Another Deposit Thread, Sorry!

Abbymoo

Oohh I'm annoyed right now. Hoping someone can word me a calm way of dealing with this. It's not the money, it's the principle of people always trying to walk over the OH and I.

Right, we rented a house for a year. We were model tenants if I do say so myself, never complained, not even when the heating and hot water packed up for 2 weeks during the coldest spell of the year or the agent decided to let themselves in and out at will.

We moved out in early April, a week later we paid another months rent and the agent advertised it the same day we paid the last months rent and advised we were moving out. They had a whole month of showing people round totally unhindered, going in and out of the back door etc. We did the checkout and agreed to pay for a few bits, 2 small walls being repainted, a loose toilet seat being fixed and the grass (a very small garden) being mowed. For these minor issues they charged us a frankly OTT £355, over half the deposit. We rolled over and took it without a fight, both knackered from moving and loads of other hassle I won't go into.

The new tenants moved in on the 16th, after the remedial works had been done. Yesterday the agent emailed us to say they'd suddenly discover that back door lock was broken and they would get a quote, that we'd have to pay to repair it and asked how it had happened. Now this has riled me beyond belief.

We've been gone for 6 weeks, the lock was working perfectly when we left, they've had 6 weeks of going in and out the door, locking and unlocking the blasted thing yet they only NOW discover it's broken, after them using it for six weeks and the new tenant being in for a week! I don't mind paying for stuff that actually needed doing, like the walls being repainted, but I'm damned if I'm going to pay for a broken lock that's nothing to do with us!

Sorry for the epic rant and typos, I'm just so irritated! We emailed back saying it was fine when we left and can only suggest it happened after we moved out, but I want a response ready for when they email back trying to screw yet more money out of us! Deposit was/is held by the DPS Scheme if it matters.

Thanks, and sorry again for the rather high levels of GRRRRRR!

moromir

I understand your frustration but I personally don't think £355 is out of line for arranging a decorator to re-paint two "small" walls, a gardener to mow the law and a handyman to fix a toilet seat.

I really do wonder why people don't attend to these jobs before handing back the keys if they are so minor and cost so little to put right properly!

Abbymoo

moromir wrote: »

I understand your frustration but I personally don't think £355 is out of line for arranging a decorator to re-paint two "small" walls, a gardener to mow the law and a handyman to fix a toilet seat.

I really do wonder why people don't attend to these jobs before handing back the keys if they are so minor and cost so little to put right properly!

Ask the OH, I was all for fixing them! And yes, small, not in inverted commas, they were only small marks on about 10% of them where a headboard had been. Not that that was the question, but thanks anyway.

Mr_Moo_2

Was the lock working when your tenenacy ended? If so, not down to you. As for the rest, look back in hindsight and think that maybe you should have reported the heating when it didn't work, and you should certainly have challenged the Agent if they were coming and going "at will".... hope positive Karmic stuff realigns in your favour soon.... )

Abbymoo

Mr_Moo wrote: »

Was the lock working when your tenenacy ended? If so, not down to you. As for the rest, look back in hindsight and think that maybe you should have reported the heating when it didn't work, and you should certainly have challenged the Agent if they were coming and going "at will".... hope positive Karmic stuff realigns in your favour soon.... )

It was working fine up until we moved out, but obviously we moved out over a month before the tenancy ended so they could have broken it anytime after that as they had lots of viewings, and it wasn't noticed on check out. We did report the heating, but the plumber messed up the parts and didn't get the right one for 2 weeks, we were just perfectly understanding and didn't fuss despite freezing and not being able to wash properly. Urgh, so glad we don't rent any more! Thanks

HB58

As you were charged for other things, I assume that you had a check-out inspection? I think the deposit schemes would not look favourably on claims of damage that were not noted at check-out.

Abbymoo

HB58 wrote: »

As you were charged for other things, I assume that you had a check-out inspection? I think the deposit schemes would not look favourably on claims of damage that were not noted at check-out.

Yep we had a formal checkout, nothing was said about the door lock at the time. :mad:Thanks

Mr_Moo_2

..... but did you have the check out when you left or when your tenancy ended and by the sound of it these dates weren't the same.......? I'd imagine your liability would be regarded as not ending until the tenancy did unless you got agreement to this?

Oh, and are we related?? )

dgtazzman

I'm assuming after 6 weeks you've had your deposit back (minus the amount you mentioned) and it is no longer in a scheme?

If it was me, I'd call their bluff and tell them if they want me to pay it so badly, to take it to small claims court, quoting the fact that it was not noted in your official check-out and you have not had access to the property since to cause any such damage.

If the money is still in a scheme, just dispute the deduction. The dispute will more than likely find in your favour. At this point I'd also ask them to produce bills/detailed breakdowns for the rest of the deductions, just to throw up as much fuss as possible, though it sounds like you already agreed to them, so you probably won't get very far with those anymore.

IMO, whenever it happened, it's their negligence and the bill is on their tab. They're probably just hoping you're going to roll over for them as you have been since you started the tenancy...

P.S. You say the new tenant had been in for a week before it was noticed, so who's to say they didn't brake it. I'm sure they will have had a check-in inventory too, which I bet made no mention of a broken door lock, something I'm sure they would have noticed within the first day of their tenancy...

Abbymoo

Mr_Moo wrote: »

..... but did you have the check out when you left or when your tenancy ended and by the sound of it these dates weren't the same.......? I'd imagine your liability would be regarded as not ending until the tenancy did unless you got agreement to this?

Oh, and are we related?? )

The checkout was when the tenancy ended. Almost six weeks after we moved out. In between those times we bobbed back twice in the first fortnight to carry out minor repairs (filling in holes where the curtain poles had been up, taking the bins out etc, not that taking bins out is a repair job) both times the lock was fine.

I hope we're related, you don't sound as loony as the rest of my family!

Mr_Moo_2

In which case you're on firm ground, not noted on check out, so refuse to pay. They will have a very hard battle to win this one..... Good luck !