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Struggling to get our deposit back using TDS
Bargain_Hunter_2014
Posts: 2 Newbie
Good evening,
My husband and I left our rented property in October. As I work full time, I was unable to attend the check out but my husband was there with our children. Prior to check out we spent 2 full days cleaning the entire property ourselves and covered everything that was listed in the LA's check out letter.
The LA representative said that the hallway carpet was worn and she would speak to the LL to see if he wanted it replacing. Husband pointed out that the hallway was the only entrance to the property and as it had been let to us as a family for over 2 years they should expect fair wear and tear.
The following day husband received a call from the agent setting out the following charges:
£100 for weeding the garden and redefining the borders
£50 to clean the oven
£150 to clean the whole property
The charges detailed above had not been mentioned to us previously. No paperwork had been signed and no pictures were taken at check in or check out.
Call from LA was followed up by an email stating that acknowledgement will mean they can release the remaining £550 of our deposit. Husband responded to direct them to release the remaining money. He was unaware of the dispute process available to us through My Deposits.
I came home from work and husband told me what had happened at the check out. He forwarded the email to me (LA failed to notify me of the charges even though we were joint tenants and the rent was paid from my account each month). I replied to LA on the same day to dispute the charges as they were grossly unfair and did not reflect the good condition that we left the property in. (The house was inspected by LA every 3 months and no concerns were ever raised about the house or garden - last inspection September 2013).
LA replied to my email 2 days later to say that the work had already been authorised and therefore they would not release our £300. They said the charges had been agreed by my husband and therefore could not be disputed.
I contacted My Deposits straight away to tell them what had happened. They said I had to wait 10 days to lodge a dispute. My husband and I lodged the dispute at the earliest opportunity and were told that LA had 20 working days to respond. On the 19th working day I contacted My Deposits and they confirmed that LA had not responded. (They have no evidence of damage to the property as there was none!).
On Friday (23rd working day) I received an email from My Deposits to say that LAs said we agreed to the deductions and therefore they cannot process our dispute. I have contacted My Deposits to explain that we did not agree to the charges - if we agreed to them then we would not have entered the dispute resolution process. My Deposits are currently looking at the case and have said they will contact me again.
Where do we stand? Do My Deposits have a duty to look at the case and ask LAs for evidence to justify the deduction from our deposit? If My Deposits won't help us, can we use the small claims court and do we lodge the case against LA or LL (the property was managed by LA)?
Not the kind of stress that we needed just before Christmas...
My husband and I left our rented property in October. As I work full time, I was unable to attend the check out but my husband was there with our children. Prior to check out we spent 2 full days cleaning the entire property ourselves and covered everything that was listed in the LA's check out letter.
The LA representative said that the hallway carpet was worn and she would speak to the LL to see if he wanted it replacing. Husband pointed out that the hallway was the only entrance to the property and as it had been let to us as a family for over 2 years they should expect fair wear and tear.
The following day husband received a call from the agent setting out the following charges:
£100 for weeding the garden and redefining the borders
£50 to clean the oven
£150 to clean the whole property
The charges detailed above had not been mentioned to us previously. No paperwork had been signed and no pictures were taken at check in or check out.
Call from LA was followed up by an email stating that acknowledgement will mean they can release the remaining £550 of our deposit. Husband responded to direct them to release the remaining money. He was unaware of the dispute process available to us through My Deposits.
I came home from work and husband told me what had happened at the check out. He forwarded the email to me (LA failed to notify me of the charges even though we were joint tenants and the rent was paid from my account each month). I replied to LA on the same day to dispute the charges as they were grossly unfair and did not reflect the good condition that we left the property in. (The house was inspected by LA every 3 months and no concerns were ever raised about the house or garden - last inspection September 2013).
LA replied to my email 2 days later to say that the work had already been authorised and therefore they would not release our £300. They said the charges had been agreed by my husband and therefore could not be disputed.
I contacted My Deposits straight away to tell them what had happened. They said I had to wait 10 days to lodge a dispute. My husband and I lodged the dispute at the earliest opportunity and were told that LA had 20 working days to respond. On the 19th working day I contacted My Deposits and they confirmed that LA had not responded. (They have no evidence of damage to the property as there was none!).
On Friday (23rd working day) I received an email from My Deposits to say that LAs said we agreed to the deductions and therefore they cannot process our dispute. I have contacted My Deposits to explain that we did not agree to the charges - if we agreed to them then we would not have entered the dispute resolution process. My Deposits are currently looking at the case and have said they will contact me again.
Where do we stand? Do My Deposits have a duty to look at the case and ask LAs for evidence to justify the deduction from our deposit? If My Deposits won't help us, can we use the small claims court and do we lodge the case against LA or LL (the property was managed by LA)?
Not the kind of stress that we needed just before Christmas...
0
Comments
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What evidence do the agents gave that your husband agreed to the deductions? Was it verbal or was anything in writing by either of you?Don't listen to me, I'm no expert!0
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