Spill the beans... on getting deposits back from landlords

parabox

I've never had a problem with LL. I've claimed back my deposit twice and hoping my luck continues this year.

My first place I was good friends with the LL, eventually looking after the IT service in his office. I had to leave early as I was the victim of a serious crime right outside the house, couldn't live there any more. The LL allowed me to leave free of charge.

The second place I moved into a flat with my GF and stayed there for a year. The managing agent built the flats and had an office on the bottom floor. They were always jolly (except one sour face) and were happy to help until it came to repairs, nothing much to report though, as we were leaving the place was falling to pieces due to shoddy build quality. On leaving we were charged for a cleaner to clean the oven. I had no problem with that as we hadn't cleaned it all year. Cost £20.

This time around I'm a bit sceptical, I've had a run in with the neighbour about parking outside his house who is apparently friends with our LL. The house is immaculate still except a bit of paintwork which ill touch up before I leave. Definitely going to be taking pictures of how we leave it, I'm not one for letting people get away with mischief

rhobtaylor

I have just had a situation where the landlord forced 7 of us out of a HMO as he was about to be fined for "not having basins", which is ridiculous to begin with in favour of a joint contract with students. Our deposits were not in schemes so he invented a "!!!! and bull scheme" where we would not pay our last months rent and he would take the deposit (which was less). All to cover the fact he hadn't put them in schemes.

I had registered for housing as I have a disability, and was told I couldn't be considered because the deposit was not in a scheme and I should fight the eviction.

I then got shafted on a holding deposit so ended up only paying half my last months rent... so on balance it worked out... but I only did the bare minimum in terms of cleaning my room (as it hadn't been cleaned before I moved in)

I have also had agents take one look at what I have done cleaning wise and simply say "It's cleaner than when you moved in" and not check anything else... so it seems to be pot luck.

Had I needed to, I would have simply paid the cleaners who did the communal areas for an extra hour to do my room. 10 quid as opposed to whatever the landlord tries to charge... that way you are in control!

ralksam

do not pay last month's rent.....so you can argue from a strong positionj re claiming back Deposit !!
put money in a seperate Bank account to prove you are/were willing to pay it .

seacee

I'm currently having a total nightmare with my previous letting agents. I live in Scotland so there's no compulsory deposit scheme as of yet.

I left the property in good condition (cleaner than when I went in!!) Paid all rent on time etc. The only problem was a door which was falling apart due to wear and tear (the screws in one of the hinges snapped due to age) which I reported to the agents 6 weeks before the tenancy ended. Of course they never got it fixed, even after 4 phone calls and a letter- although I took pictures of the door and had the agents assurance it would be noted before the inspection (which I was not allowed to be present at.)

I've only received £145 of my £330 deposit back but the letting agents will not give me any reason why the deposit was with held, I've sent 2 letters requesting a breakdown of the deductions but these have been ignored.

Is my next step an action in sheriff court? I've given them 6 weeks to tell my why I didn't receive my full deposit and I can't dispute the deductions until I know what they are....

Any advice would be great, I've always received the full deposit back for all flats I've had before it just seems like they are just ignoring me as they have a new person in the flat now.

missrlr

As a tenant I had no problems claiming my deposit back - I had left the house clean and redecorated. we had had a few repairs which LL was very good about.
As a landlord I have returned 1 deposit in full, withheld 1 deposit due to lack of rent payment (didn't cover damages too mind) and withheld all deposit due to house being completely ransacked by tenants, it went to arbitration and my claim was upheld. The inventory was photo done by third party on the way in and video (including tenant and sound) on the way out. I provided all calculations with receipts for repair / replace of each items less wear and tear based on expected versus actual age of items. The only thing that was queried was the 14 man hours I and a friend spent clearing the garden of dog faeces and weeds. The claims made by the tenant were frankly laughable - I had apparently come round and in an inspection I had broken the pond pump which they had tried to repair and so it was my fault! Even that was upheld given the inventory pre and post tenancy and that I had invoices for cleaning and repairs done before tenant moved in.

My advice, take your time with the inventory, make sure it is clear and agreed (even as a LL I have had to get inventories redone as one numpty agent tried to include old pictures of a carpet that had been replaced!) - video with contemporaneous notes are useful especially if you can get the other party on the video too.

Also as LL speak to tenant direct, agents are generally inaccurate and not concerned about long term relations.

Tenants - keep it clean and fess up if you break something. otherwise frankly what do you expect, this is someone else's property and should be treated with due care and consideration.

I have no problems with "can't pay last month rent and new deposit, can we discuss" but I do have a problem with a boiler leak not being reported for 3 months resulting in 4 meters of work surface being replaced and 4 kitchen cupboards plus a washing machine ruined by rust in the process. and I have not been able to gain access to the property to have a legally required gas safety certificate issued,

There are crappy tenants just as there are crappy LL - I want to rent houses that I would be happy living in myself to people who manage the houses accordingly. I want to know if there are problems so I can rectify. I don't want to have to spend hours of my time coordinating cleaners, repairs and hunting for a new tenant when you move out - you would not like this is you were moving to a purchased house why do it for a rented house?

educatingmyself

jackyw wrote: »

As a landlord myself (and I strive to be a good one, who is fair with my tenants and provides a quality, well maintained property) I find that the problem can just as often be the other way round.

