Security Deposit

Jasper07

Hoping someone might be able to offer some advice on our situation.

I viewed a property at the begining of the month and at the time the owner was still in the process of moving out so there were still a lot of clutter in the property. All seemed ok so I paid my security deposit to secure the property with a moving in date of the end of the month.

Went at the begining of this week to check over the property and
upon closer inspection of the property prior to signing the tenancy agreement we discovered some serious flaws that had not been brought to our attention at the original viewing.

These are detailed below.

Dining Room - Upon lifting the rug that had been placed in this room we discovered a large burn mark in the carpet that had obviously been made by an iron.

Dining Room - Under the same rug there was two big black sticky streaks.

Main Bedroom - Upon lifting the rug that had been placed in the room we discovered two large stains.

All Rooms - Due to the replacement of the radiators there were several large gaps in the carpets of all rooms, these had been mainly obscured at the original viewing by various packing boxes and other items.

All Rooms - Many of the carpets were in a very dirty state and had obviously not been cleaned in sometime, they were also suffering from ware and tare.

It is our opinion that due to these issues the property was not it a fit condition for occupancy and therefore had no option but to withdraw. We raised this with the agent who stated that "yes, I don't think she's the cleanest person in the world" and also admitted that due to the amount of clutter still in the rooms at the time of viewing that they did not pick up these faults either. They also verbally indicated that the owner did not have much money when we enquired about having the carpets replaced.

On returning to their office on 20th of November after viewing the property we were met by the agent at the main entrance and after raising the above concerns with him he stated on two occasions that the holding deposit would be refunded.

We were then informed the next day that we would not be getting this back.

I have already logged an official complaint with them about this and they have acknowledged this and will report back with the finding of their investigation.

My question is do they as agents not have a duty of care to point out these flaws or does caveat emptor apply with renting as it does with buying a house.

Also any thoughts on the best points to hit them with to try and get our security deposit back which was the equivalent to one months rent so quite a lump of money.

TIA

19lottie82

Sorry but I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting your deposit back. You viewed the property, decided you liked it and paid a deposit to "secure" it, which the LA did. You then changed your mind. During this time they could have let it to someone else.

Moral is, inspect somewhere PROPERLY before handing over a large deposit. And just be glad you didn't sign a tenancy agreement otherwise you would have been liable for rent for the whole term.

G_M

I trust you "logged an official complaint " in writing?

Best thing to do is wait and see.

It's a grey area.

It is our opinion that due to these issues the property was not it a fit condition for occupancy

Taking that attitude will not help as it is clearly not correct, however the property is clearly not as represented.

If the LL/agent absolutley refuses a refund, you have two choices:

1) Small Claims Court, where the LL will claim you backed out of the tenancy, he withdrew it from market for you, and he has therefore incurred losses. There is no guarantee of who will win. Or how much.

2) negotiate further. Agree to move in if (get it in writing!) the carpets are replaced or professionally cleaned or whatever. (plus whatever else you want done.)