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

eadieb

Kimony76 wrote: »

My friend has a landlord that is denying their deposit even though it was paid off via the Guaranteed Deposit Scheme some two years ago through the local council. He claims my friend owed money from another property of his they lived in. Cash was paid to him and we have no proof.... My friend desperately wants to leave the property but how can we get the deposit back? Can the council get involved and help as it was set up with them? Sadly he is "one of those" landlords that would do anything not to have to pay out or even maintain the property properly. Environmental health have been involved for the last year because of the state of the place so the authorities know the property is in the state it is due to bad workmanship and the landlords' neglect... I really want to help my friend get out but I can't help financially

Tell your friend to go to their local council housing department and ask for housing advice, they should provide help with this. there may be a local housing advice specialist. failing this try Shelter helpline or your local CAB. I am guessing that if a rent deposit is in a deposit protection scheme that a landlord is not allowed to offset debts against it which have accrued through something unrelated to the current tenancy.

muttley67

I've been on both sides of this issue, so thought I would try to give some examples of why tennants may not get as much back as they think they should.:(

We recently had tennants who looked after the place pretty well :T - we inspected a couple of weeks before they moved out and were pleased to note there was no damage, just fair wear and tear.

On moving out they had obviously cleaned the place, but not everybody's standard or depth of cleaning is the same. It is quite a difficult discussion to get across the fact that the burnt on fat in the oven & grill pan, grease on doors & top of cupboards and moldy shower and fridge seals are not how a new tennant wants to find the place - even though the place is cleaned to a reasonable standard. If your rented place is immacculate on arrival, then it is probably worth assuming that you will be paying for a professional clean on vacating (having also been a tennant, there is nothing more frustrating than having spent many hours cleaning a place for the landlord to say its not good enough and spend your deposit on a professional anyway!)

Even more tricky to argue is the part where the tennant had slapped a brush full of paint over every scuff on the wall, which then dries to a different colour :eek:(not all magnolia paint is the same shade!). The tennant believes they have made good, whereas in fact the wall requires a full repaint because they have made more mess than leaving the scuff.

In short - talk to your landlord before going to too much effort. If your landlord is reasonable, there is usually a compromise you can come to before you put in too much effort.

baldelectrician

seacee wrote: »

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.

Write to them informing you are giving them 7 days to release funds as they have not justified any deductions to your satisfaction

As you are claiming less than £200 it will cost you £15 to lodge a claim at court

see HERE

Dragnfly

Innys wrote: »

Candidate for the worst advice ever posted on MSE.

Why's that then?

LaurelOakwood

I've been renting for over 10 years now (hoping to buy with partner in a year or so - saving for a deposit!). I've had very mixed experiences...

In my experience Letting agents are mercenary cowboys, who take money from the LL & tenant & do nothing to either maintain the property or pass information on. One flat I rented was newly built, so had no curtain rails, which agents said they'd sort out before I moved in...a month later I managed to get in touch with the LL after the shower sprang a leak into the flat below, only to discover he'd paid the agents to put up rails & they claimed he wasn't prepared to pay!!! In the end he came round & put them up himself that weekend (slightly wonky - DIY wasn't his strong point). After this we kept in touch to keep tabs on the agents from both sides, which is how I know they were trying to con both parties!

Private LLs can be a mixed bag...I've had a lovely LL who lived next door & returned my deposit in full, fixed thing/ replaced in good time (I lived there for 3 years & we had a new boiler, sofas, wardrobe in my room, mattress on my bed, whole new kitchen, mouse problem dealt with...). His wife also used to come round & sort out the garden regularly as she loved gardening!

On the other hand my next private LL left their flat in a state (they'd been living there before we moved in), failed to fix things that were old/ broken until we got to the point of threatening legal action! When we moved out they tried to keep a large part of our deposit to cover a light fitting falling down (not been put up properly in the first place). We discovered they'd not put our deposit into a scheme, so we ended up getting our deposit back in full once we got advice from the CAB & informed the LL they could be liable for the deposit plus compensation!

