Need advice

vuvuzela

I strongly suspect that they are lying to you in respect to the statement about the landlord. I would definitely do as suggested in the firsst part of the thread and do a claim for the full deposit back. Do not give in to them, they think you are weak and are trying it on with you.

BitterAndTwisted

"Funnily enough they don't have their copy (of the signed and annotated check-in inventory) anymore & printed an original off instead".

Until and unless they can produce your signed and dated check-in inventory they haven't got a bloody leg to stand on! Some of the things on their list of "repairs" like the bath-panel and sealant round the bath are wear and tear anyway, unless you willfully damaged them and they can prove it. And they can't. They have no proof of a single penny's worth of a deduction.

PLEASE act on the advice given and claim the whole of your deposit back TODAY.

Once you've done that write back and deny any of the "damage" claimed for. Remind them that they insisted you redecorate at your own expense, which was unenforceable, and if you had known that that the time you wouldn't have carried it out. Plus, the light-bulbs and whatnot which you know you replaced and left spares for them. Tell them that you fully intend to contest every single proposed deduction from your deposit as incorrect, inaccurate and utterly unreasonable given their complete lack of any appropriate evidence. I would also mention at this point that the tenancy agreement mentions x amount having been paid as a deposit and they appear to have neglected to register the total amount paid. Could they kindly explain that now. Keep a copy of your response to them, so you can forward it to the schemes' arbitrators if it become s necessary.

Please do not take this lying down! They can't get away with it unless you let them.

rpc

Breast_Cancer_Survivor wrote: »

Thought i'd update you for anyone in a similar situation.

Had a letter from the agency today saying that even though they have strongly advised the landlord to go to the small claims court he is a very busy man.

Basically if I let them keep the deposit they will drop the whole thing.

How gracious - give them over a grand and they'll drop their totally spurious claim.

Reclaim your entire deposit from TDS today. They will have to prove any deduction, and they will fail.

Once that is done, a letter before action noting that your deposit was more than they placed in TDS and invite them to repay the extra before you take them to county court.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

They say that there is only £1170 of the original £1295 left as they took £125 from the deposit for the last house I rented from them for cleaning the oven (I didn't know about it until now).

I figured i'm responsible for the burn to the worktop (my deepfat fryer made) & cleaning the extractor fan/cooker hood?

The other stuff they listed is quite frankly rediculous so i'm not even bothering to go there with them.

They quoted £500 for the worktop, ive looked on B & Q where similar quality worktops are £40 for 3 m. Obviously they won't be able to find an exact match so all 3 would have to be replaced costing £120.

If it cost's £125 to clean an oven i'm presuming cleaning the extractor fan/cooker hood would cost similar.

Tbh I just want this to be over asap although i'm not giving them over a grand.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

I've been privately renting houses since 2006, the first 3 were privately rented directly through the landlord, each time my whole deposit was refunded in full with no problems.

I have rented 2 houses privately through an agancy Howkins & Harrison and they have taken money from my deposit or wanted to both times.

Is it that agencies are more strict? You'd think it would be the other way considering it's actually the landlord's property.

I own my own house now thankfully but my son is privately renting through an agency (not Howkins & Harrison thankfully), im wondering whether he has all this fun to look forward to.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

"Funnily enough they don't have their copy (of the signed and annotated check-in inventory) anymore & printed an original off instead".

Until and unless they can produce your signed and dated check-in inventory they haven't got a bloody leg to stand on! Some of the things on their list of "repairs" like the bath-panel and sealant round the bath are wear and tear anyway, unless you willfully damaged them and they can prove it. And they can't. They have no proof of a single penny's worth of a deduction.

PLEASE act on the advice given and claim the whole of your deposit back TODAY.

Once you've done that write back and deny any of the "damage" claimed for. Remind them that they insisted you redecorate at your own expense, which was unenforceable, and if you had known that that the time you wouldn't have carried it out. Plus, the light-bulbs and whatnot which you know you replaced and left spares for them. Tell them that you fully intend to contest every single proposed deduction from your deposit as incorrect, inaccurate and utterly unreasonable given their complete lack of any appropriate evidence. I would also mention at this point that the tenancy agreement mentions x amount having been paid as a deposit and they appear to have neglected to register the total amount paid. Could they kindly explain that now. Keep a copy of your response to them, so you can forward it to the schemes' arbitrators if it become s necessary.

Please do not take this lying down! They can't get away with it unless you let them.

I did ask for a copy of the signed inventory but she didn't send one with her letter or even mention it as she know's that they don't have it.

I know they don't have it as the guy that was managing when I first rented the property told me he'd lost it & the standing order mandate so i had to set up the standing order manually.

She did say that she had spoken to the guy that was manager at the time & he backed up they're claims but obviously she is goiing to say that.

