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

kryssykk

A few years ago me and my husband rented a black and white cottage in Herefordshire. It looked lovely when we moved in. It was a warm August. By October it was a different story. Clothes were going green in the cupboards from the damp atmosphere. Water was running in round the lights (frightening eh). Despite a year long lease we moved out pronto. While we had been there we had done lots of improvements. New carpet in bathroom after having decorated it plus new blind. Two new blinds in the kitchen plus a coat of paint. I could go on but I wont bore you any more. We removed the landlords curtains from the lounge and put our own up. Said curtains were on the floor of the laundry room waiting to be washed before we put them away to re-place when we left, when the landlord turned up. We asked him what he wanted us to do with them. (You will love this.) He picked one up sniffed it and said he could use them to clean his wagon with and took them away.
After we had moved out we requested our deposit back from the Estate Agent who had arranged the rental and taken the deposit. We were told we had to get it from the landlord as they didn't hold it but, they would arrange the return for us. After a couple of weeks we were told as there were curtains missing and we had removed a carpet from the bathroom he was retaining the deposit.
Straight away we wrote a letter to the landlord outlining every bit of decoration etc that we had done. pointed out the replaced blinds and new curtains we had left behind plus the cost of re-decorating bathroom, Kitchen and, Laundry room. Not to mention the effort involved.
At the bottom of the letter we added
" COPY TO ESTATE AGENT"
He made us wait five weeks but we got our money back.
I can only add that we had left the place in better condition than we found it and, we were at no time rude to either the agent or the landlord. It really doesn't pay to be so.








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reevetard

I write this as an individual who has been a tenant, in several properties, for over 13 years and witnessed many changes to legislation during that time.

Before I prattle on, i'm going to answer the question posed by this thread, its "raison d'etre":

If you are a tenant that wishes to ensure that you receive the full amount of your deposit (this is based on 1 months deposit, as per most AST's) the only means of guaranteeing this, is to not pay your final months rent. The mediation service offered by the deposit protection scheme that your money is safeguarded in, will then award the amount of the protected deposit to the landlord (as they will inevitably claim the lot for the rent arrears). This is the only cast iron method to ensuring that you are not open to spurious claims from the landlord.

I'm afraid that I have yet to come across an honest landlord and all have attempted to keep money at the end of our agreement, despite the property being left in a better condition than it was when I commenced rental. All have claimed that my family are wonderful tenants, then stabbed us in the back for cash. I genuinely believe that landlords see it as a "perk" of renting the property out.

The mediation services offered by the protection schemes are a waste of space, 99.9% of the time they seek solely to split right down the middle of any claim and counterclaim. What this means, is that the tenant usually ends up unfairly out of pocket, based on spurious landlord claims and the hilarious quotes for work from their mates.

I have taken 2 landlords to court, succeeded on both occasions and have a great deal of legal experience in this area. Fortunately, most of the legislation introduced to the housing rental market was to protect the tenant, although until recently much of the legislation was undermined by "technicalities" put forward by solicitor's (aka thieving bas**rds). However, the legislation was hugely tightened up on the 6th April 2012 and the power in the courts really does now lie in the hands of the tenant.

I am happy to provide information to anybody (based on my own experiences and knowledge of the legal system and processes) should they seek it, purely as a layman of course.

helentryingtoberich

Skevvybritt asks if the improvements they made to the garden will be taken into account when disputing a claim for cleaning through the TDS (Tenancy Deposite Scheme)
Sorry. The straight answer is No.
However you may be able to dispute the amount and cost of cleaning. The landlord or agent will have to prove that the cleaning was necessary via an initial inventory and a check out report. They will also need to justify the amount via a receipt for the work done. The TDS work on the assumption that the money belongs to the tenant and the landlord will need to show why they are entitled to some of the deposit.
How do I know this? I am a letting agent who uses the TDS for deposits, so have experience of these disputes.
By the way, we really do not set out to screw anyone, but we are caught between the landlord and tenant. Many landlords have a very rosy recollection of the condition of their property when they let it and if I had £1 for every tenant who 'left the property better than they found it' I could give up the day job!

agent123_2

I work for a letting agent using the The Deposit Scheme and suggest that you read the documentation supplied by the scheme, which can be found on their websites and is available to all. This will advise you of your rights with regards to the deposit being released and, providing you are using a reputable agent in the first place, they will ensure that both the LL and TT agree with all deductions! DO NOT withhold the last months rent. This only antagonises the landlord, but you will probably find that you have breached your contract - something that the deposit schemes look for when considering arbitration. If your landlord has not registered your deposit then consider naming and shaming him - he will have to pay you 3 times the deposit figure as compensation. It is essential that an inventory is provided at the beginning of the tenancy by the LL, if it is not, then the LL does not have a leg to stand on - you can threaten to go to arbitration and they will know that they will lose!
If TTs were more aware of their rights then they would not get done over by LLs at the end of the tenancies - follow the rules and you will be protected but it is essential that you leave the property spotless and dont forget the limescale around the sink!
I agree with a previous post that many landlords have a very rosy recollection of the condition of their property when they let it and if I had £1 for every tenant who 'left the property better than they found it' I could give up the day job! We also hear these comments every week!!

agent123_2

jojo2910 wrote: »

We had a letter yesterday from the deposit scheme which stated they landlord wasn't going to keep any of the deposit for the house, so we presume it should be coming to us. Realistically I expect it to go into the pocket of the agent.

