Advice on bond deductions :(

StudentMum88

I moved into a privately rented house that is managed by a letting agents on 01.02.2012.

When I first went to view the house it was in a bad way, it needed to be re-decorated throughout and the carpets were filthy. The agents explained that the work was due to be done but just hadn't started yet. Despite the property not looking its best I decided to take as I knew that it would be sorted out.

When I moved in things weren't perfect, it had been painted throughout but wasn't a great job (patchy walls, odd marks here and there) and the carpets had been cleaned however were still very marked and stained. I accepted this as with a rental property you are never going to get perfect however I noted these down on the itinerary I was given that stated that walls were "immaculate" and carpets were "clean throughout" and posted it back to the agents the next day (it said to be returned within 7 days). There were quite a few things on the itinerary that were wrong and I corrected, such as the light fitting in the living room that was stated as "working" was actually just dangling there, not attached to any wires or the ceiling so clearly didn't work and curtain rails and a shower rail that were hanging off the walls. I called a week later to check that they had received my updated itinerary and one of the agents told me they had it.

Anyway, I moved out on 25.04.2013, while I was there I put up some shelves in the living room and the odd picture here and there, and when I moved out, i filled, sanded and painted the marked areas using the paint that had been used used to paint the house in the first place that had been left in the garage. Although this wasn't left in perfect condition, it wasn't prefect to begin with and matched up very well. I also paid to have the carpets cleaned by a cleaning company and the bathrooms steam cleaned as I wanted to leave the property in a good condition. The carpets didn't come up immaculate but that was because they were marked and stained when I moved in, I couldn't make them any better than they were when I arrived.

A few days before I moved out, a lady from the agents came round to have a check and tell me what needed doing, but she only had a copy of the original itinerary not the one I had posted them, she said she would check when she got back to the office for the one I had sent in, but called me the next day to say they couldn't find it :mad:

I hadn't heard anything from the agents until this week when I called on Monday to find out why I hadn't heard about having my bond (£600) returned, I was told someone would get in touch with me as they were still liaising with the LL. Today the agents left a message on my phone that said due to having to have the carpets cleaned and walls repainted as they were all "immaculate" when I moved in, they would be deducting £380 from my bond to pay for these repairs. I provided them with a receipt to show I'd had the carpets cleaned and they said it wasn't good enough! The message said if I accepted this then they could process everything on Monday and contact the DPS for return of the money or I could dispute the deductions but then in their words "this would be time consuming and obviously it will be a long time before any money is returned".

I don't know what to do now, I left the property in a better condition than when I moved in (I don't think the oven had ever been cleaned, and I had fixed all the broken curtain rails and replaced the shower curtain rail that was broken. It was much cleaner than when we moved in and the walls looked just as good as when I rented it. What can I do?! Is there anything? Or should I just be grateful I'm getting anything back at all??


Any help at all would be appreciated! Thank you!

dancingfairy

:eek::eek: I feel you have been done over here. What evidence do you have as tothe state ofthe property (particularly at the begining of the tenancy?) Do you have copies of the original advert? photos or other evidence when you viewed? photos of when you moved in?
Have you got anything in writing from the agency to suggest that they received an updated inventory (ie that one exists)?
You could try either a Subject Access Request(SAR) - not sure if that would be applicablein your situation but you normally send it to financial companies to find out exactly what info they have on you in their file.
Or you could pursue a formal complaint with the agency. Obvisouly you are going to struglle to contest any deductions unless you can prove their was a second inventory or have any other independent proof of the state of the property at the begining.
df

Guest101

Do not accept their offer for a start, they cant get the deposit without your consent.

They're trying it on, play hard ball, say that the property was not immaculate and that you provided with a list of faults. (do they have a signed copy of the condition of the house, signed by you?) if not, just keep fighting it. They will give in once they have another tenant.

StudentMum88

I took a few photos when I moved in but it was the first property I've ever rented and I (foolishly) didn't know to put a newspaper with the date on in the photo so it's just the date that is set by my camera on them.

I have no idea what to do about the inventory. When I said that Kate (the girl on the phone) had confirmed they'd received it, I was told she had moved offices and some of her paperwork had been moved elsewhere and they'd need to check to see if they could find it, obviously its gone "missing".