She is the 4th manager they have had in the 3 years & only started working there a couple of months ago. The girl that was the manager previously was really nice & had no issues with me during any of the quaterly inspections.

BitterAndTwisted

Breast_Cancer_Survivor wrote: »

They say that there is only £1170 of the original £1295 left as they took £125 from the deposit for the last house I rented from them for cleaning the oven (I didn't know about it until now).

The deposit they took from you was for this property on behalf of this landlord. It had nothing to do with your previous property, which may have been owned by a completely different landlord. I'd fight that one tooth and nail.

I figured i'm responsible for the burn to the worktop (my deepfat fryer made) & cleaning the extractor fan/cooker hood?

Yes, you are but under completely different circumstances I would have owned up to it and paid a reasonable deduction. Not now, I wouldn't. Not when they have shown how totally unscrupulous they are.

The other stuff they listed is quite frankly rediculous so i'm not even bothering to go there with them.

They quoted £500 for the worktop, I've looked on B & Q where similar quality worktops are £40 for 3 m. Obviously they won't be able to find an exact match so all 3 would have to be replaced costing £120.

I disagree. You damaged one worktop so the landlord is entitled to claim from you the amount that you have deprived him of for ONE worktop only.

If it costs £125 to clean an oven I'm presuming cleaning the extractor fan/cooker hood would cost similar.

Yes, it would but only if you are a shyster with absolutely no sense of shame and you can get someone else to pay for it.

Tbh I just want this to be over asap although I'm not giving them over a grand.

Honey, unless you have very foolishly acknowledged the damage you are responsible for I wouldn't willingly give them a single bloody penny.

Let them produce a copy of your signed, dated and annotated inventory or they're not getting a farthing.

I appreciate that you'd rather get this over with but with a couple of days, maybe a week with a little letter-writing effort on your part you may not have to give them any of your hard-earned cash. Seventeen hundred quid is a sum well-worth putting up a fight for.

You've had several hours this afternoon to get onto the deposit-protection scheme's website, so please tell us that you've claimed all of your deposit back by now. You have, haven't you?

paddy's_mum

Breast_Cancer_Survivor wrote: »

The girl that was the manager previously was really nice & had no issues with me during any of the quaterly inspections.

So, you naughty little thing you, you did all this thousands of pounds worth of damage in just the last couple of weeks, huh?

I'm sure a judge is going to accept that, especially if the agency has been making regular inspections and damage and filth wasn't noticed - whichever way the agency go, they're proving themselves grossly inefficient.

No doubt they'll be telling you next that the previous manager came to do the inspections only on those days when her blind person's guide dog was at the vet!

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Honey, unless you have very foolishly acknowledged the damage you are responsible for I wouldn't willingly give them a single bloody penny.

Let them produce a copy of your signed, dated and annotated inventory or they're not getting a farthing.

I appreciate that you'd rather get this over with but with a couple of days, maybe a week with a little letter-writing effort on your part you may not have to give them any of your hard-earned cash. Seventeen hundred quid is a sum well-worth putting up a fight for.

You've had several hours this afternoon to get onto the deposit-protection scheme's website, so please tell us that you've claimed all of your deposit back by now. You have, haven't you?

Do you know what, i've been trying so hard to be a good tenant & be reasonable but think your right. I'm obviously far too nice & judged as a push over as this is the 2nd time i've been burned.

In April 2007 I rented a property through Jackson & Grundy. During the 8 months I lived there people (debt collector's) were constantly knocking on the door looking for the owner as well as court summons & all manor of debt collection agancy letters.
In the December a letter came through (which I opened) saying the house was going to be repossessed. I phoned them to explain that I was a tenant & had a 12 month assured tenancy agreement but was told that it was worthless as the owner hadn't asked for permission to rent the property out. It turned out i'd been paying my £800 pcm rent & he'd not paid his mortgage at all for all the time i'd lived there.
Consequently I had to find somewhere to move sharpish & ended up losing all my security deposit as it hadn't been put in a deposit scheme despite the fact that the new law had come out that April.
The agency said they were not liable for anything as they had only been hired to manage the property as in find a tenant & draw the contracts up.

I nearly ended up filing for bankrupcy due to losing all that money & still having to pay for the deposit on the new place. It also ruined my credit history.

As you say i've already redecorated they're house etc & they are not getting another penny out of me.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

The DPS say that I have to try to negotiate with the agency before I can raise a dispute so i've sent them another letter asking again for a signed copy of the inventory.

If they don't send me one (which they can't as they don't have it) at least then I can prove that I have done everything I can to resolve the matter.

Then I can raise my dispute proving that they have no evidence to back up they're claims.

Thanks so much for all of your help. :A

Also do they have to inform you when they take money out of your deposit? Or at least inform you & give you the option to fight it.

The deposit of £1295 for this property was supposed to be carried over from the last one I rented from them & they didn't ask me if they could take any money out of it.