EagerLearner , Clutton and all Please help.

prudryden

I don't think it is the intention of any proper LL to demand that you may for a Professional Cleaning Company. It is, however, their intention to receive the premises in the same condition (minus wear and tear) and up to the same standard as when you moved in.
Generally, carpets with pile, curtains (not net curtains), and other soft furnishings need to be steam cleaned to bring them back to the same hygenic standards as originally given to the tenants. Dirt is not wear and tear.
So when a LL says professionally cleaned, he doesn't mean you can't do it yourself. It basically refers to the standard. I have had tenants do both. One set of tenants came back three times (three days and cost of rental equipment) so probably the time and cost they spent were more than had they hired a company to do it for $150. A lot depends on how much your time is worth. By the way, they got their full deposit back, and I even didn't charge them for the candle wax on the carpet, which in the end I got off myself.

RabbitMad

Jumping way ahead here but if it goes to court - make sure you sue the right person (most likely the landlord). Who is the tenancy agreement with? Even if the Letting Agent signed it they probably did so acting as Agent for the LL.

Second just serve the notice at the address listed in your tenancy agreement. If the court won't let you serve it at the address in the tenancy agreement then just serve it to the letting agents address. Eagerlerner's judge commented that she should have done that.

Hope you get your money back.

Sybarite

prudryden wrote:

I don't think it is the intention of any proper LL to demand that you may for a Professional Cleaning Company. It is, however, their intention to receive the premises in the same condition (minus wear and tear) and up to the same standard as when you moved in.
Generally, carpets with pile, curtains (not net curtains), and other soft furnishings need to be steam cleaned to bring them back to the same hygenic standards as originally given to the tenants. Dirt is not wear and tear.
So when a LL says professionally cleaned, he doesn't mean you can't do it yourself. It basically refers to the standard. I have had tenants do both. One set of tenants came back three times (three days and cost of rental equipment) so probably the time and cost they spent were more than had they hired a company to do it for $150. A lot depends on how much your time is worth. By the way, they got their full deposit back, and I even didn't charge them for the candle wax on the carpet, which in the end I got off myself.

It's certainly my LAs intention, I have new terms and conditions that state all carpets and curtains MUST be steam cleaned every 12 months & again prior to moving out - stipulates 'professionally cleaned'.

They've tried on the 'professional cleaning required' with every tenant that has moved out. Worst thing is that the last tenant to move in was faced with a dirty flat & no working halogen lights as the previous tenant had withheld the last months' rent & sacrificed their deposit instead. The LA obviously took the extra cash from the deposit but didn't carry out any cleaning.

Incidentally, having talked to them, my Local Authority advised me not to go through a LA in future - this is their standard advice - Housing Officer's comment was that this is where 90% of complaints come from & that they're generally shysters, even the reputable ones. Her follow up comment was that when the new deposit trust legislation comes into effect, which requires the tenant's consent before any charges can be debited from the deposit, it'll be interesting to see if LAs actually continue to bother taking 6 weeks rent as a deposit. Her thinking went;

If the cash cow doesn't go moo when they want it to & say 'yes I agree professional cleaning is required, I am obviously an old skank who has turned your lovely property into a sty in the space of 12 months, please take several hundred pounds to fabricate an invoice for cleaning' they might not think it's worth the bother or cost of administration in collecting it.

prudryden

I don't let my LA's manage my property. I can see where complications arise with an LA also being the managing agent. I think they get a cut of the workmen they hire, but just guessing. That's another reason I do my own managing as do most of the people on here. I always get to know my tenants and they me, so at the end of a tenancy, it is always amicable.

EagerLearner

Anyone of you lovely landlords got property in Brighton they want to let to me & Mr EL? Our (new, nice, private) landlord took us on 6 months ago saying 'I hope you are long term' but has now decided to sell up - has offered us 1st refusal but at £160k and as 1st time buyers we can afford it as hell hasn't frozen over yet... Answers on a PM please as to not hijack this thread...

Sybarite

Eagerlearner, considering all the problems you've had with renting, a big family sized portion of good luck to you - it must seem as though you're never going to find a place to live unmolested for a year or two.

Tre-beam

Hi everyone-I'm completely new to this sight so hopefully I'm posting in the right place!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice they could give me:

I had rented a house for a year from a letting agency and moved out 4 weeks ago. Myself and my housemate spent a whole day cleaning the house from top to bottom and the inventory guy said that we had done an excellent job with the cleaning. He was the same bloke who had done our check in and said that he reckoned it may even be cleaner than when we had moved in.

I rang the agency on Friday (as I hadn't heard anything) to enquire about our deposit. They said they were deducting 117 for checkout charge (fair enough I guess) but also 133 for cleaning!? I challenged this and mentioned inventory guy's comments and the agency said they would check it out and get back to me. So far....nothing. I am preparing to ring them again but apart from asking them for a breakdown I don't really know what else to say.

Any ideas would be really appreciated.
Should I just accept it and forget about it?

Thanks :rolleyes:

liz545

Ask them for a breakdown and an itemised bill/receipts for the cleaning. Check in your tenancy agreement whether it states that you will be expected to pay for the cost of professional cleaning at the end of your tenancy. Was the property professionally cleaned at the start of your tenancy? You can only be expected to hand the property back in the same condition you received it (minus fair wear & tear, which is tax deductable for the LL) so if it wasn't cleaned professionally when you received it, you shouldn't have to pay for it to be done when you leave. Does it say anything in your tenancy agreement about paying for the checkout inventory? The agent may well have also charged the LL for this service, so it's worth arguing! As to whether you should just let it go; well, that depends on what £250's worth to you. Often a few angry letters are sufficient to get it back, sometimes nothing short of small claims will. It's up to you to decide how far you want to go and how much hassle you can be bothered with.