Rental deposit dispute

Kazzaroo

Zooboo wrote: »

we had lived there 4.5y yrs and they were cream carpets.

What would people say is the "life" of a cream coloured carpet? i would say around 5 years so i would argue fair wear and tear and that carpet would need replacing soon therefore i think they should be charging around 10% of replacing carpet and i dont think DPS arbitration would argue with this.

regarding the cleaning,i would have insisted on being there for the checkout inventory to ensure they arent exaggerating claims

Zooboo

Thanks for everyones replies and views on this

I agreed to £80 as they said it was for hygiene reasons that they do at every rental property at end of tenancy so i could not argue this really

We did try to unblock the drain ourselves before we called the letting agent ( it is a managed let)

Agreed £30 is reasonable but not when it took 2 months for them to come out to do it and not when i refused to letting agent citing the 2 months it took it to be done she said she would call me back after she had spoken to her manager but never did to now ask for it 6 months down the line is out of order IMO

Im happy to pay the cleaning charge of £90 if they can supply invoices and proof etc i don't see how anyone would be happy to pay something they don't know for sure was done. We kept that house clean and i even left the LL all of the blinds we bought for the house all still in excellent condition all of which he has kept and using as my old neighbour/friend lives next door and i saw them when visiting .

In hindsight i should have insisted on being at checkout but the move we did was midweek and i was trying to slot moving around school runs for 2 young children and making sure new house was safe and liveable for them .

I just cannot believe it took them 3 wks to mention this to us especially when we spoke to her a week after we had moved out about the carpet quote utterly unprofessional which was the theme of the service offered by them throughout their tenancy. Also why agree to send out copies of invoices but not do it ?!

Benji

Zooboo, you are looking for invoices. Lets say the landlord/agents claims are valid for a moment and the place did need cleaning throughout. What if the landlord spent his own time cleaning the place? Does that have no value? It would have no invoice.

The principle with deposit deductions isn't necessarily what it costs to put right, it is the 'loss' that your financial actions may cause.

Lets take the carpet. If you had spilled a tin of paint on it then a new carpet would need buying - £250? However, due to wear and tear, you may only be expected to contribute around £40 to it even through the invoice said £250.

Kynthia

Kazzaroo wrote: »

What would people say is the "life" of a cream coloured carpet? i would say around 5 years so i would argue fair wear and tear and that carpet would need replacing soon therefore i think they should be charging around 10% of replacing carpet and i dont think DPS arbitration would argue with this.

Dirt is not fair wear and tear and good quality carpets can last a long time. Over the years going threadbare, faded in parts from direct sunlight and flattened in high use areas or where furniture is placed would be expected. If the carpet is in good enough condition not to need replacing, and it was clean at the start of the tenancy, then the landlord is entitled to it being clean at the end of the tenancy. Whether the tenant sorts this themselves or agrees for the LA to sort it for a price is up to them.

OP, if you are not being provided evidence that you did not leave the property as clean as you got it then put in writing what deductions you agree with and what you'd like returned. Then raise a dispute with the deposit scheme and see what happens, as the LL will have to evidence deductions.

Kazzaroo

Kynthia wrote: »

Dirt is not fair wear and tear and good quality carpets can last a long time. Over the years going threadbare, faded in parts from direct sunlight and flattened in high use areas or where furniture is placed would be expected.

I would argue that a cream coloured carpet wouldnt last as long as a dark colour carpet of the same quality

Kynthia wrote: »

If the carpet is in good enough condition not to need replacing, and it was clean at the start of the tenancy, then the landlord is entitled to it being clean at the end of the tenancy.

If you assume my example then what would be the point in leaving the carpet for 6 months then to replace it?,would be alot simpler just to replace it when tenants move out and then when new tenants move in you can put condition of carpets as "brand new" and then there could be no arguments over condition.

Kynthia

Kazzaroo wrote: »

I would argue that a cream coloured carpet wouldnt last as long as a dark colour carpet of the same quality



If you assume my example then what would be the point in leaving the carpet for 6 months then to replace it?,would be alot simpler just to replace it when tenants move out and then when new tenants move in you can put condition of carpets as "brand new" and then there could be no arguments over condition.

You can't assume the carpet in the OP's ex-rental is near the end of its life just because the OP has been there a few years and has described it as 'cream'. The OP has not given any indication that the carpet was in poor condition in any way and they have stated that they are happy with the cleaning fee for this. The LL is entitled to a clean carpet if it was clean to start with. There's no indication that the carpet is going to be replaced soon. Therefore there's no point focusing on this issue or coming up with hypothetical scenarios. The issue the OP is asking for advice on the the general cleaning fee and the drain unblocking bill. I'm not sure how arbitration would rule on the drain bill but the cleaning would depend on the difference between the check in and out inventories' description of the cleanliness.

Zooboo

Thought I'd update on this , we are still nowhere near sorting this out :-( i have called the letting agent numerous times only to be told the person dealing with it is not in they will take message etc then the person never rings me back , they did text me on the 24th oct which i thought was strange to say they would ring me the next day so i waited until 3.30 and they still hadn't called so i called them and by chance the person dealing with it answered the phone they said they had the invoices in front of them and would send them out.

Fast forward to today and I still havent had them !!!! I rang again last thursday as by then it had been 3 weeks since she originally said she would send them left a message and she never called me back so range yesterday and she doesnt work mondays apparently so i expressed my displeasure at still not having them and the person who answered said that she had not beein since thursday and i explained i rang first thing thursday and she never returned my call then and he sais they were having trouble getting invoices off cleaning firm which at the time i hadnt realised was a lie as i had remeberd she had said she had them rigt in front of her on the 25 th october never once has she told me she was struggling to get invoice .

Not sure where to go from here really my patience has weared extremeley thin im fed up with chasing them . I do intend to write a formal complaint to the manager of the letting agency but not sure how far that will get me as the manager is the persons who's dealig with it's husband so i doubt they will be impartial , next stop will be the original franchise company for which i have address off their website

anselld

Zooboo wrote: »

Not sure where to go from here really my patience has weared extremeley thin im fed up with chasing them .

They are just trying to grind you down.
Do as advised in post 2.