Are we scrubbers or is landlord in wrong?

jaype

Hi - I'd just like your opinion on whether we're being unreasonable dirty, house-trashing scrubbers, or whether our former landlord is taking the proverbial. W've just moved out of our house after three years there and have received a list of damages and so forth, including:

- they want us to pay to get a gardener in to tidy up brambles and weed out the front where I'd forgotten there wasn't grass originally (fair enough), but - they say we need to pay to get cut grass left in the lawn that my mower didn't pick up as I mowed it removed, and say they need to reseed or re-turf a slightly thinning bit where we had a trampoline. It isn't bad and as we live in the west, a week's rain and I'd bet it would be fine.

- our cleaners didn't do a great job (we got professionals in but they left cobwebs on blinds and didn't wash some skirting here and there, plus forgot to clean oven so fair enough - we said we'd pay for that and take up the negligent cleaning with the people we employed)

- eight small chips to bath tub

- damage to toilets because plastic parts on the seats perished, allowing metal to scratch the porcelain bowl and apparently we should have called the landlord immediately to get them replaced when we noticed this (we didn't). Plus they want two new toilet seats as the metal fittings are very crusted . I cleaned them every week but in fairness they were £15 from Argos.

- blu tack marks on wall in kitchen and kids bedroom need special cleaning and repainting.

- garage door is a little bent and they are requiring a specialist to get it perfect. We told them about this when it happened (it's on a steep slope and our car handbrake failed, but we bent it out and it works, the lock works - it just isn't 100% smooth, but they were trying to get us to claim for a whole new door on our insurance)

Now, they are repainting the whole house again after us so have not re-let it, but as well as payment for the above (which they haven't put a figure on yet) are also asking for 3 days' rent as their painter can't go in till the cleaning etc is done.

Do you think they're being overly fussy and is the rent deduction from our deposit fair? All thoughts welcome...

BitterAndTwisted

Was there a dual-signed inventory at the start of your tenancy?

Caroline73_2

I think if you only had one or two things from that list than that would be a bit OTT but that's a long list so they are justified.

GavB79

You seem to be agreeing with most of the points the landlord has made so presumably are ok what's listed is put right (subject to reasonable cost)?
Does sound unfair making you pay those 3 days rent though.

G_M

Caroline73 is wong. It depends entirely what condition the property was in when you moved in. That is how you should leave it. Was it immaculate? Or was it a filthy mess? Or somewhere in between?

More importantly, what proof does the landlord have of the condition when you moved in? If he is claiming the garden was tidy, there were no cobwebs, the oven was clean etc, does he have a check-in inventory, signed by you, to prove this?

If not, he will have trouble claiming deductions. These days sensible LLs have extensive, detailed inventories done, with photos, at the start of tenancies, often by specialist independant 'inventory clerks'.

Caroline73_2

I'm assuming that the things the OP listed are damages that occurred while they were there and that a full inventory had been done. If not then that's a different matter.

ognum

I guess my question to you is, if these things are new defects that were OK before you arrived would you expect someone to pay for them if you were the landlord.
I think you probably would, I know Iwould. Why should the landlord have his property back in a worse condition?

G_M

Caroline73 wrote: »

I'm assuming that the things the OP listed are damages that occurred while they were there and that a full inventory had been done. If not then that's a different matter.

Fair enough. But that assumption is important and was not clear from your post.

Benji

Jaype. If all the damages your landlord is alleging were caused during your tenancy, then they seem to be legitimate* with the exception of the 3 days extra rent (which is his problem, not yours).

HOWEVER, it depends what the landlord is charging you for these items. Take the loo seats - were they perfect when you moved in? If they were less than perfect, then he can not make you pay for 'perfect' - this is called 'betterment' and is not allowed. So, it comes down to negotiation - in reality, what is a £19.99 loo seat worth after 3 years? He is going to have to pay £40 to replace the 2, but I don't think an offer of a tenner for the pair would be unreasonable from you.

Likewise the walls - what is he going to charge you for a blu-tac grease mark? Are we talking repainting a whole wall? Or a contribution of a fiver/tenner per mark?

ruggedtoast

What do you mean the toilet seat was "crusted"?

:-O

Emmzi

why do you present this as an either/ or question? You may be a bit of a scrubber and your landlord may be a bit wrong.

My neighbours plural have had trampolines and they have totally knackered the grass underneath for the entire next summer. I'nve never chipped a bathtub in 20 years of owning them so I don't know what you have been doing there..

I think you're going to have to meet part way.