Advice RE getting the full bond back

michelle_stt

Hi everyone.

We have lived in a rented property for 2 years. We have only ever called the landlord out to replace a fence panel due to high winds. We have never once fallen behind with the rent. it has been paid in full on time every month. Strangely the house we rent, I lived in 10 years ago when it was a council house. The kitchen flooring and bath suite are the same ones my parents put in.

We have paid a decorator to decorate (landlord gave permission and have it in writing) we have kept everything in very good order.

My husband has found work 120 miles away and we are relocating. We are sad to leave the landlord as he is brill. We are giving our 1 months notice on the 5th April.

Just a couple of things I want to ask. The lounge carpet was a very cheap make and now has a bump in it going the full width of the front room. (we got new sofas last month and had no furniture on it for 2 weeks and it didnt go down) At the back door it has frayed slightly due to walking in and out.

When we first moved in the carpet in my son and daughters room smelled. We asked permission to replace them at our cost (we had permission in writing) we replaced the carpets from bright green to a neutral beige colour. Once the carpet fitter lifted the old carpets up there were damp patches everywhere which he said looked like animal urine. (from previous tenant as we have no pets)

The biggest bedroom doesnt have underlay as the animal urine ruined it and we couldnt afford underlay aswell.

The deposit is £500. We know we wont get it back in time for moving but obviously its a lump sum for us to lose.

Do you have any advice about where we stand and what we should do to get the full deposit back and leave the house ready for new tenants as we dont want to let our landlord down either.

Many thanks everyone.

G_M

Did you sign a checkin inventory describing the condition at the start of the tenancy?If so, that is how you should leav it, less wear and tear, and changes agreed with the LL in writing since.

Make sure rent is up to date, and clean as best you can. The other stuff sounds like wear and tear.

The urine might be an issue if it was not noted on the checkin.

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

Did you sign a checkin inventory describing the condition at the start of the tenancy?If so, that is how you should leav it, less wear and tear, and changes agreed with the LL in writing since.

Make sure rent is up to date, and clean as best you can. The other stuff sounds like wear and tear.

Agreed

G_M wrote: »

The urine might be an issue if it was not noted on the checkin.

Difficult for a T to flag that up if it was only apparent on the underlay/actual floor after carpets were lifted - possible that carpets had been cleaned prior to start of tenancy but that obviously wouldn't remove marks from underlay/ wooden floor beneath. Alternatively, LL could have replaced carpet at some point , leaving manky underlay in situ so as to keep expense down.


OP - did you confirm the issue with the underlay in writing to the LL, at the time of carpet replacement?

michelle_stt

tbs624 wrote: »

Agreed

Difficult for a T to flag that up if it was only apparent on the underlay/actual floor after carpets were lifted - possible that carpets had been cleaned prior to start of tenancy but that obviously wouldn't remove marks from underlay/ wooden floor beneath. Alternatively, LL could have replaced carpet at some point , leaving manky underlay in situ so as to keep expense down.


OP - did you confirm the issue with the underlay in writing to the LL, at the time of carpet replacement?

We didnt no we just asked if we could replace carpets as they were green and stained yellow in parts. He said yes and confirmed it in writing.

We signed an inventory but he didnt say what condition the carpets were in he just put bedroom 1&2 flooring=carpet.

He knows we are very good tenants. Never have mad raving parties or caused damage. We have looked after the property well and improved it as best as we could (paying for decorating, grass in front garden when we moved in was patchy and full if glass. We cleaned it and put grass seeds down and now its a tidy lawn.)

I forgot to mention we also helped him get business so to speak. My sister in law moved to the area and we recommended him and they have been with him for 8 months now. And a friend started renting a property in November.

rentergirl

Everything in writing, sent recorded delivery, and post your concerns. Back this up with photos before you go, or prior to check out, anyway. It is a worry, but he sounds reasonable.

HAPPY_BEING_A_YUMMY_MUMMY

You sound like my ideal tenant where are you moving to???
but seriously your landlord should really have lodged your bond with a bond bank then you wouldn t have a problem. If you were my tenant I would probably be a bit upset you were moving out but other than that get him to meet you as soon as possible and ask him if there is anything he wants you to do as you need the bond back before you leave the area - I wouldn't even mention the underlay issue as long as the house / carpets look presentable for the next tenant and he has as little as possible to do for the next tenant I am sure he will be happy. If not you could just casually ask if he has lodged the bond with a bond bank????...........if not it is illegal!!!Good luck

tbs624

michelle_stt wrote: »

We didnt no we just asked if we could replace carpets as they were green and stained yellow in parts. He said yes and confirmed it in writing.

We signed an inventory but he didnt say what condition the carpets were in he just put bedroom 1&2 flooring=carpet.

For future reference, the idea of an inventory is that it accurately records the condition of the property when you move in. As the T, you can add your own comments to the inventory *before* signing it - as in " two large yellow stains near fireplace, four smaller ones near door"

You could ask the LL to come and check through the property with you, a week or 10 days before you move out so that there is time to resolve any potential areas of dispute.

Is this property in Eng/Wales? If yes, has your tenancy deposit been scheme registered and the scheme's prescribed information been given to you by the LL, as required by law for AST deposits paid after 6 April 2007?

If your LL has not said anything about this you can check using your tenancy dates and the rental property address, at each of the three schemes - TDS, mydeposits, DPS.

tbs624

HAPPY_BEING_A_YUMMY_MUMMY wrote: »

but seriously your landlord should really have lodged your bond with a bond bank

They are Tenancy Deposit "registration schemes" - a bond bank is something else entirely.

Yorkie1

rentergirl wrote: »

Everything in writing, sent recorded delivery, and post your concerns. Back this up with photos before you go, or prior to check out, anyway. It is a worry, but he sounds reasonable.

Rentergirl persists in this duff advice - clearly doesn't care or doesn't ever bother revisiting threads once she's dropped her 'advice' and run.

Do not use recorded delivery. If not signed for then you have no proof of service. If you really think it's a problem then send 2 copies from different post offices with free certificates of posting.

michelle_stt

Thanks everyone.

And we are moving to Hull.

He put the bond with a scheme as we received confirmation and a number etc.

We are ringing him on monday to give him plenty of notice as we dont want to spring it on him in the last minute.

rentergirl

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Rentergirl persists in this duff advice - clearly doesn't care or doesn't ever bother revisiting threads once she's dropped her 'advice' and run.

Do not use recorded delivery. If not signed for then you have no proof of service. If you really think it's a problem then send 2 copies from different post offices with free certificates of posting.

It's not duff advice. It's standard practice.