Tenancy Deposit

Deloria87

Thedismantled brown bed frame (inventory listed) left outside front door The bed frame as noted in the inventory was brokenwhen we moved in (the middle collapsed when we tried sleeping in it) that is inthe loft as it was not ours to dispose of, I think this was discussed eitherwith you or the agent when he’d been there as it wasn’t really worth us putting abroken bed back together for you.

Latepayments throughout tenancy and arrears chasing How isthis chargeable? You are not chasing arrears as we were up to date when wemoved out so there is no cost for this

Markings/scuffson walls and even ceilings throughout property and fixtures for pictures notmade good As I mentioned on the phone we wereinformed that even if we painted/cleaned the walls they would be painted by youregardless...so why would we do that? Also as I mentioned on the phone anypicture frame fixtures were already in the property when we moved in and we putpictures on them to hide the fact that it looked awful else.

Sub-lettingthe property/person staying in bottom room using bottom toilet as own bathroom,which at the time was discovered not informed by yourself as part of yourtenancy We have discussed this...but again howwould this be chargeable?

Unauthorisedpets that again were discovered in the house (yes from then on you did ask ifyour could bring them in the property in cold conditions but not before) damageto kitchen floor was replaced with new one The onlytime the ferrets were in the house were with prior approval from eitheryourself or Landlord B and this was due to extreme weather conditions, Landlord B evensaid to me that I would not need to ask permission every time and treat thehouse as our home. But AGAIN how is this chargeable? The replacement of thekitchen floor was due to a bubble in the middle of the kitchen flooring (whichI think Landlord B mentioned was probably down to the leaking washing machine) andnothing to do with our pets. They were also authorised by Letting Agent so they werenot unauthorised pets.

Washingmachine door sheared off again replaced this (although a contribution wasalleged to have been by yourselves did not receive one) Landlord B mentioned a cost to us regarding the fixingof the washing machine door then nothing was ever mentioned again, we wouldhave contributed had we been told an amount (although it would hardly behuge...)

Kitchenis not clean throughout and top of units build up of grease and dirt. I cleaned the kitchen so to say there is a build upof grease and dirt is ridiculous...ask the agent, he watched us!

I have thought carefully about this and a deductionof £300 from your deposit I feel is fair. I have also taken into considerationto put the property right I have been informed its going to cost way in excessof this.

You mayconsider the cost to yourselves in excess of this to ‘put the property right’but the property was hardly right during our tenancy was it? If you take intoconsideration the cost to US during the period of broken white goods (includedin the rent price) then you would owe us money but we aren’t asking that. Wespent 6 months without a washing machine and 3 months without a fridge freezerin which time we spent every weekend having to go to a launderette and havingto put in an old fridge of ours to store food although we did not receive adeduction in rent during this time. We are aware that the rent was latethroughout the tenancy but if you consider the amount we paid out for washingour clothes this contributed to our struggle to pay it as we needed cleanclothes...We sent an e-mail to the Letting Agent voicing our upset on the 12thDecember and again on the 3rd January with no response to anythingthat we mentioned and it still took a further 8 weeks to fix the washingmachine.
Please note that throughout the last 6 months of our tenancy we had to go through a noise complaint with the council who told us that it was up to the landlords to rectify as it was down to poor sound insulation, we then find out that you actually know the neighbours and probably could have resolved the issue. It was not a happy tenancy, largely due to poor management as neither you or the Letting Agent could agree who was managing the property!!

In black is the e-mail I received from my landlord this morning listing the reason for the charges, in red are the responses that I'm planning on sending. Are my comments fair? We have managed to get it from a £450 charge down to £300 at the moment but I'm still not in agreeance but my partner isn't happy to just go straight to the tenancy deposit scheme as it will delay returning it and we'd rather it came back ASAP.

tbs624

Yes, there should be a jointly signed inventory if the LL wants to specifically claim for damage etc. However, more broadly ,talk of the OP being entitled to a full return of her deposit is a tad premature.

