Deposit dispute please help

cocopops21

Hi guys,

I moved out of my property officially on the 28th of last month but actually handed my keys in a month before that as I had moved hundreds of miles away for work. I paid all of the rent in full and have proof of this. I also had a friend of mine who is a cleaner by profession help me clean the flat before I handed my keys in. Nothing was broken when I moved out and I took pictures of every part of the flat which I left immaculate. The agency is disputing the full deposit being paid back to me. I don't know what to do or how much they want to keep. I've contacted them several times to ask what the problem is and I get responses like "we are busy and have 28 days to get back to you." But if they're disputing the amount surely they are basing it on checking the flat out and seeing some sort of problem?

Can anyone please advise what I need to do next? This is on the deposit protection scheme by the way. I was not given a copy of the signed inventory upon check-in but I did get to see it and added things to it at the time before signing. I don't get to see the check-out inventory as they say they only do that after the tenant hands the keys in. This was an unfurnished one bedroom property if that makes any difference.

Any help with what I should do next is much appreciated.

donfanatico

Can you go onto the Deposit Scheme's website and claim the full deposit back?

It is then up to them to prove the deductions

cocopops21

Thanks for your reply. I did claim the full amount to begin with and just today got an email that said they are disputing it. I went on dps and they haven't specified how much the agency wants to deduct. It just says that it is being disputed and that I need to decide with the agent how much will be deducted. Then I need to submit another repayment request. If I try to claim the full amount back and the LL disagrees it will go through to the alternative dispute resolution process. If the agent/LL disagrees with the alternative dispute process, it says that the courts need to be used. Should I give them more time to respond to me or go straight through into claiming it? I'm worried they don't agree and I will have to take them to court for the amount back. I'm very scared of this option as I'm an anxious person and court just scares me too much.

donfanatico

cocopops21 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I did claim the full amount to begin with and just today got an email that said they are disputing it. I went on dps and they haven't specified how much the agency wants to deduct. It just says that it is being disputed and that I need to decide with the agent how much will be deducted. Then I need to submit another repayment request. If I try to claim the full amount back and the LL disagrees it will go through to the alternative dispute resolution process. If the agent/LL disagrees with the alternative dispute process, it says that the courts need to be used. Should I give them more time to respond to me or go straight through into claiming it? I'm worried they don't agree and I will have to take them to court for the amount back. I'm very scared of this option as I'm an anxious person and court just scares me too much.

Write them a letter asking for the deposit back within 7 (or 14) days or to provide evidence of how much they want to deduct and for what. Give them some mor etime - I know you want the money back but if you wait a bit longer you might be able to avoid the ADR.

Do you have the dates so we can see the timescales? When did you request the full deposit? When did they reply? etc.

cocopops21

donfanatico wrote: »

Write them a letter asking for the deposit back within 7 (or 14) days or to provide evidence of how much they want to deduct and for what. Give them some mor etime - I know you want the money back but if you wait a bit longer you might be able to avoid the ADR.

Do you have the dates so we can see the timescales? When did you request the full deposit? When did they reply? etc.

Thanks again for your great advice. The timeline is that I submitted the keys on November 30th. Official tenancy end date December 28th. I initiated the deposit repayment on December 2nd as I no longer had access to the property. I got a reply last week saying they will process it ASAP but have 28 days to do so. Then I got the dispute notice today and another email saying they won't tell me what's wrong until they're ready and again notifying me of the 28day time scale. This email was in response to me asking why they're disputing it. I am more than willing to wait but I feel that it will be disputed in any case as I know that there was no problem apart from normal wear and tear in that flat. This is all so new and scary to me. Thanks for helping me through it.

moromir

cocopops21 wrote:

Thanks again for your great advice. The timeline is that I submitted the keys on November 30th. Official tenancy end date December 28th. I initiated the deposit repayment on December 2nd as I no longer had access to the property. I got a reply last week saying they will process it ASAP but have 28 days to do so. Then I got the dispute notice today and another email saying they won't tell me what's wrong until they're ready and again notifying me of the 28day time scale. This email was in response to me asking why they're disputing it. I am more than willing to wait but I feel that it will be disputed in any case as I know that there was no problem apart from normal wear and tear in that flat. This is all so new and scary to me. Thanks for helping me through it.

I think you need to adjust your timeline in your thought process on all of this, consider them working on it from December 28th when your tenancy ACTUALLY ended, to be blunt its not their problem you handed your keys in early and deprived yourself of access to the property.

However, I'd push them on the 28 days to to return your deposit thing.

They have 10 days (or 10 working days depending on which deposit scheme they used) UNLES THEY SPECIFIED ANOTHER REASONABLE TIME PERIOD IN THE TENANCY AGREEMENT to notify you of any dilapidations -I believe there is a grace period to then come up with figures but I don't see you have anything to lose by asking them to come back to you quicker.

cocopops21

Thanks Morimor, I completely understand that there's a waiting period. I have not pestered them and have been professional. I have stuck to all of their rules. The only reason why I gave them my keys early was because they claimed to have never received my letter with my one month's notice the month before and when I contacted them two days later they claimed I was two days too late in giving my notice and had to pay an extra month. I had no proof as I didn't send it recorded so I was forced to pay an extra month. I had no reason to keep the keys or have access to a property that would take me 5 hours to commute to one way. I had already moved to where my new job is.

Thanks for your help. I guess I'm just frustrated with their services in general and have dealt with some really awful attitudes on their end through my entire tenancy so I just want to be done with them. I also am annoyed that they disputed the amount to be returned to me but are being quiet on why. I would've waited whatever time they stated but now that they've responded so quickly I would like to know their reasoning.

Anyways thanks for responding.

cocopops21

Hi guys just as an update. I've been told that £35 needs to be deducted for cleaning a few bits in the kitchen. I disagree with this as I cleaned everything really well and took pictures of the end result. Should I argue this on DPS or just let it go? What would you do? Any advice greatly appreciated.

SerialRenter

Were you on a rolling contract or was the contract due to end when you wished to leave? If the contract was coming to an end, you don't need to give notice, so the additional months payment they demanded would have been in error.

chanz4

Ask them for recipts

cocopops21

SerialRenter wrote: »

Were you on a rolling contract or was the contract due to end when you wished to leave? If the contract was coming to an end, you don't need to give notice, so the additional months payment they demanded would have been in error.

We had been on a rolling contract. Have you any idea what steps we need to take to get that month's money back?

Sorry I've misread your post. I guess it was all correct that they charged us.