I just don't know what to do, it's such a lot of money to lose when I can honestly say I left the house in a better state. I'm so annoyed I paid £140 to have the carpets cleaned and now they want to charge me again!!!!!

:(:(

dancingfairy

Guest101 wrote: »

Do not accept their offer for a start, they cant get the deposit without your consent.

They're trying it on, play hard ball, say that the property was not immaculate and that you provided with a list of faults. (do they have a signed copy of the condition of the house, signed by you?) if not, just keep fighting it. They will give in once they have another tenant.

I'm not so sure about this. If it goes to dispute resolution then it will be up to an arbiter to decide who is in the right and who is in the wrong. The other side appeal to have an inventory (not sure whether it is signed or not though). Obviously if it is not signed then this is in the OP's fabour but it will be up to an arbiter to decide ifthe OP owes anything.
df

Guest101

Ye it goes to an arbiter who will be provided with receipts for cleaning etc (and some photos) and they will show (hopefully) unsigned inventory. They dont have a case, its as simple as that.

Trying it on, like every LL and LA does.

dancingfairy

It's good you have some evidence to back you up.
Did you ever sign the inventory that claimed everything was perfect? (hopefully not).
Also someone should be able to get hold of Kate and find out what the truth is. If you can get her to admit that there was another inventory then so much the better.
Do you have her email address at all? If you can keep conversations to email you will at least have someform of record of it (unless you start keeping detailed contemperous notes of phone calls, dates, times, person spoken to,etc etc). O.k so email is not going to be as good in court as post but it will still help you.
I'd be tempted to email the agency and re-iterate to them that there was another inventory and that you believe it may havebeen dealt with by Kate. See what they come back with in email.
I'd also be tempted to make it clear in the email that you do not agree to any deductions as the place was in a better condition than when you moved in.
df

benjus

At the end of the day, the landlord must prove that they have a valid claim on your money (yes, it's still your money at the moment). They can either convince you, or they can convince a deposit adjudicator (or court judge). I would make it clear at this stage that if they are going to convince you, you will require the same level of proof that a deposit adjudicator would.

There are some handy case studies on the TDS website (DPS don't seem to have got their act together yet with case studies, but the same principles apply).

Landlords often back down when they realise they are dealing with someone who knows their rights and has done some research.

BitterAndTwisted

Put it in writing now (a letter, signed and dated, NOT by email, text-message or anything else) to the agent that the inventory they are working from was not signed by you at the start of your tenancy. That you amended the inventory supplied to you to reflect the actual condition of the property, which you then returned to them with your signature. That if they have mislaid this annotated inventory they cannot rely on the unsigned one and that you will dispute any deductions based on it. Keep a copy of your letter in case you need to supply it to the scheme's arbitrators.

Then, get onto the deposit-protection scheme's website and claim the whole of your deposit back. If they intend to claim a penny of it, they will have to furnish convincing evidence of their entitlement to it. Like a dual-signed and dated inventory.

StudentMum88

Thank you for all your replies, it is so helpful to hear from people who know what to do with matters like this.

I have a copy of the updated inventory as I kept a photocopy for myself, I don't believe I signed the original inventory I was just given a copy of it and told to update it and send it off if I thought there was any discrepancies, which obviously there were.

It really annoys me that I did lots of little jobs there that improved the house and now they want to take all that money from me! I will write a letter ASAP, I actually applied 2 weeks ago to the DPS to get my full bond back and the LA haven't done anything about that at all, it's just been ignored as far as I can see.

The agents have said the painting and floor cleaning have been done and the carpets have come up "spotless" which I don't believe as they were far from spotless when I moved in.

They also already have new tenants. I returned the keys to the agents at 4.30 p.m. on the 1st May and the new tenants picked them up at 10 a.m. the next morning, I know this because I saw the appt up on the whiteboard when I dropped the keys off so all this has apparently been done while the new tenants are living there.

I have looked at my tenancy agreement and it says that a final inventory should have been done the day I moved out and I should have gone round with the agent and signed it at the end to state that I agreed with it but this didn't happen either.

I just hope they give me the money back, it's not a small sum of money they're wanting to hold back and I don't like that way they told me it would be "a long time before I saw my money" if I wanted to dispute anything!