OP - you flag up at the start that you paid "full rent" for the whole of your 16 months tenancy but only later on in the post fo you admit that your rent was paid late *throughout your tenancy*, a clear breach of your own tenancy obligations. You contracted to pay rent in full *and* on the due dates.LLs usually incur costs when their Ts pay rent late, especially so when that lateness is a defining feature of the full tenancy.

Your comment "We are aware that the rent was late throughout the tenancy but if you consider the amount we paid out for washing our clothes this contributed to our struggle to pay it as we needed clean clothes" is irrelevant.

Did your tenancy agreement make specific reference to LL/LA charges for late payment of rent, and the LL/LA needing to chase arrears up? Such charges have to be reasonable - LL/LA cannot just pluck a random fee and hope to apply it.

You say that you went without a working washer for 6 months and a working fridge freezer for 3 months. What does your tenancy agreement say, if anything, about the maintenance and repair of white goods? Some LLs supply white goods but if/when they break down the LL does not undertake to repair or replace.

Additionally , you have made reference to the shearing off of the washing machine door with an agreement by you to meet some (?) of the costs. That sounds like specific damage rather than some straightforward wear and tear. If you agreed to pay towards that, why should you now be surprised that the LL wants you to agree to part of your deposit monies being used for just that purpose? Anything in writing over that damage? The fact that you say [edit:you] agreed to pay towards the repair of the door suggests that you accept that you were at least partly to blame, so why not just have got your cheque book out at the time and got the matter resolved?

You further breached your tenancy agreement by "subletting" part of the property and by, according to the LL/LA having unauthorised pets at the property. Do you have anything in writing from the LL/LA concerning their agreement to your ferrets being at/in the property?

Do you have anything *in writing* from the LL/LA about not needing to clean/repaint? Your obligation is to return the property in the same condition as when originally let to you save for fair wear and tear, and dirt/damage don't generally fall under FW&T. That said, LL will need to be able to adequately demonstrate the starting condition of the property as compared to the condition at the end of your tenancy.

Your proposed email needs to be far more brief and to the point.If you want to make reference to costs which you feel you have unjustifiably had to meet during your tenancy then list them separately, rather than trying to say that paying rent late for the whole of your tenancy was in some way due to you having to pay for launderette use ( see my previous comment about white goods and repairs/maintenance)

LL reference, one to the other - "T always pays rent late ( although finally up to date by end of tenancy)", brings in ferrets
(not just onto the property, as in outside the property in a cage , but actually in the property), sublets part of the property, damages white goods and has to be pursued to settle the costs..."

Many potential future LLs would simply move onto the next potential T in their list.

Likewise, if potential Ts knew that the LL was slow to repair/maintain and backtracked on verbal promises then they might prefer to go elsewhere.

Perhaps there is info missing from your post but it doesn't sound like either party has covered themselves in glory.

Deloria87

There was nothing missing and I haven't claimed to be an ideal tenant in regards to rent which is why I admitted it to the landlord, but in regards to the keeping up of the property we had not caused any damage. The closest thing to damage they could have claimed was the washing machine door, but that literally just fell off.

I'd like to point out that we were not subletting, our pets were pre-approved before us signing a contract, it had originally been in there but when we reminded them they crossed it out and it was then signed. There was also no mention of charges regarding late payments, but the white goods were listed as the landlord's responsibility and not ours. Regarding the washing machine, they never mentinoned a price for repairing it but that has now been included in the deduction that we have agreed.

We have been in discussions this morning and discovered there was definitely not a signed inventory or check in report from the LA and their head office suggested that going through the complaints procedure with the tenancy deposit scheme would result in our full deposit being returned (most likely) however that would take a long time so we tried avoiding that.
We responded to all of the landlords comments a bit fairer than I originally had (I'd calmed down and explained them rather than defended myself) and we've negotiated down to £200 deductions and being released today - a bit better than losing £450!!