Disputed and unsigned Inventory

Worcsman

Hi there, we are due to move out of our rented house and have just received an email from the lettings agency reminding me that some or all of my deposit may be withheld if the checked inventory has problems on exit inspection.

I've been telling them via email for a couple of months that the inventory was never signed by us, we disputed it, they were going to send their guy back but he never showed up.

Anyway I have had this response today from the person coming to do the leaving inspection...

"Having trained with with someone that sits on the deposit dispute panel I should advise you that if you were not happy with the opening inventory simply refusing to sign it will not negate any claim that the landlord may wish to make, for your own protection you should have made amendments or done a list of what you were not happy with and returned this to the agent."

So are they right? If i didnt sign the inventory can they still keep monies? I mean some of the stuff listed on the inventory is our own gear as we started to move our stuff in with the LL's permission before the tenancy started.

Thanks for reading.

pinkshoes

No signed inventory, no deduction.

Just do your own inventory for now, highlighting any changes you felt were correct.

If you have damaged anything, then it would be fair to agree to any such charges, but you do not have to pay for anything classified as fair wear or tear.

angrypirate

What a pile of ****. The inventory has to be signed and agreed for it to be valid. If you also have evidence that you tried to update / requested an updated inventory for when you moved in then that will be a plus point for you when it goes to the TDS. Never trust an estate agent.

dancingfairy

Well I've normally changed the inventory and sent it back to them, along with photos so this would probably have been the best option. However you have an email trail which should help. I'd go through it now and work out what's your stuff that's on there. Wear and tear might be a bit more difficult though to prove/disprove unless you have photos from when you moved in?
If you're moving out you're moving out so you'll have to leave the place as clean and tidy as you can. Was the deposit protected? if so where? Wait until you've done the final checkout/inventory and if you're unhappy you will have to raise a dispute with the deposit sceme.
I'm not sure there is much you can do before then apart from sort out what's yours etc.
df

Worcsman

Thanks all for the replies, I had to go out for the afternnon, on return I have another mail.. I had told the lettings agent that I have no knowledge of lettings law but was sure they cant keep any deposit, she replied with this..

"Fortunatly this is my area of expertise and although a tenant should have a signed inventory for their own protection, where a tenant has refused to sign an inventory then the dispute panel will consider the unsigned inventory along with photograps taken at the opening to be compelling evidence.

However due to the very protacted nature of going down the dispute route it would be nice if this could be avoided."

She seems convinced of what she is saying.
It should be noted that we did refuse to sign the inventory as it was so wrong. They agreed to send back the guy that took the inventory, he never returned. And what photographs is she talking about? No one took photos to my knowledge. They have ignored my 2 emails re the inventory up until today.

Worcsman

WOW posts dont stay new for long in this forum, I had to go to page 4 to find this one..

One last question, so after the lettings agency get silly and withhold our deposit or some of it, who do we go after? Do we just go to the small claims court with our claim? Get a solicitor and head to court and apply for costs? Use the dispute panel and take their decision as final and binding? Whats the norm? And who do we make a claim against? the rent deposit scheme? the landlord? the lettings agency? thanks for reading.

silvercar

Worcsman wrote: »

WOW posts dont stay new for long in this forum, I had to go to page 4 to find this one..

One last question, so after the lettings agency get silly and withhold our deposit or some of it, who do we go after? Do we just go to the small claims court with our claim? Get a solicitor and head to court and apply for costs? Use the dispute panel and take their decision as final and binding? Whats the norm? And who do we make a claim against? the rent deposit scheme? the landlord? the lettings agency? thanks for reading.

If the deposit is protected the norm is to use the arbitration service set up by the dispute service. That is why the deposit protection scheme was set up.

Of course it is easier if you can reach agreement without going to arbitration.

If you go to court, you may not get costs awarded. If you lose you could end up with the costs of the other side.

Any legal action would be against your landlord, the letting agent only acts for the landlord.

Worcsman

silvercar wrote: »

If the deposit is protected the norm is to use the arbitration service set up by the dispute service. That is why the deposit protection scheme was set up.

Of course it is easier if you can reach agreement without going to arbitration.

If you go to court, you may not get costs awarded. If you lose you could end up with the costs of the other side.

Any legal action would be against your landlord, the letting agent only acts for the landlord.

Thanks for that, the landlord is a decent sort, so hopefully it wont come to that.