Tenancy Deposit

Deloria87

I have moved out of a property onthe 9th May in which we had nothing but issues with maintenance. (I.e.broken fridge freezer for 4 months, broken washing machine for 6 months and theboiler broke twice; we only lived there 16 months and paid full rent the wholetime).

Before leaving the property wecalled the Landlord A and asked who would be doing the check out of theproperty and if whoever it was (landlord or agency) would they be able to do acheck prior to us vacating to let us know what needs to be done to get our fulldeposit back as I’ve found out I’m pregnant so our deposit would be quitehandy. He didn’t tell us who would be completing the check out but said that hewas more than happy to come and view it and he just needed to text me toarrange this, then he ignored any contact I tried to make. We’d been told by landlordB that we could use his power washer to clean the decking but not to worry toomuch about it as it wasn’t clean when we first moved in so they would be doingit anyway and also that they were planning on coming in and re-painting. I wasn’thappy with just leaving it as we’d kept pet ferrets in the garden so I knewsome of the cleaning would be down to us but he never got around to lending itto us so I gave up and was leaving it to him as he’d said. The day that mypartner and I were at the house cleaning, the agent (they were changingagencies so it wasn’t the same agency we signed the contract with) was doingviewings and told us outright not to bother scrubbing the bathroom tiles ofmildew etc as they were being ripped out and replaced anyway which we thoughtwas great and saved us hours of scrubbing!

Today we finally got through toLandlord A who mentioned nothing to us about deductions but that he wasspeaking to the agency and will call us later on, my partner explained that hewas not exactly happy about the state of the tenancy management we put up with(just to reiterate the point as they ignored the complaint we sent in with therequest of re-imbursement for the months of launderette visits!) and he saidthat he did understand and that he’d be in touch. Then the agency called and heis trying to claim £400 in damages to the property leaving us with less thanhalf a deposit. Both of us are sure that we haven’t signed an inventoryagreeing to the state of the property in the first place. I have an e-mail copyof one received 6 months after moving in which the agency said is ‘the onlycopy they have on file’ and it is dated 6 months before the start of ourtenancy and doesn’t recognise the condition of the house when we first moved inso I’m not happy to accept the use of that inventory.

The most I am happy to agree withis probably cleaning the carpet in the downstairs bedroom but I’m not sure whatthey are actually charging us for as they haven’t said but that wouldn’t amountto £400. Does anyone have any advice about how to approach the landlord aboutthis and if we are even liable for any deductions without a signed inventory? The deposit is protected in the TDS.

BitterAndTwisted

What precisely is the landlord seeking compensation for?

WRITE to the landlord and send a copy to the agent asking them for sight of YOUR dual-signed and dated inventory from the start of your tenancy.

In the meantime get onto the deposit-protection scheme's website and claim the whole of your deposit back. NOW!

Deloria87

Would we be likely to get it all back though? I thought the landlord had to agree an amount first (or at least that's how he's made it out to be)

He hasn't said what the charges are for I need to call him after work to find out but I can only imagine it's for the items they have said they'll do (paintwork, bathroom, decking) but as I said I'd be agreeable to any charge for cleaning the carpet downstairs. I don't have a postal address or e-mail for them so I wouldn't be able to send a letter or would I be able to do that through the landlord?

Sorry for being dense, I've only really lived in student houses with deposits and it's usually been handled by someone else but I've always had the full amount back which is probably whats riled me up more!

Thanks for your help

BitterAndTwisted

DO NOT CALL ANYONE!

WRITE to the landlord, sending a copy to the agent requesting details of what their proposed deductions are and request a copy of the dual-signed and dated check-in inventory.

What do you mean "you don't have an address for them? Which "them" are you referring to? The landlord's address should be on your rental agreement under the bit which refers to "for the serving of notices".

Deloria87

Oh right I'll have a look for that, I did mean the landlords.

[Deleted User]

You pay a deposit so that you have a vested interest in the property being left in the same condition as when you entered (less fair wear and tear) because if you leave it in a terrible state then the landlord has to spend money and time making repairs so they continue letting it.

Many years ago deposits were just given to the landlord and people hoped they would get the deposit back at the end and that the landlord was honest, however now deposits are protected in government backed schemes and there are lots of rules and regulations.

Your deposit is yours, the idea is that if you leave the property in a fair state then you get every penny of the deposit back, if you cause damage the landlord can make deductions to return the deposit to the state it was in prior to your tenancy. The landlord is responsible for proving you made damage, they deduct from your money so the responsibility is on them.

If a landlord cannot prove that the deductions they are making are legitimate (for example if they have no signed inventory that demonstrates the condition of an item you "damaged" before your tenancy commenced) then the deductions are not valid and they cannot make the deductions.

No signed inventory (in most cases) means that the deposit must be returned to you in full (except for anything that was in the contract, for example if your contract states the apartment must be professionally cleaned at exit and you haven't).

Page 6: http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/a-guide-to-tenancy-deposits-disputes-and-damages.pdf

If the landlord cannot prove you made damages they claim you made then you will get 100% of the deposit back.

DRP

citricsquid wrote: »

You pay a deposit so that you have a vested interest in the property being left in the same condition as when you entered (less fair wear and tear) because if you leave it in a terrible state then the landlord has to spend money and time making repairs so they continue letting it.

Many years ago deposits were just given to the landlord and people hoped they would get the deposit back at the end and that the landlord was honest, however now deposits are protected in government backed schemes and there are lots of rules and regulations.

Your deposit is yours, the idea is that if you leave the property in a fair state then you get every penny of the deposit back, if you cause damage the landlord can make deductions to return the deposit to the state it was in prior to your tenancy. The landlord is responsible for proving you made damage, they deduct from your money so the responsibility is on them.

If a landlord cannot prove that the deductions they are making are legitimate (for example if they have no signed inventory that demonstrates the condition of an item you "damaged" before your tenancy commenced) then the deductions are not valid and they cannot make the deductions.

No signed inventory (in most cases) means that the deposit must be returned to you in full (except for anything that was in the contract, for example if your contract states the apartment must be professionally cleaned at exit and you haven't).

Page 6: http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/a-guide-to-tenancy-deposits-disputes-and-damages.pdf

If the landlord cannot prove you made damages they claim you made then you will get 100% of the deposit back.

A good explanation ^^^

As B&T posted, it would be prudent to claim your deposit back ASAP (minus the damage you admit to).

Without a signed/dated inventory or some other evidence, it is unlikely your LL will be able to deduct from your deposit.

Deloria87

Thanks everyone Am I able to claim it back without Landlord approval? I thought that it had to be approval from both parties when it was claimed back

mrginge

Deloria87 wrote: »

Thanks everyone Am I able to claim it back without Landlord approval? I thought that it had to be approval from both parties when it was claimed back

Its your money. Claim it all back asap

Deloria87

Oooh I'll dig out of tenancy protection paper work when I get home then! Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how I get on

benjus

Just as a word of encouragement - I was recently asking for advice about deposit disputes on here. My landlord wanted to claim £1475 (all the deposit) over largely spurious issues. I wrote her a letter offering her £50, which I thought was fair. She ignored the letter until I opened a dispute with TDS - at that point she quickly decided to settle for the £50.