Rental checkout report is incorrect

iamds

Hi we have just moved out of our flat and are having the usual stresses trying to get back our deposit.

One of the problems is that the checkout report is accusing us of putting up some coat hooks in a cupboard, and now the landlord is charging us to remove the coat hooks and fix up the wall.

The thing is that we did not put up the coat hooks they were there when we moved in, and we even have a feeling that they came with the flat when it was built 4 years ago.

We think the reason why the checkout report thinks that we put these up is that in the check in report it doesn't mention them and a photograph of the cupboard doesn't show them. The reason why they can't be seen in the check in report is because the picture of the cupboard is below the height of the coat hooks - we know that the photo is below the level of the hooks because in the checkout report the coat hooks are right next to the fuse box and in the check in report you cannot see the fuse box either. Obviously there is no question about whether we installed the fuse box!

Does anyone know what we can do about this? We obviously have no evidence that the coat hooks were already there when we moved in as we did not take any photos. And when we contacted the estate agent to question the quality of the report the estate agent basically said "the checkin report never misses anything, if they were there when you moved in they would be in the report".

What can we do?

Thanks for your help

DaftyDuck

Does the "never misses anything" check-in report list the fuse box? If not, you should offer to remove that as well....

iamds

"Does the "never misses anything" check-in report list the fuse box? If not, you should offer to remove that as well.... "

no it doesn't but I don't want them charging me to remove that!

DaftyDuck

But, it shows the "never misses anything" report does miss fixtures and fittings that were there, in that very cupboard..... they missed the fuse box, they missed the coat hooks too. See?

bebewoo

Just dispute it via your deposit scheme. Do not argue with the landlord/agent any more and go straight to dispute.
The deposit schemes always are more biased towards the tenant and will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you state clearly in your dispute what you have said here you will be OK.

DRP

bebewoo wrote: »

Just dispute it via your deposit scheme. Do not argue with the landlord/agent any more and go straight to dispute.
The deposit schemes always are more biased towards the tenant and will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you state clearly in your dispute what you have said here you will be OK.

^^yeah this

Dispute it asap with the deposit scheme. Possibly even send a letter to the LA and call them to tell them exactly why you're disputing - with the reasons and what DaftyDuck posted.

Stupid LA will try anything , won't they ? :rotfl:

iamds

Does anyone know the process for how to dispute it with the deposit scheme. I find the documentation on the website confusing.

It seems like I raise a dispute and say why I dispute it. Then it gets sent to the landlord to reply to my dispute, and then they make a decision.

This doesn't sound good for me as so far the landlord hasn't been very clear about why he is taking money, he has just said it he is taking £500. This makes it very hard for me to pull together evidence that I should not be paying the money.

Shouldn't the landlord first explain to the deposit service why he is taking the money and then allow me to explain why that is incorrect?