Never signed inventory, implications?

JonathanJ

Hi all,

As per the title really...
I move house in 2 weeks and naturally i will be looking to get my deposit back.
Except i never signed and returned the inventory when i moved in. I asked for a few things to be changed, namely i wanted to highlight the condition of the garden and how the shed was rotten.
But the letting agent never sent me a revised inventory to sign.

Since moving in i have actually sorted the garden out so my kids had somewhere to play outside. But in the 2 years i have been here the shed has only got worse and is starting to fall down.
When i first moved in i actually proposed to the landlord that we go halves on a new shed and i'd leave it behind when i moved out as it was in such a terrible state, but she declined and stated that she didn't care and if it fell down would just leave it.

Then after showing a prospective new tenant round the other week she messaged me after asking me to "make good" the shed. I wasn't very impressed with her cheek :mad:
I made it pretty clear that is was completely rotten and there was nothing i could do with it and she acknowledge the condition it was in.
But still wanted me to patch it up, at my own expense!

So now i'm worried that when i move out she is going to try and deduct the cost of a new shed from the deposit.
But i'm not sure where this will stand with the inventory as i never signed one...

For what it's worth the inventory states the shed to be in "aged condition"


Thanks in advance
Jon

fishpond

1)If you didn't sign the inventory, it is a worthless piece of scrap paper.

2)
Even if you had signed it
"For what it's worth the inventory states the shed to be in "aged condition"
If that statement is in the inventory, it is not your responsibility to repair it or replace.

JonathanJ

I wasn't sure if the inventory is valid or not?
After searching on google it was pretty miss leading (hence coming here) but there were some mentions that even if you don't sign it you are still bound by it as i have nothing in writing saying i wanted some revisions made.

As for "aged condition", this is a very loose term with a very open meaning. In my opinion anyway, which is why i wanted it changed.
I read that to mean old, but doesn't really say rotten threw out leaking and barely holding itself up like is was.

stator

I've read a few of the TDS case studies recently and I believe in most cases if the inventory isn't signed and returned or disputed it is pressumed to be acceptable.
Tell her where to stick it. If she tries to deduct from your deposit appeal and I am pretty sure it will go in your favour. Especially if you have any evidence that you told her it was delapidated previously and she chose to do nothing.

ali_hire

Deposit scheme's arbitrators are not big fans of inventories which have been 'accepted by default'. IE; given to a tenant - without signing - to check over and return (and the insinuation that if it's not amended and returned that you accept it as it is).

Personally, I don't think your Landlord will have a leg to stand on if you dispute *anything*.

Who's to say what inventory you were given to check? If I was you, and the agent submitted a non-signed inventory as evidence, I would claim that the inventory was a complete fabrication and that I was never given one.

How would they prove otherwise?

anselld

If inventory was done by an independent inventory clerk then it would have some standing even unsigned.

However in this case it should not even be necessary to challenge the inventory; if it states "aged condition" two years ago it should be sufficient to explain the current condition as normal wear and tear. The inventory, signed or otherwise, actually supports the OP's claim.

JonathanJ

Thanks guys, given me some piece of mind :beer:

If it she does try to dispute it, most of are communication was by text message and i can screen shot the messages where she actually admits it's rotting and falling apart.
Plus i can take some pics showing the damage.

After all, it's going to be pretty hard for her to find a way of saying i'm to blame for wood rotting regardless of what the inventory says