As others have said DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!! Whether you are LL or tenant this will back you up in a dispute...and good luck!!!

Innys

Dragnfly wrote: »

Why's that then?

At best, it won't work. At worst, the tenant will end up with a CCJ against them.

joehoover

Download a county court summons form http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n001-eng.pdf

Enter on top right box your local county court.

Try and type form so it looks more official, fill in the court fees http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/fees

Then send to your landlord with a letter stating yo will be filing this summons within 5 days unless you receive your deposit back. I have had to use it just once and had my payment the next day.

We moved in, 4 months later, he broke contract saying he wants to sell the house, so we packed up, found other homes and then on moving week said we can't move as he hadn't sold the house. We left on our 6 month termination perfectly legally, house spotless, but since his plan to turn some money at our expense failed he tried holding the deposit.

Unfortunately many landlords will try and keep some of your deposit, I leave homes in cleaner condition than when I arrived so have had to even dispute paying a cleaning fee when I move in since I don't think it's up to standard and have to do it myself anyway.

Rank_Outsider

moonjooce wrote: »

I took photo's of EVERYTHING when I moved in with the date set to show on the photos - if your camera doesn't have this feature then put a newspaper in the shot with the date visable. When I moved out I did the same (get a current newspaper in this shot too).

Taking photos is sound advice, but all the newspaper does is prove that the photo wasn't taken earlier than the date of the paper - not that the photos weren't taken six months after you moved in! The date on a camera is easily changed and does not provide proof.

The newspaper in the photo will work when moving out, but the best way to do this is to supply copies of photos to the landlord and/or agent with the completed inventory as soon as possible after moving in, as others have suggested. Offer the landlord the opportunity to view the property at the end of the tenancy with you present (in writing). Any problems should be noted then and given to you in writing - it will be harder for them to invent something later.

Some people post photos to themselves and keep the envelope unopened, but I don't know if this has been tested legally (once you open the envelope to show the agents/landlords, the proof is then gone and can't be used in court). Plus, a lot of postmarks are unreadable or non-existent these days.

My main advice would be to make sure that all important communications and agreements are in writing, and that you obtain and retain proof of anything you are charged for. The deposit is your money, and if you have to pay for something from it, you should have a receipt!

Rank_Outsider

Innys wrote: »

I'm a landlord and I wouldn't give a bad reference to a tenant, even if they withheld the rent. Why? Well, if they can't find somewhere else to live because I gave them a bad reference, they are likely to remain my tenant/problem!

Instead, I use Townends as my agent and their standard tenancy contract specifically states any monies owed to the landlord, including outstanding rent, can be deducted from the deposit.

So, when a tenancy expires with rent owed, I refuse to release any of the deposit until the outstanding rent has been deducted. By that stage the tenant will have moved out of my property so there's no issue with them remaining my problem.

If the tenant refuses to permit deduction of the rent, I would let them take me to the Small Claims Court for recovery of their deposit and then I would counterclaim for the owed rent. Luckily this hasn't ever happened, to date.

One final thing to note from all this.........many landlords give bad tenants good references just to get shot of them - it's a dog it dog world out there.

So, if a landlord really wants to be sure of a prospective tenants suitability they shouldn't just get a reference from a tenant's previous landlord, but the one before that as well - in theory. I imagine the practicalities of that, however, would not be easy.

This is something I've long suspected, but still find a little shocking to hear confirmed. This is one of the reasons why the system is broken.

I don't necessarily blame the landlords either - it must take a certain sort of self-sacrificing person to lumber yourself with a bad tenant to protect other landlords from having to suffer the same fate.

Innys

Rank_Outsider wrote: »

This is something I've long suspected, but still find a little shocking to hear confirmed. This is one of the reasons why the system is broken.

I don't necessarily blame the landlords either - it must take a certain sort of self-sacrificing person to lumber yourself with a bad tenant to protect other landlords from having to suffer the same fate.

I assume by "broken" you mean the fact that neither tenants or landlords need to be registered.

I would have no problem with registering myself as a landlord, but only if tenants were required to do the same.