Greedy landlord

Weird_Nev

Just so you know, the Landlord is likely being screwed over as well, somewhere down the line.

Letting agents get to take advantage of the old dutch door action, and screw both sides at once. When our tenant moved out, they tried to charge both her and us for a professional clean (via their preferred agent of course) to go back on the market. We both told them to sod off.

I wonder what kick backs they get because to me that's the only explanation for them being so pernickety about such things and forcing peoples hands.

If you don't agree, just dispute it, using the overall state of the place as evidence along with the photos of the specifics.

cookie_monster_2

We did clean the place - just we missed a couple of dust spots. Does this seriously mean we need to pay for a professional clean?

I even asked to clean as she went BUT NO that's not policy.

The truth is, the place was disgusting when we moved in. Yes the landlord had had the ceilings painted and a carpet put in upstairs as the wooden floor made the place even colder. I'm not disputing that he did do some stuff but cleanliness wise the place was dirty, at best. The ceilings are still white and the carpets are still in immaculate condition.

jjlandlord

Why did you ask for permission to clean?

Her: "Skirting boards are dusty"

You swipe them.

You: "No they are not"

Done.

cookie_monster_2

I tried. Okay maybe I'm feeble but I felt awkward and like I had no choice. She was a right snooty cow.

ziggy2004

Challenge it, they cannot make you pay. Of course it is possible that if you challenge it, they find in the LL's favour but then at least you have tried.

Our last letting agency said we would have to pay for a whole heap of stuff ( including some leaves on the garage floor which were not there when we moved out but could easily have blown in when they did the check and damage done by a builder employed by the LL of which we had evidence). We said we would not and pay for things that were not our responsibility and then we randomly got our full deposit back, we would have been happy to pay for any things that were our responsibility.

topdaddy_2

cookie_monster_2 wrote: »

I tried. Okay maybe I'm feeble but I felt awkward and like I had no choice. She was a right snooty cow.

You paid the rent for your home so as much choice as you liked.

madrhino

I know it's oo late for this, but when I moved out of a flat I cleaned it but the landlords found fault and said they'd have to get cleaners in. I asked for my key back to do more cleaning, she hesitated, and I just told her that the flat was still mine to the end of the day.
I cleaned a bit but also sought advice and got someone with a camera (my phone had died) to come over and take photos of the condition of the place, which was damp and falling apart.
They gave me my deposit back as I don't thnk they were expecting a fight. Plus at chackout there was one of me and 2 of them and they were very cold and pushy and probably expected me to give in as it was a bit intimidating. They didn't expect me to get other people involved, which I did (my mum )

Air_Cooled_75

We had something similar with a house we rented about 7 years ago. There were a few cat hairs *on our own curtains* but nowhere else and the letting agents demanded a professional deep clean (and only by a company that they would supply) as they 'didn't know we had 2 cats'. I dug out a copy of our application form form which clearly stated that we did.

They were a disgrace and tried every trick to stall giving us our deposit back. There charges were also horrendous. When the cheque finally arrive it had 'in administration' on it. It was banked very quickly.

I think some of them do try to shaft both parties as the trouble arose from their inspection. I knew the date the landlord was going to look at the property and I really had to chase the agent for an answer. When I did squeeze it out of them she said the LL was happy and hung up on me!