You should phone the agent on Monday and ask them when you can expect your money back or is there a process that you need to follow. Depending on the deposit scheme used, depends on whether you need to do anything but it is YOUR money - the agent is not allowed to keep it. Dont give up now, especially as you have the letter from the deposit scheme (sounds as though it is from the DPS) make sure you get it!!! Good luck!:)

Kid_Icarus

As a LL, my advice would be:

1. Get a thorough inventory. Ask to go through this on-site with the LL or agent. Get any discrepancies noted.

2. Make a note of ALL meter readings when you move in AND when you move out (gas, water, electricity). No property is the same - some properties have Economy 7 or Economy 10 meters which have additional readings. Contact the utilities as soon as possible to get the account put in your name, decide what tariff you want - remember that you will be on their most expensive 'Standard' tariff until you tell them otherwise!

3. Be very wary of agents. Your tenancy agreement should state an address of the landlord (or sometimes agent) for service of notices. Speak to the actual landlord if you can, find out what his arrangement is for managing the property - some LL's only use a letting agent to find the tenant. I manage everything from that point onwards - agents will often tell you "oh no we fully manage everything for you" even though they have no such arrangement with the LL and try and get away with charging extortionate fees and over inflated prices for repairs.

5. Once the fixed-term of your tenancy expires (usually 6 months) the tenancy BY LAW becomes a Statutory Periodic Tenancy, sometimes called a rolling or month-by-month tenancy. Agents will always write to you and try and get you to sign another AST (i.e another fixed term) and they WILL charge you anything from £50 to £100 or more for the privilege (they charge the LL the same!). Some will even try fobbing you off with statements like "we don't do SPTs" which is rubbish. Unless you want the security of another fixed term, I would always let the tenancy become a SPT.

6. Deposits - goes without saying - get a receipt. The landlord is legally responsible for protecting your deposit, not the agent. He has to do this within 30 days AND must provide you with the prescribed information about the deposit scheme. For the DPS this is a 4 page document AND an 11 page T&Cs document. The landlord cannot use the Section 21 procedure to evict you unless he can prove that he protected the deposit within the 30 day timeframe and provided you with the prescribed information. Once you have paid your deposit, I would wait and see what the LL does. On the ball LLs will protect it within 30 days and send you all the information. If you don't hear anything, wait until the 31st day has passed THEN enquire where your deposit is. You then have another bargaining chip to use that the LL didn't protect the deposit within 30 days, should you need it.

7. Others have mentioned the importance of leaving the property as you found it in order to get your deposit back. One thing I would add is this - Smokers: if your tenancy agreement states 'No Smoking' DO NOT SMOKE IN THE PROPERTY (yes, we can tell that you have smoked with the window open) or be prepared to give the property a very thorough cleaning at the end if you want to get all your deposit back. There is nothing that pees me off more than a tenant that said "I don't smoke" and then smokes in the property as it is very time consuming cleaning the dirt that smoking leaves on walls/windows/ceilings etc.

papercrane

I'm in my sixth rented house and have so far never lost a penny of deposit. Here are a few things I would recommend, though many have already been said:

• Make sure your deposit is being held by a deposit protection scheme
• Make sure you agree with the inventory upon moving in. If you discover anything else broken, etc., let the letting agents/landlord know immediately, and take photos.
• Look at your inventory now and again during the course of the year, not just when you move out. If you notice anything has changed or got worse due to normal wear and tear or a change in the weather, then take a photo and let the letting agents/landlord know about it - even if relatively minor - asking for it to be repaired if necessary.
• The Shelter website has some great tips regarding what constitutes fair deductions. Things like, if an item of furniture is broken, then the charge should only be equivalent to getting a replacement of a similar quality - if they give you a dusty knackered old sofa and claim you broke it, they can't replace it with a fancy brand new one. Likewise, fair wear and tear to carpets, walls, etc. are allowed. I'm a new member so I can't post a link, but if you google "shelter tenancy deposits" it's the top link.

mele21

As a regular renter, we always got out deposit back by having the place and carpets professionally cleaned and then double checking everything ourselves. Yes, you have to pay for a cleaner but it's worth it to get all your deposit back no arguments. Keep the cleaners receipt as proof of thecleaning you've had done to show the agent/landlord.

My biggest tip for tenants though is be REALLY picky when you go through the inventory when you first move in. Often the inventory is done without your there and you're asked to sign it. On the day you get your keys walk round every room checking everything on the inventory. Hand write on ALL additional marks, scuffs, paint flecks, cracks etc that you see on the walls, amount of dust, floor condition and any issues with goods. Check the tops of cupboards, the washing machine seals - everything! Don't be embarrassed if you've written on double what was on there in the first place - this is your opportunity to protect yourselves and properly record the condition of the property and you can be sure they'll be doing the same when you come to check out.

mcbob_2

I had major issues with my Landlord when they removed my deposit from the TDS.

It started when they sent me a letter (and to all of their tenants) stating that the deposit was still protected. I didn't believe this so emailed all the schemes and they all came back saying my deposit was not part of any scheme....

I later found out he pulled all of his properties deposits out of the TDS (we're talking tens of thousands of pounds here) to presumably fund buying more properties for the company.


When I moved out, I had to take them to court to get my deposit back as he only offered half of the £950, claiming the carpets needed cleaning....

Despite the fraudulent deposit protection letter and blatant abuse of the deposit process, it took months and 2 appearances at county court for me to recover my costs and deposit.

I initially claimed 3X the value of the deposit s214(3) but for some reason this wasn't granted. I suspect the judge is a landlord too. I could have appealed but after nearly 6 months of being given the run around I was happy to get my deposit back.


Landlords like this need regulating, in other walks of life this would be fraud.

Innys

mcbob wrote: »

Landlords like this need regulating.

My tenant knocked the room thermostat off the wall in my house, had it replaced and claimed that the (old) thermostat was defective which is why it needed replacing. They then witheld the rent to the value of the thermostat.

Tenants like that need regulating.