Letting agency charged unreasonable settlement

vikramrkin

Hi,

Rented a property from Nov 2009 till Nov 2011. After vacating the property, the letting agency have charged me £1600 for damages/clening costs. The deposit paid was £1200. I believe that these charges are unreasonable and I had left the property in its original shape.

Since the amount disputed is more than the deposit paid, I cant go through dispute resolution service.

In this situation, the two options i have are:

1. Go to dispute resolutoin service with the dispute amount of £1200. Once that decision comes, go to small claims court with the rest of the amount.

2. Go directly to small claims court with the full dispute amount of £1600 with out involving dispute resolution service.

Which one is better? Are there any other options available?

Thanks
Vikram

BobQ

Your posting implies you believe that you owe nothing? If so I suggest you discuss the matter with the agent to establish what damage they think you have done or charges they think you should pay. It cannot be that black and white.

What do they say the £1600 is for?
Do you have your own photos of the conditions?
Did you sign an itemised inventory of the condition on entry/exit?

vikramrkin

BobQ wrote: »

Your posting implies you believe that you owe nothing? If so I suggest you discuss the matter with the agent to establish what damage they think you have done or charges they think you should pay. It cannot be that black and white.

What do they say the £1600 is for?
Do you have your own photos of the conditions?
Did you sign an itemised inventory of the condition on entry/exit?

Sorry, I should have mentioned. Yes, I believe that I dont owe anything. Majority of the charges are for replacement of carpets and kitchen work surface.

During my stay, there was a flooding in the property due to water leakage elsewhere in the building. That resulted in several stains on the carpet. The agency was well informed in this regard (unfortunately all this was verbal communication).

Second damage is the kitchen worktop. There was a problem with the earthing due to which the hob had to be replaced. This was done by a contractor sent out by the agency. He caused some damage to whe work surface while doing so, which was again reported to the agency.

Now, after vacating the property, they want to charge me for all these damages. They have included some items in the checkout as missing and claimed money for that. As I knew those items were there when I vacated, I went to the property and found out that they are still there. I have taken some photographs of it.

The talks with the agency has failed. They dont want to reduce even a single penny and said that they dont care loosing a customer as they have too many at this point!!

Thanks
Vik

AdmiralX

vikramrkin wrote: »

During my stay, there was a flooding in the property due to water leakage elsewhere in the building. That resulted in several stains on the carpet. The agency was well informed in this regard (unfortunately all this was verbal communication).

Second damage is the kitchen worktop. There was a problem with the earthing due to which the hob had to be replaced.

Do you mean the landlord had not taken an insurance policy for his/her
home/contents?

BobQ

I think in your position I would write a document explaining why you dispute all of the charges on a point by point basis, highlighting the evidence. From what you say most of the £1600 is probably for the carpet. You must make it clear you think the carpet is fair wear and tear apart from the water leakage which was the landlords responsiblity. I would send this to the agent and state categorically that you want to dispute the claim and want your deposit back.

I cannot see that you can go to a small claim court unless or until you have sufferred a loss (ie until they tell you that they are taking your deposit as a result of following the DPS's resolution process.)

jjlandlord

vikramrkin wrote: »

After vacating the property, the letting agency have charged me £1600 for damages/clening costs. The deposit paid was £1200. I believe that these charges are unreasonable and I had left the property in its original shape.

Since the amount disputed is more than the deposit paid, I cant go through dispute resolution service.

...

1. Go to dispute resolutoin service with the dispute amount of £1200. Once that decision comes, go to small claims court with the rest of the amount.

2. Go directly to small claims court with the full dispute amount of £1600 with out involving dispute resolution service.

I don't understand.

From what you say, the landlord would need to get your whole deposit, then demand that you pay an additional £400, and possibly sue you if you refuse.

If so, at the moment, and if you dispute the damage, the landlord owes you at most £1200: I.e. either dispute the deduction to the deposit using the deposit scheme adjudication process or sue for the deposit.
You cannot sue for the extra £400 since that what LL thinks you owe him, not what he owes you...

vikramrkin wrote: »

They dont want to reduce even a single penny and said that they dont care loosing a customer as they have too many at this point!!

You are not their customer, your (ex)landlord is. They work for him.

vikramrkin

jjlandlord wrote: »

I don't understand.

From what you say, the landlord would need to get your whole deposit, then demand that you pay an additional £400, and possibly sue you if you refuse.

If so, at the moment, and if you dispute the damage, the landlord owes you at most £1200: I.e. either dispute the deduction to the deposit using the deposit scheme adjudication process or sue for the deposit.
You cannot sue for the extra £400 since that what LL thinks you owe him, not what he owes you...

Thanks for clarifying. I had got it wrong. I will try to get my £1200. It is up to them to get any balace from me.

You are not their customer, your (ex)landlord is. They work for him.

Being middlemen, tenants are also their customer. They took money from me as well. What would they do with out the tenants?

Thanks
Vik

jjlandlord

vikramrkin wrote: »

Being middlemen, tenants are also their customer.

No they are not working for you and they are not middlemen.
You are your landlord's customer, and he decided to outsource to an agent.
It might not always appear this way, but best to have the dynamics of the relation clear.

tbs624

Vikram - you were asked earlier in the thread about whether or not you have signed an inventory at the start of your tenancy and whether there was a formal check out procedure. LL has to able to adequately show

(a) the original condition of the property as agreed by both parties
(b) that you are responsible for damage that is in excess of any deterioration arising from fair wear and tear and/or the actions or omissions of his workmen

Even if you had caused damage or failed to report damage properly the LL cannot use your tenancy deposit as a new for old insurance policy - there must be no "betterment"

Have a look on the mydeposits site for the guides on fair wear and tear and deposit disputes ( drawn up in conjunction will all deposit schemes)

vikramrkin

tbs624 wrote: »

Vikram - you were asked earlier in the thread about whether or not you have signed an inventory at the start of your tenancy and whether there was a formal check out procedure. LL has to able to adequately show

(a) the original condition of the property as agreed by both parties
(b) that you are responsible for damage that is in excess of any deterioration arising from fair wear and tear and/or the actions or omissions of his workmen

Even if you had caused damage or failed to report damage properly the LL cannot use your tenancy deposit as a new for old insurance policy - there must be no "betterment"

Have a look on the mydeposits site for the guides on fair wear and tear and deposit disputes ( drawn up in conjunction will all deposit schemes)

Yes, I had signed an inventory at the beginning and there was a formal checkout done at the end. The only addition in the checkout is the stains on the carpet, which were due to flooding. I did keep the agency in loop (they had infact visited the property when this happened). I never spoke to LL as I was dealing with the agency always.

Thanks for pointing me towards a good website on deposits.

Thanks
Vikram

tbs624

Has the LA/LL given you formal written notification of the proposed deductions? If yes then you need to contact the LL/LA and the deposit scheme and tell them which amount you are disputing and why.