Unprofessional estate agent

yiamas85

My 18 month old must be an artist in the making :-) I was told the deposit was protected but seeing she has blatantly lied about other things, this is something I will be checking.

DRP

unfortunately, kids writing on walls and sh**ting on the carpet do not count as wear & tear.

Unless you can return the place to its original condition you'll have to pay (via your deposit) for the LL to do so...

yiamas85

DRP wrote: »

unfortunately, kids writing on walls and sh**ting on the carpet do not count as wear & tear.

Unless you can return the place to its original condition you'll have to pay (via your deposit) for the LL to do so...

You missed the whole point of that post! Re-read the posts and I think you may understand I am not denying my obligations. Might being the operative word!

ognum

yiamas85 wrote: »

You missed the whole point of that post! Re-read the posts and I think you may understand I am not denying my obligations. Might being the operative word!

I actually think it is you that is missing the point!

DRP

yiamas85 wrote: »

You missed the whole point of that post! Re-read the posts and I think you may understand I am not denying my obligations. Might being the operative word!

it was just a general comment! :money:

SavvyStudentSaver

To address the various points in turn:

-Maintenance should be reported in writing, sent via First Class post (with proof of postage retained), to the address on your tenancy agreement which is for "the purpose of serving notices" or something like that. Phone calls can't be proven, and e-mails can be claimed to have never reached their destination. If reporting doesn't work, there are a variety of relevant bodies to turn to then.
-This is all in fact the responsibility of the Landlord. The letting agent is simply their employee, and you wont get anywhere pursuing them really.
-You do need to see out the rest of your tenancy. Saying it's not fair that you have to because the LA didn't hold up her end of the bargain is almost akin to saying "Well, these thieves broke into my house and robbed me, so I'm going to break in and rob some of their stuff too". That's not what you do- you go to the relevant authorities to seek enforcement of the law.
-Was the inventory signed by you when you moved in, or did an external company write the inventory? If no to either of these, the LA hasn't got a leg to stand on really regarding anything on there that wasn't there when you moved in (it's likely they can't blame anything on you, unless they have dated photos- in which case the state of the place when you moved in will be evident). If you signed an inventory which was inaccurate, unfortunately you haven't got a leg to stand on- you agreed to the condition of the place, and will be responsible for returning it in the that same state.
-If the deposit is registered, then you simply dispute any unfair deductions that the LA tries to make with the scheme it was placed in. If it wasn't protected, then you may be able to claim not just the entire deposit back, but up to 1-3 times it's value as a penalty. (Of course, this doesn't mean you are absolved of any responsibility for damages- you still need to pay for any damage you have done to the house, but the LA/LL must chase you for this then).
-If your children have drawn on the walls/left stains on the carpet, then you may well have to pay for SOME of the cost of repainting/re-carpeting. If the walls were newly painted for instance, and had a lifetime of 10 years, and you lived there for two, and your children drew on the walls, you'd need to pay 80% of the costs to repaint. I don't know how holes in the wall factor into this though, but there will be a chance you have to pay- it depends on the condition stated on the inventory (see above).
-Mould is not wear and tear either. There may be fading of paint, and paint not designed for the bathroom coming away in there would count as wear and tear, but issues that come about because of a tenants lifestyle (inadequate ventilation for instance) do not. As a basic rule of thumb, if a model tenant lived in the house- who never makes any mistakes, treats the house with the utmost care, cleans regularly, with perfectly behaved friends/family- would they be leaving the house in the same condition? If the answer is no, then fix whatever doesn't meet this criteria before moving out (obviously you don't need to return the house in a better condition then the inventory says though).

No one is trying to say it's your responsibility to do fundamental repairs etc, but it IS your responsibility to inform the Landlord, in writing. And there were other avenues open to you to get the Landlord to effect repairs, etc at the time, so trying to find someone to complain to now is rather belated. You could probably complain to any regulation bodies the agency is part of, and tell the Landlord's about their LA's behaviour to try and get business away from her, but really, you can't do anything to her, because it was all the responsibility of the landlord.

Hopefully this helps, and I'm sorry if I've made a mistake. This is all gleaned from reading these forums.

DRP

^^very useful reply for the OP.

Also, to address the title of this thread: I would never expect an agent to be 'professional'. I'm not even sure it can be counted as a profession - no qualifications or a requirement to demonstrate experience or training are required to start up an EA office...

yiamas85

Well basically, she has been saying as soon as I get everything done, they can find new tenants and I can stop paying rent. Of course, I won't do this as she wants the whole downstairs and upstairs decorated. In my mind that is not what the property was like when I moved in, as pictures show. If they paid for the paint, I paid for the work, they get an improved house, and keep the paint for future use. If I do it I will merely go over the small amount of paint, and leave the other rooms which use the same colour. Then I will take the paint leaving them to do the other rooms (not at all damaged by myself). I said I would have carpets cleaned, do the garden and clean from top to bottom. I will do the paint and do everything (it all needed doing to begin with) if they contribute. I think that is reasonable. There are other problems which she was emailed (she replied) and are still evident so I won't do them. Had she agreed to this, new tenants would likely have been found by now. As of yet, house still in need of doing, not tenants have been shown around and therefore this is making me liable for rent for far longer. I can hurry up and spend a fortune on doing what she asks, or walk away and leave her with deposit. Was angry about the way she acted throughout tenancy but to be this unreasonable now is a whole different matter. Moving is stressful enough without this. I would have been happy to do above and pay until new tenants were found but she is leaving me few options. I could seek legal advice as I don't want to do what she asks yet I don't want the house left vacant, but this will drag it on even more. It's a vicious circle and my best option is to walk away. The deposit is just money, but the weight that has been lifted is worth it :-)

Penelopa.Pitstop

yiamas85 wrote: »

She is keeping my deposit not only because of the paint but other issues such as the swollen utility room door which won't shut, peeling paint (wrong paint had been used) and other things that I don't think I am responsible for or is wear and tear.

You don't have to fix the things that agents says you have. It's not your responsibility.

You only have to return the flat to the condition that it was when you rented minus wear and tear. Damage to the walls or dirty carpet is your responsibility. But not wear and tear or badly finished elements of furniture like swollen doors.

I'm sure not all kids draw on the walls. You can either put something on the wall to allow then to draw on it, make sure they don't or just paint the walls.Your kids, your responsibility.

yiamas85

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

You don't have to fix the things that agents says you have. It's not your responsibility.

You only have to return the flat to the condition that it was when you rented minus wear and tear. Damage to the walls or dirty carpet is your responsibility. But not wear and tear or badly finished elements of furniture like swollen doors.

I'm sure not all kids draw on the walls. You can either put something on the wall to allow then to draw on it, make sure they don't or just paint the walls.Your kids, your responsibility.

I shall tell my 18 month old to do the decent thing and ask for paper, how very dare she! Now at what point have I said it is not my responsibility. I could be funny and paint over the small amount of crayon damaged area and leave the marks that were already there. Yes it may be patchy but why should I do the whole of the downstairs and upstairs for the sake of a SMALL patch? Do you understand or would you like a diagram? Take this for example. If I damaged an old chair of theirs, I would not have to replace it with a new chair. It is a like for like basis. The estate agent is disagreeing. Comprende? She told me it was expensive paint. Expensive enough to come off when I tried to remove the crayon! Now the fact that she tells me slugs and mice are perfectly normal really should give you a clue to how unreasonable she is. As I said, not my problem now :-)