rent deposit

Joons

My b/f moved out his rented flat beg Dec, he's still waiting on the `report` from the letting agents re his deposit of £600, they say there's deductions to be made from it due to some things that are not quite right in the flat, although fails to say what. I helped b/f clean the flat before he left and I can honestly say the flat was cleaner than it was when he moved in - it stated in the lease that the flat was in a state of disrepair and grubby when he moved in. I can't for the life of me think what they are taking money off for, I do know they've been extremely poor when it came to the maintaining of the property. Is this not a long time to be waiting to find out about your deposit? She seems to stall him every time he calls her about it.

balletshoes

If they didn't do the final inspection of the property with your boyfriend there as well, I would have thought it would have been sensible for your boyfriend to take photos of the rooms etc before he handed the keys back.

It can take a while though - I was present when my last landlord's agent did the final inspection when we were moving out, there were no deductions from the deposit, but it still took around 3 weeks for me to get my money back.

Wantahouse_2

If the deposit is protected - which by law it should be - then your b/f should go onto the website of whatever protection scheme it is deposited with and follow the procedures for requesting return of the deposit. If its not protected, he could sue in small claims for its returns and the LL could be forced to pay your b/f 3 times the deposit as a fine. You should head over to the House Buying, Renting and Selling forurm - this kind of thing crops up a lot there.

pmlindyloo

Some questions!

In which deposit protection scheme is your boyfriend's registered with?

Did he sign an inventory when he moved in?

Whereabouts is this? England/Wales or Scotland?

I will try and find a link to help or you could post this on the House renting and selling board - lots of experts there!

dibblersan

How long was he there for?

I ask because if he moved in after 2004(?) his deposit should be protected in a scheme.

If the inventory says the flat was in poor repair, they can still make deductions, but have to demonstrate that the thing they want to claim for is worse now than it was.

If his deposit isn't protected, they will find it hard to claim anything.

pmlindyloo

Here's a link to get you started:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits