No inventory/return of deposit?

jenn1980

Hi

I am about to serve notice to give up the flat I've been renting. When I moved in the flat (which had admittedly been advertised as furnished), there was a *lot* of the landlord's possessions in the flat - 20 or so assorted mugs, other kitchen items, lots of little things really in addition to the main furniture. This also extended to personal possessions like his old university notes and box files.

When i moved in, (the flat is managed by an estate agent), no mention was made of an inventory. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Now that I'm soon to move out, I'm worried that I made a mistake by not insisting upon an inventory - everything was in fairly good condition so I there wasn't any damage or anything else I felt I really needed to have documented.

Where do I stand here? Is the lack of an inventory likely to be a problem when it comes to getting my deposit back?

Thanks,
Jenn

Meatballs

How can they prove you have damaged the property if they don't have any evidence of it's original state?

You don't have to prove you haven't damaged the property...

That said they will probably try it on anyway.

wecanhelpu

For starters, the estate agent has not done their job properly. This is fairly common and is one reason why I manage my own properties

In your case though, their obvious unprofessionalism and negligence is a weakness you could exploit.

What you should do is make up an inventory and sign and date it when for when you moved in.

The estate agents sound so stupid they won't realise their mistake.

poppy10_2

You don't need to make up an inventory.

It's up to the landlord/agent to prove that things have gone missing or been damaged if he wants to keep your deposit. Without a signed inventory, they are unable to do this.

Just claim that everything is as it was when you moved in. They can't prove otherwise. The lack of an inventory works in your favour.

jenn1980

thanks for the replies :-)