It has happened all too often that tenants have left a property in an appalling state - exceedingly dirty, breakages, carpet ruined, final month's rent not paid - which has cost me several thousand pounds to put right. Yet they become outraged if a claim is made against their deposit, which is usually only a fraction of the costs I have to pay out as a result of their actions.

I think that sometimes tenants think it won't matter if they do this. But it really does, as no landlord can continue to provide a house to be rented if they lose money in doing so. This might well, in the long term, affect the number and quality of properties on the rental market.

Fortunately the majority of my tenants have been decent folk, and have received all, or most of their deposit back.

I recommend just applying to the deposit scheme, it usually goes in favour of the tenant. I have had some appalling tenants that have caused a great deal of damage or cost money in cleaning and left one property flea infested, but the deposit scheme never awarded in my favour regardless of the proof of expenses etc.

On the other foot, I had to be a tenant for a while and I had the landlords from hell, who tried to get me to pay for all their repairing responsibilities and damage prior to moving in, but I was secretly hopeful that previous experience with the deposit scheme would be in my favour as a tenant, but I did not have to worry in the end, because I notified the landlords that they had not renewed their gas certificate for 5 months and the urgent, immediate repairs on the electrical cert hadn't been done either, so they dropped their list for me to do.

On a lighter note, the best way is to take before and after photos of everything imaginable and a video recording if possible, include the garden and make a note of what time of year it is and whether the garden is in a Winter stage or Summer bloom, then take some photos at the opposite time so that you cannot be accused of not tending to the garden if you leave in Winter and they produce Summer photos themselves!

Add everything to the inventory to all parties.

Innys

ralksam wrote: »

do not pay last month's rent.....so you can argue from a strong positionj re claiming back Deposit !!
put money in a seperate Bank account to prove you are/were willing to pay it .

Candidate for the worst advice ever posted on MSE.

druss_the_axeman

Just thought i'd add a couple of comments having recently left some rented accommodation;

At the end of the tenancy, I left a month early, still liable for the last months rent though, naturally. Anyway I cleaned everything throughly and photographed every part of every room as I left as evidence for myself.

Turns out the landlord had a couple of cunning tricks he'd obviously used before;
a) Their report stated that the carpets were new when I moved in. - I had to point out that that's irrelevant as they were a year old when I left and thus some wear and tear is to be expected.
b) The LL also pointed out that the kitchen windowsills were dusty at the end of the tenancy - I pointed out that during the last month, when I wasn't in the property I took some photos showing how they, the LL's, we're leaving all the house windows open and if there was any dust or dirt it was no doubt due to that and was thus their fault.
c) They complained about some damage to a table - I sent them photographs taken at the start of the tenancy and the end showing the fact that all the reported problems had been in place when I rented the place. This was even listed on their inventory but they still tried their luck.

On another note my mother once rented a property and made some improvements, such as fixing lampshades and making a dramatic make over of the garden, both were listed as being "damage" and she was charged. I tried to convince her to fight it but she just handed over the deposit, sad how many people do that and how many LL think they are entitled to it.

Basically I think getting evidence when you leave and checking what the LL is doing after that date, then reading carefully what they are claiming so you can rule out most of the rubbish they try to pull would be the best advice.

D

kiss_me_now9

Still waiting for my deposit from the house I've just left - should get it soon. Room was left spotless, my dad and I moved all my stuff out, dusted it, hoovered it, cleaned the windows and mirrors, wiped down the walls and the skirting boards. Unfortunately the other people I lived with left the entire place a tip but the letting agents have stated that my room was acceptable (I moved out early) and I'd be getting my money back when the contract runs out. Watch this space I think, as my LL has been constantly obtuse and rude to me throughout the tenancy so I think she'll probably try and hold onto it...

katyakabob

we almost ended up just posting the keys through the door to our last rental as neither the agents or the LL would take responsibility for doing a check out (LL argued he paid the agents to do it, agents were adament he didn't...I didn't care either way just wanted shot!) the original guy i called informed me he wasn't the LL anymore?! then got hold of the new guy who siad he'd sort it...given that we gave 3 months notice (as we had bought our own place) it was 3 days after the end of our contract before the check out was done...and then the agents didn't turn up for oroginal appt and we had to chase them!! the property had been empty since being built (2yrs) when we moved in, and things we queried and were told would be fixed remain broken/damaged to this day (3 yrs later)...the best bit was when a piece of plaster/masonry fell off the front of the house - we called the LL immediately and he asked if OUR buildings insurance would cover it???!!!
the agent did say the house was immaculate when she was there (so i should think after 2 solid weekends cleaning!) but I fully expect the landlord to try and keep something due to (acceptable) wear and tear given we've lived there for 3 years! I'll be fighting them if they do!