DPS verdict on profession cleaning.

G_M

<sebb> wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear a bit more about this. What did the check out report say about the condition of the property?

I recall pre deposit scheme days having a similar argument with a landlord. They wanted hundreds for a professional clean/carpets cleaned/curtains dry cleaned but the check out report only said that the skirting boards needed a light dusting and the curtains a light vacuuming. We had quite a battle with them in the end to try and get our money back. We were quite naive at the time. The contract said we couldn't take them to court to dispute the deposit until we'd first used the agencies mediation service at a cost to us of £95 per hour which we believed!!. So in the end we gave up and lost about £600 after 6 months of going back and forth. They did back down on £50 for the windows because the check out report said they were cleaner than when we arrived.

Ahh! Those were the days! Fortunately I've been able to retire on the proceeds and rental income is just pocket money now...

princeofpounds

We need more information to understand what this decision means. It's not clear from the wording posted if this is a property that needed further cleaning or did not.

Besides, it's not hard to get around. Get your friend to write a receipt after you've cleaned everything yourself. There is no definition of professional for cleaners.

if you do so then the guidance from the OFT has (not to my knowledge) not yet been put through a test case so you would actually be doing everyone a favour if you set the legal precedent

The OFT guidance is written using precedents, case law and legal advice. Many of the things in there do have precedents, but they will not all be case law because they will have been settled in small claims court rather than a higher court that is actually capable of setting such things.

The OFT guidance is a bit more than just their 'speculation' on what a court would say.

tim123456789

agrinnall wrote: »

I think that's a very poor verdict. Was it made by DPS or by a court? I suspect if you could be bothered with the hassle of taking it to court they would find in your favour.

So do I.

I happen to know that my flat was "professionally" cleaned before I moved in.

I can tell you that it was no better than I would have done myself and all of the "let's check here because these are the places that amatures forget to do" places were left dirty!

Paying someone to do the job for you doesn't guarentee that it will be done better.

Fortunately, my lease doesn't demand a professional clean.

N79

princeofpounds wrote: »

We need more information to understand what this decision means. It's not clear from the wording posted if this is a property that needed further cleaning or did not.

Besides, it's not hard to get around. Get your friend to write a receipt after you've cleaned everything yourself. There is no definition of professional for cleaners.



The OFT guidance is written using precedents, case law and legal advice. Many of the things in there do have precedents, but they will not all be case law because they will have been settled in small claims court rather than a higher court that is actually capable of setting such things.

The OFT guidance is a bit more than just their 'speculation' on what a court would say.

I agree with this, we don't know in this case if the case was one due to lack of "professional" cleaning or lack of cleaning to a "professional" standard, two very different cases.

I had the inverse dispute (in court, not DPS) around 6 months back. Tenancy started with property cleaned to a "professional" standard agreed on check in inventory. They left and it was dirty (flies on windowsills, dust on skirting, oven not cleaned, limescale on kitchen sink and bathroom etc) but they had a receipt from a "professional" cleaning company. We went to court and I won.

Moral of the story is nothing beats a proper inventory at check in and check out.

Just to be clear, I don't doubt that they did pay for "professional" cleaners, just that they did a rubbish job (and charged more than twice what my "professional" cleaners would have charged if the Ts had just walked out without making any effort). So the Ts were ripped off, not dishonest.