deposit dispute

mcskinner

Hi

I have a problem trying to get me deposit back from my landlord. The deposit is protected with the Deposit Protection Service and we lived in the property for 18 months. However I believe the landlord is charging an unfair amount of money. The flat was cleaned top to bottom by us before leaving however the landlord is asking for the following charges:

- £200 for flat to be professionally cleaned again + £380 for the landlords time to "supervise" the cleaners as this is what he would earn at work!
- £150 to repair a scratch on a coffee table that I never saw when we lived there
- £160 to buy a brand new mattress as there is a 3cm stain on one
- £65 for a stain on the outside of a microwave

What I want to know is, are any of these charges realistic? £380 for him to supervise the cleaning to me seems a joke!!

clutton_2

register a dispute with DPS

tbs624

We seem to be having a flurry of these just lately - have a look at these other threads on the same sort of issue:


[FONT=&quot]https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/35747131#Comment_35747131[/FONT]
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2650993

then read here on dilapidations and ARLA
http://www.arla.co.uk/infosheets/list.aspx?id=7

....even if the LA is not a member of ARLA, the info should be of help to you.

and have a read of one of the other scheme's guides : (principles on fair wear and tear will be similar across the schemes)

http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/landlords/documents/GuideforLandlords.pdf

Keep your dealings on deposits *in writing*, keep the scheme updated and keep copies.

theartfullodger

As clutton says, register a dispute. Do you have your own photos of start & finish of property & contents to back up your assertions??

OFT guidance on unfair terms in tenancies
http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/publications/publication-categories/guidance/unfair-terms-consumer/oft356

see 4.4 on page 48

cleaning charges - a requirement to pay for cleaning at the end of the
tenancy may be unfair if it is vague or unclear about the basis on which
money will be demanded, or the extent of the cleaning involved. Such a
term is more likely to be fair if the amount of the charge is expressly
limited to reasonable compensation for a failure to take care of the
property (see also our views below on excessive charges)

Just because landlord decides to have professional cleaning is one thing but he should not be charging you for it if you returned the place in similar condition to when you got it, allowing for fair-wear-and-tear.

Charging for supervision?? I seem to recall landlords can charge their time, but only reasonable hours at I think £10/hr-ish. He sounds daft. That may have been the rate he would be paid elsewhere for that amout of time, but that's irrelevant to this issue.

Yup, register a dispute: If necessary take him to small-claims court.

Cheers!

Lodger

BitterAndTwisted

Sixty-five quid for a stain on the outside of a microwave? What's it made of, gold? £65 is more than a new microwave would cost.

Dispute ever penny to ensure the LL has to justify every single deduction with the scheme. I doubt he'll get away with his £380 to babysit some cleaners

clutton_2

£160 to buy a brand new mattress as there is a 3cm stain on one

he cannot claim a new mattress- merely wear and tear.... can you find out how old it is ?

tbs624

from one of the threads linked to in my earlier post:

tbs624 wrote: »

You can challenge them on this one, even if you have marked the bed. They have to look at what the item cost, how old it was at the start of your tenancy, its quality and how much use they could reasonably have expected to have got out of it before it needed replacing. So, say bed was £150 new, was 2 years old when your tenancy started and the LL would expect to replace after say 8 years (pushing it in a rental) If you have been in the property for 2 years, that means that the LL can only charge you for the equivalent of the remaining 4 years @18.75 per year. This also applies to the carpet.

again LL would have to show whther wall had been freshly painted at the start of your tenancy and how often he would normally repaint, and charge you a relevant proportion

Was there an inventory taken at the start of the tenancy?

<sebb>

Your landlord is taking the p*ss. As others have said, raise a dispute and let him prove you owe him money. You may well owe some small amount, but there's a good chance the arbitrator will laugh him out and award him nothing due to his ridiculous claims.

mcskinner

I agree its ridiculous.

Thanks for all the responses. Would it be a good idea to offer a gesture of say £200 and if he doesn't agree to that go to the arbitrator, or should I just leave it to the DPS?

thanks

<sebb>

Just go to the DPS. You'll probably have to pay less than £200. Your Landlord doesn't deserve a goodwill gesture with those allegations. Unless of course you think that any of his deductions are indeed valid..

mcskinner

DPS it is then, none of these charges are fair in my opinion, maybe a couple of hours cleaning for anything that we missed but other than that I think everything else is wear and tear.

The only thing we don't have is any photographic evidence of how the place was left and I wouldn't be surprised if he exaggerates this in his reply