new.

If the walls had bits falling off, I'm not sure how you could have caused that, so I don't think you should be responsible. But you should have written to report it to him (always do so in the future!!). Again, what did the original inventory say about the condition of the walls?

wIcKiD

The walls were in good condition when we moved in. They are saying that the wall is dirty where the bits have fallen off, so it looks like someone has been on it. I don't see why we would bang our head against the wall and damage it. The walls were dirty because we normally sit against the wall on the bed watching tv/computer.

Even the letting agent sort of agrees that the landlord is trying to get the most out of us. He said the landlord wanted to change carpets in all the rooms and get all the walls painted using our money. He also wanted to get the stones (gravel I believe) changed in the garden. No way he is getting away with all that!!!

Svenena

Have you raised a dispute with the DPS? They will look at it from an independent point of view, and the onus is on the landlord to prove that the damage was caused by you. Fair wear and tear is allowed and takes into account the length of your tenancy.

Remember to report back here what happens in the end, as others in similar situations to yours may find it useful.

wIcKiD

The letting agent phoned me up yesterday to find out what was going on. Having gained the support and courage from here, I informed him that we are definitely going to challenge this and also hinted on few points gathered from here. He has asked me what I thought was reasonable and I have given him some rough figures, which totals up to around £425 including move-out and contractor charges. I thought this was more than reasonable. I am waiting for him to get back to me. If they agree to this, well and good. If not, DPS will decide.

clutton_2

""The walls were dirty because we normally sit against the wall on the bed watching tv/computer""

in that case the damage/dirt Was caused by you and you are responsible for its repair... if it needs rewallpapering then i would expect to charge a tenant for this


similarly with the carpet.... if you burnt it you must expect to make some payment towards its replacement....

i think you have to admit what you did, and that will make DPS see that you are trying to be as fair as you can be...

DPS will decide on how much they will allow the LL to deduct - and believe me they are Very pro-tenant in their estimates of repair costs


I think this thread is one of thousands we have read in which tenants need to realise that it is crucial to REPORT MAINTAINANCE ISSUES IN WRITING..... NOT TEXT... NOT EMAIL... BUT BY GOOD OLD FASHIONED LETTER..

then when it comes to the final check out - your life will be a lot easier....

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

"
DPS will decide on how much they will allow the LL to deduct - and believe me they are Very pro-tenant in their estimates of repair costs

I think you need to add the rider "in my opinion " Clutton.:)

wIcKiD

clutton wrote: »

""The walls were dirty because we normally sit against the wall on the bed watching tv/computer""

in that case the damage/dirt Was caused by you and you are responsible for its repair... if it needs rewallpapering then i would expect to charge a tenant for this


similarly with the carpet.... if you burnt it you must expect to make some payment towards its replacement....

i think you have to admit what you did, and that will make DPS see that you are trying to be as fair as you can be...

DPS will decide on how much they will allow the LL to deduct - and believe me they are Very pro-tenant in their estimates of repair costs


I think this thread is one of thousands we have read in which tenants need to realise that it is crucial to REPORT MAINTAINANCE ISSUES IN WRITING..... NOT TEXT... NOT EMAIL... BUT BY GOOD OLD FASHIONED LETTER..

then when it comes to the final check out - your life will be a lot easier....

Hi clutton

As you can see from my previous posts, I have admitted to whatever damages I have caused and agree to pay for this. I am not trying to get my full deposit money in return. I don't expect this.

I don't mind paying for the walls to be repainted, but the issue here is plastering them.

Again with the carpet, I am willing to make some payment for it, but the question here is do I need to pay for replacing the entire carpet???

I will keep in mind about giving future notices in writing. Thanks.

clutton_2

you certainly should not have to pay for plastering.. but - without written maintainance request letters from you to the LL/LA how can you prove you did not do the damage if LL claims you have ?

"but the question here is do I need to pay for replacing the entire carpet???""

i can hardly say to my Carpet supplier .. "just replace the burnt bit please" - can I ?

But, a factor for wear and tear will be taken into consideration when the Arbiters make a decision on how much is fair to deduct....