house deposit return

clb776

Hi, I am asking this for a friend, and my nosiness!

She had ALOT of problems with a property and moved out in september, since then she has been arguing about the money they are taking out of her deposit, it went to arbitration and the company won.

They charged £75 to replace a door knocker on the front door, new tenants have moved in a couple of weeks ago (we walk past it quite alot as it is on the way to the shops!) there is no door knocker on the door, after how long are they supposed to replace it?

Overall they charged her £350 for 'damage' to the property (which she argued was not there! They had no picture evidence of before or after, and as she had moved out she did not know what they were talking about, and was not allowed back into the property to be shown.

This is a massive company, and so I would have thought everything would be done by the book, but I wondered if there were time limits for repairs etc, I would have assumed these would be needed to be made before new tenants moved into the property.

Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

Assume nothing. If the door-knocker was missing then it should have been paid for.

On the face of it, I would suggest that your friend's argument against the deposit-deductions was weak or non-existent if the arbitrators found in favour of the landlord.

clb776

So they can charge £40 labor to put a door knocker on and not do it after a couple of months?

Yes, it was non existent, she was never even told that it would go to arbitration, she got a letter about the decision which informed her of the outcome.

BitterAndTwisted

In that case, it proves to me that your friend's argument against the deposit-deductions was non-existent. Surely, she should have ensured that she understood how the deposit-protection schemes operated. If you don't object to the deductions and the schemes don't hear from you at all they will assume that you agree to them and award the monies to the landlord. This sounds like that was your friend's error.

clb776

Thanks for your responses. My question was can they take money out of your deposit but then not carry out the repairs, not about appeals and decisions are non existent arguments. I feel if a landlord is going to charge you for a repair it should be carried out.

Hammyman

clb776 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses. My question was can they take money out of your deposit but then not carry out the repairs,

Yes. If I broke your car and gave you the money, are you required to go buy another?

BitterAndTwisted

The answer is yes, they can. The outgoing tenant pays for the damage they have caused, what the landlord actually does with the money is their concern.

clb776

Hammyman wrote: »

Yes. If I broke your car and gave you the money, are you required to go buy another?

No, very true! I didnt think about it like that to be honest! I just think she got charged £40 labour charge and £75 all together to fix the door knocker, and she has paid £75 for that to be done, and it hasn't been repaired.