(Scottish renting query) Landlord only returned half deposit,making unfair deductions

ryouga

Moved out end of September, I owed LL about £60 in rent so didnt mind that bit taken off, but I am OCD with cleaning as I have aspergers and other disabilties.

Having heard nothing for 6 weeks sent a formal letter demanding return of deposit(not even a text or email!)

Finally recieved a response today with a letter dated the 4th but only posted 2nd class on the 11th November(shows how much they care) with a cheque for £192 and the deposit was £380

Letter stated that the property IF it was cleaned little time was spent on it which is hurtful.

They attached pictures of a single oven chip, split in 2 to show a "mess" in a drawer.

And 2 take away menus, a ice cream lid, a old blank cd, a air freshener spray(I thought I would make place smell nice before I left!) and a tiny bit of bubble wrap, enough to wrap a dvd or something and said it was a pile of rubbish!

And a green mark in icebox(which would go away with a wipe) which meant I didnt clean, despite when agent came round to inspect property him turning off fridge as it wouldnt be in use for a long period(so the icebox would of defrosted) and finally the baking tray had 2 marks about the size of a chicken breast on(which tbh I MAY have overlooked but still)

Landlord took away 4 HOURS CLEANING COST! at £12 a hour and £12 for cleaning supplies. I left brand new packs of scourers in the property.

So the furniture was spotless, the floors were spotless, the bathroom was spotless but LL took off cash for 2 marks ona baking tray and a chip in the drawer and a green mark in the icebox! Wow thats a easy £60 and must of done one wipe every 30 minutes or so to clean property that slow.

LL also took off £40 "admin costs" for apparantly contacting council and electricity company and states on the letter that it creates problems for him and new tenant if this isnt done(it was a pre pay meter that I told company I was moving! and I was exempt from CT being a student and had form to prove it)

Was wondering peoples views on his deductions.

clutton_2

sorry - but clearly not OCD enough to leave it litter-free and spotless.... by your own definition you did not leave it spotless.

your figures dont add up £380 deposit
minus £ 60 rent arrears
minus cleaning £48
minus admin fee £40,
minus cleaning stuff £12

= £220

can you be more clear ?

ryouga

There was also £20 for letter forwarding(I have had none forwarded) and I rounded down a few things like rent and cleaning products so that would cover the other few quid as it was like £193 that was actually written on cheque.

I am very OCD with cleaning, this LL would of had to rip out every wardrobe, check in every dark corner just to find a few tiny items to chuck out, which are easy to miss, and considering the few items of rubbish were placed on coffee table in living room when the living room was spotless and table empty when I left means he placed it there, I mean how petty can you get to find a few items, and act as if the place was left a pig sty! IMO he is grasping at straws as he never mentioned anything about state of living room, kitchen, bedroom, matress, wardrobes etc so he must of realised they were spotless too which I have photographs to prove that.

The only reason why I say I wasnt sure if I missed grill tray was the landlords agent arrived almost a hour early then moaned at me because I hadnt got the last few items I left to move(about 4 or 4 carrier bags of possessions) to the front of property yet, then rushed me saying he was in a hurry etc so I was under a lot of pressure and it looked fine when I checked it.

I was so obsessed with cleaning I even stood on chairs and polished on top of wardrobes, inside oven, dusted ceilings, washed windows, polished the mirrors etc.

caeler

ryouga wrote: »

I was so obsessed with cleaning I even stood on chairs and polished on top of wardrobes, inside oven, dusted ceilings, washed windows, polished the mirrors etc.

Sorry I don't mean to be argumentative but what you've listed isn't OCD, it's just good cleaning habits and definately what I'd expect and have done when vacating a rental or generally after a period of time when dirt and dust could have significantly gathered.

I also don't mean to imply you don't have OCD as it is a terrible affliction to have.

I think your LL may be being a bit anal but I don't think you'll see the rest of your deposit. Put this down to a lesson learnt and you'll know how to approach a checkout in future.

ryouga

bluefuzzybug wrote: »

Sorry I don't mean to be argumentative but what you've listed isn't OCD, it's just good cleaning habits and definately what I'd expect and have done when vacating a rental or generally after a period of time when dirt and dust could have significantly gathered.

I also don't mean to imply you don't have OCD as it is a terrible affliction to have.

I think your LL may be being a bit anal but I don't think you'll see the rest of your deposit. Put this down to a lesson learnt and you'll know how to approach a checkout in future.

Oh I do have a form of OCD as well as aspergers/autism and I get really stressed and depressed unless a place is spotless I dont even like having dirty clothes I wash them as much as I can and take rubbish out straight away instead of having a rubbish bin etc.

I am taking him to court as he has not provided proof this cleaning needed done and I have pictures of a spotless flat, proof I contacted council and utilities etc.

I have been ripped off too often, I am a benefit claimant and cant afford to lose that much money, even if I wasnt not letting a greedy scumbag steal my deposit money.

clutton_2

how much rent did you owe ?

