Deposit Help please...

daisy1985

Hi,

I have recently moved out of a property which we lived in for 5 years and our deposit is protected by the DPS, We moved out Saturday 30th June and the check out was done on the following Monday, A few concerns were raised but more or less happy with check out.

On the Friday hubby and I had an email from letting agent advising charges that would be charged:

The floor and blind in the lounge and floor in WC have paint marks - £20 +VAT
Laminate edging on kitchen worktop is damaged - £30 +VAT
1 blind missing from patio door - £30+VAT
Plug broken off the chain in ensuite - £25 + VAT
Burn market in landing carpet - £30 +VAT


We replied to state we disputed the laminate edging as this had already started to come away when we moved in to the property, the missing blind was never up but had been left on top of a kitchen cupboard when we moved in and when we did go to put it up realised it had obviously been taken down because it was broken. The chain being snapped on the plug (cheap thin chain) I thought the charge was unreasonable but so frustrated as we didnt even think about this being an issue and the paintmark you cannot even see on the picture but again had I have seen this myself i would have scratched it off!! Agreed with the burn mark as the iron had fell off and there was a slight mark on the carpet which was our fault.

Had reply from letting agent to advise plug charge would be removed but would need to speak to owner regarding rest of charges. We have chased and chased and had a reply today stating the letting agent want to maintain paint mark and carpet but land lord has moved back in yesterday and now he's checked he wants to maintain them all!

We also raised that the landlord had agreed to cover cost of paint for property in March which come to just under £100 which we still have receipts for that have never been deducted from rent as everytime this was raised as to whether we could deduct it from rent or he would pay us the answer was they would contact the landlord. We have the emails still to confirm it had been agreed. Requsted this to be offset from deposit deductions but been told not possible as its a seperate issue!!

Requested that the undisputed amount of deposit be refunded until resolved and the LA have advised they cannot do this? is this correct?

Also to add the the original letting agent went bust so 18 months ago a new agent has taken over who have now last month sold out so yet another letting agent in place and they told us themselves they did not have original inventory so find it very hard to see how they can maintain any of the charges?

Really just looking to see what the next steps would be and if it is referred to the dispute resolution what is the likeliness of our deposit being retained by landlord? Dont know if to just take it on the chin and agree to charges to get the remainder refunded so its resolved!

Sorry its so long winded!! Thanks in advance for any advice

Werdnal

Have you applied to the DPS yourself for release of the deposit amount? If you do this, you can dispute the charges through them, and LL/Agent will need written proof of the start/end condition to make any claim that you caused the damage.

daisy1985

Thanks for the reply!

Yes we started the process last Tuesday, Letting agents have passed it on to managers as both sides disputing, should they be releasing the undisputed amount in the meantime or does it all have to be refunded at same time?

Will the fact the landlord agreed to cover paint costs which he hasn't help us or would this be disregarded?

I have read through the DPS website and find it very confusing and when I called them they wouldnt deal with me as I as not lead tenant even though it was a joint tenancy.