Can letting agent charge for tenant disputing a checkout?

albinicat

So, I'll give some background first to our situation - We recently moved out of a rented property. The letting agent insisted on us paying for a checkout report and we had agreed to this at the beginning of the tenancy. However, they mishandled the arrangement meaning they only gave us one days notice of when it would be and made a time we could not attend.

We had cleaned the property before moving out, but the report came back saying we needed to pay £175 cleaning costs. Examining the report there were various issues:
- Photos were unclear and did not show anything major.
- Brought up issues that had been on the check in report but treated them as though our fault.
- Seemed to exaggerate small issues.

We sent a written response where we were very specific. Several weeks passed before they came back to us and it was clear they had not even passed on the written response to the owner until we questioned this. We then said we would be willing to pay half the cleaning costs due to issues we'd raised if the owner agreed. They came back to us and said he would only go down to £150. Tired of the whole process, we said yes, but made it clear we did not see this as a reasonable amount and made it clear we were unhappy with the way the agents had dealt the checkout and fact they had ignored our response. We just wanted an end to it though.

We have now been informed they want to also take £60 off the deposit for an admin charge for us 'invoking dilaps process'. Apparently this is for them handling the dispute over the costs!

This means we'll actually be paying more than had we just agreed to the original amount. I can't see anywhere where we have agreed to such a charge, or that it is anywhere in the tenancy agreement. I would have thought dealing with this is part of the service they get paid for by the owner. Are they legally able to enforce this? All they have done is send a couple of emails so it seems greatly disproportionate. As far as I can see 'dilaps process' relates to dilapidation issues in commercial renting, so seems as though they are making it up to be able to get back at us for complaining about our treatment. Also, if they can enforce this, surely the owner should be liable too. I am very annoyed that having been forced to pay over £100 for a checkout report that was rubbish, we are now being penalised for complaining about it.

[Deleted User]

A deduction from your deposit cannot be made without your consent, unless they enter into the dispute process and the independent adjudicator rules in their favour. Your deposit was protected, wasn't it? Do you have a copy of the prescribed information?

albinicat

Yes, the deposit is held independently and is in the protection scheme. I'm not sure what 'prescribed information' is. I wonder if it would be best to withdraw our decision to pay the £150 and take the whole thing into the dispute process.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

And I don't think they can charge it unless it's in your contract. I don't think the terms of the deposit scheme cover these types of deductions and that they would have to pursue you separately if it's indeed owing

pmlindyloo

albinicat wrote: »

Yes, the deposit is held independently and is in the protection scheme. I'm not sure what 'prescribed information' is. I wonder if it would be best to withdraw our decision to pay the £150 and take the whole thing into the dispute process.

Have a read of this:

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/information-landlords-must-give-tenants

Yes, take it to the dispute process. That's why they were set up.

ValHaller

albinicat wrote: »

I wonder if it would be best to withdraw our decision to pay the £150 and take the whole thing into the dispute process.

I would agree with you. I suggest you write to Agent and say that the £150 offer was a full and final offer and they must bear their own fees. Say that if the offer is not accepted within 7 days you will take the matter to dispute.

(A tip for the future - if ever you make an offer to pay up for anything just to make a dispute go away, always use the words "this is a full and final offer, made without prejudice". 'Full and final' means that if they accept, they cannot come back later for more. 'Without prejudice' means that if the offer is rejected, the offer cannot be cited elsewhere as evidence that you accept the claim to that level.)

albinicat

Thanks a lot for the replies - they are all really helpful. I will follow that and see what happens. I am very tempted now to take it to dispute and also dispute the cost of the check out report given the number of errors and problems in it.

ging84

The dispute was justified as they reduced the amount
you should be the one billing them for having to raise a dispute against their unreasonably high claim for costs

princeofpounds

Tired of the whole process, we said yes, but made it clear we did not see this as a reasonable amount and made it clear we were unhappy with the way the agents had dealt the checkout and fact they had ignored our response. We just wanted an end to it though.

This was a silly decision. If you communicated this in writing then it may well be considered an admission of liability for this £150 and you might not get a better judgement than that in dispute resolution.

You should have gone to dispute resolution right away.

But it's still worth a try. And no, they cannot charge you for their invented 'process'.