estate agent may try and take all of our £750 deposit

amber9876

hi
we have been living in our rented flat for two years.

we have always given rent on time. we have been given notice by the estate agent over an argument over a wrong bill charged to us and he demanded we should pay it even though the electric company later acknowledged they sent us the wrong bill.

anyway we have our checking out inspection soon and i have been cleaning and scrubbing like crazy even though i m 5 months pregnant and toddler to look after.

we are getting the carpet cleaned by professional cleaners but my dh thinks we should not do anything as he wont give anything back and find any excuse to take all of th £750 deposit.

the tiles are sparkling, so is all the kitchen the cream curtains look brand new... the only thing are the two £150 leather look sofas have ripped. also scuff marks on the walls.

however £750 is a lot of money i dnt know what to do as we'll could be the foolish for making the flat spotless and still get done over by this guy who hates us???.

Cannon_Fodder

Make sure the deposit is protected in one of the schemes.

He would need to give written reasons for holding back any part of your deposit.

He should only deduct based on second-hand value, not expect to replace at full, new cost, any damaged items.

Paint the scuff marks.

You could then dispute with the scheme, anything you felt was unreasonable.

mynameisdave

If you have only been there two years then your deposit will need to be protected by law. Have they given you details of the scheme it is protected in?

If it is protected and they do try and deduct anything unfairly then use the resolution service provided by the scheme. If you can provide proof that you are not liable for the bill then they can't deduct for it (although it would only be of concern to the LL if it was billed to him when it should have been you - a former tenant and its none of his business to deduct money for). You may well have to pay towards the sofas though (not new for old, as a second hand value based on their age).

Is it the estate agent that is playing up, or is it the LL. The LL is not always aware the agents are playing games.

rrf494g

How is the return of the deposit to be judged? What circumstances is the deposit help under?
regards

BitterAndTwisted

You'll be charged for the ripped sofas but depending on how old they were when you moved in they won't be able to charge you for new ones, just the second-hand/depreciated value. Scuff-marks on walls are damage and a charge will be made for that as well. Is there any way you could remove the scuff marks or repaint the walls concerned?

Was there an inventory and full description of the property and all of its contents when you took on this tenancy?

amber9876

The deposit is in a scheme.

another man usually does the inspections but the agent specifically said that he would be doing our inspection.

we painted some of the scuff marks but have a probem as even though its the same colour there is a difference between the old and new paint. should we paint all the walls now as he might charge redecorating costs. i think it would have been better not to touch them as it may have come under wear and tear but i didnt want him to find any excuses.

BitterAndTwisted

Scuff-marks are not wear-and-tear, they are damage. Repaint the whole wall if your spot-painting does not match or you'll be charged for redecoration.

Was there an inventory and full description of the property and all of its contents when you took on this tenancy? If there wasn't the landlord is going to have a very difficult time indeed proving that any damage was caused during your tenancy.

amber9876

yes we have details of the deposit scheme our mony is in.

The flat was spotless when we moved in ( as it was professionally cleaned) apart from a cigarette stub mark on the sofa and laminate floor which we acknowledged. The cream carpet was a bit grubby and stained but the agents later cleand it due to it smelling of smoke. however some stains remained but we foolishly did not point this out to them then.
yes this was basically the full inventory.
i want to leave it spotless but not get stung even after all our hard work.

thank you for your replies

BitterAndTwisted

Was there an inventory and full description of the property and all of its contents when you took on this tenancy?

Well, was there or not?

amber9876

yes i already said only the problems i mentioned previously were pointed out. everything else was fine there was a full inventory and description done.

maninthestreet

Take photographs of the flat on the day you move out - take plenty of them.