BitterAndTwisted

OP said £60 in an earlier post

clutton_2

OP also said ""There was also £20 for letter forwarding(I have had none forwarded) and I rounded down a few things like rent and cleaning products so that would cover the other few quid as it was like £193 that was actually written on cheque.


also says ""LL also took off £40 "admin costs" for apparantly contacting council" - even tho you are a student it is your legal responsibility to contact all utilities and the council to tell them that you are leaving and that the bills are no longer your responsibility. Why didn't you do that ?

bris

I think some are missing the point here. As a LL myself I would be more than happy to have the flat handed back to me in this condition, it's hardly a hardship to spend 20 or 30 minutes putting a few things right.
Unfortunately what we have here is just another greedy LL doing his best to keep as much of the deposit as he thinks he can get away with, you only have to look at these boards to see plenty others in the same position.
The tenants will more often than not rely on the deposit to get there next place and what a lot of LL forget is it was never their money in the first place so why look for excuses to keep it.
OP your only real option is to use the small claims court to get the rest back, sorry but the LL will only give in to this type of threat.

[Deleted User]

I think the OP is more interested in his legal status rather than being criticised for leaving a chip in a cupboard. He has said he did what he needed to re the meters.., why don't people who criticise bother reading the initial post?

As someone with a teen with Aspergers.., u could be more understanding. I see my son all the time get so focused and stressed about one thing, he misses other things that need doing to complete a job. Its fairly common with ASD conditions. Like, he'll wash up, but not clean the worksurfaces down in spite of it being very obvious it needs doing. This is not teen idleness., this is him concentrating on doing the washing up totally and utterly (the reason I get him to do it is to try and teach him life skills he needs to learn, I'm not a slave driver lol). The OP missed a couple of tiny things.., that's all, hardly worthy of the posts on here.

And I do agree it does seem that the landlord has tried to keep more of the deposit than he should. I believe the deposit should have been in some protection scheme.., I'd contact them and ask for arbitration if u still can. Or go to Citizen's advice and ask for assistance there.

ryouga

deannatrois wrote: »

I think the OP is more interested in his legal status rather than being criticised for leaving a chip in a cupboard. He has said he did what he needed to re the meters.., why don't people who criticise bother reading the initial post?

As someone with a teen with Aspergers.., u could be more understanding. I see my son all the time get so focused and stressed about one thing, he misses other things that need doing to complete a job. Its fairly common with ASD conditions. Like, he'll wash up, but not clean the worksurfaces down in spite of it being very obvious it needs doing. This is not teen idleness., this is him concentrating on doing the washing up totally and utterly (the reason I get him to do it is to try and teach him life skills he needs to learn, I'm not a slave driver lol). The OP missed a couple of tiny things.., that's all, hardly worthy of the posts on here.

And I do agree it does seem that the landlord has tried to keep more of the deposit than he should. I believe the deposit should have been in some protection scheme.., I'd contact them and ask for arbitration if u still can. Or go to Citizen's advice and ask for assistance there.

I think he took advantage of the fact I had aspergers, as I told the agent(I keep saying LL but only met his wife and never once met him) and I constantly told her I had aspergers and was a vulnerable person! No protection scheme as its Scotland but also under Scottish law he needs to be registred, otherwise its an offense and he can get charged a few thousand pounds if council decide they want to! Just shows how shifty he is, he must of literally gone through every corner of the property and looked for the tiniest thing to find, since to find like a take away menu and complain about it, and things like a ice cream lid or whatever would of meant he spent more time looking for rubbish then actually cleaning it! and even if he did pay someone to clean it it would of all gone in a single small carrier bag which takes under a minute, the oven tray would of even if they were OCD taken 10 minutes to clean, the ice box would of been a wipe to get rid of mark(I believe it would be mould) and whatever effort they put into germ killing i.e time spent with expensive products.

The biggest annoyance was the part in letter that read that he said that if any cleaning was done in property it was minimal! Even though the place wasnt even dirty I spent 2 hours day before mopping up floor and going into the corners getting dirt and same day I left even though I thought I did too much! and the countless hours I spend when living in property.

I am crazy about cleaning, I dont even like dishes draining on side, they have to be dried with a towel only used for drying them, then put away second they are clean, then I have another tea towel I use for drying sink and draining area once I have cleaned the sink.

clutton wrote: »

OP also said ""There was also £20 for letter forwarding(I have had none forwarded) and I rounded down a few things like rent and cleaning products so that would cover the other few quid as it was like £193 that was actually written on cheque.


also says ""LL also took off £40 "admin costs" for apparantly contacting council" - even tho you are a student it is your legal responsibility to contact all utilities and the council to tell them that you are leaving and that the bills are no longer your responsibility. Why didn't you do that ?

Actually I did and have proof I did, and the utilties were electric only and pre paid and I even left credit in the meter when I left (£55 worth!) that LL didnt care about and the council knew and I went in person, got a receipt and also by phone and I had a student exemption anyway!