Rented flat for 6 months and landlord is requesting £120 from my deposit to checkout?

kinger101

PasturesNew wrote: »

I was expecting a £75 fee, but I got my whole deposit back .... I've always wondered if they made a mistake and I couldn't ask about it could I

It's immoral really. Check in fees and check out fees equalling 2-3 days' pay. Possibly an entire month's disposable income. Outrageous.

And, yes, they hide it in the small print of the contract. The contract you rarely get to see until you're there on move in morning and have all your stuff in your car and pop in to collect the keys.

Does small print actually exist? Most contracts I've seen have all clauses written is a font of exactly the same size. When people talk about small print, I always tend to think they're blaming someone else for the fact they just couldn't be bothered to read it, or object to any of the clauses written in it before they signed it.

kinger101

princeofpounds wrote: »

The fee can be taken if it was contractually agreed to.

In the SE at least, that's not an uncommon fee.

On the one hand a proper check-out is actually quite intensive. Couple of hours for the inspection, another hour or two for the report, plus travel time. For the full job, the fee isn't totally unreasonable, given overheads like travel, insurance, tax and marketing costs.

In reality, corners are often cut. Sometimes reasonably from the inventory point of view - if a room is obviously fine for example - but the price doesn't get cut.

Overall, it's a pretty cushy rate - 60k a year of turnover for doing let's say two every working day. But there is normally some agent skimming off the cream for referring the work to the clerk.

It is a silly rate for what is essentially unskilled labour.

PasturesNew

kinger101 wrote: »

Does small print actually exist? Most contracts I've seen have all clauses written is a font of exactly the same size. When people talk about small print, I always tend to think they're blaming someone else for the fact they just couldn't be bothered to read it, or object to any of the clauses written in it before they signed it.

I can't remember, but small print in this case will be "some small/hidden item in the 20 page small font document they presented me with to sign to get my keys" - and what do you do then? Say "no thanks...." with your car parked outside with your stuff in it?

kinger101

PasturesNew wrote: »

I can't remember, but small print in this case will be "some small/hidden item in the 20 page small font document they presented me with to sign to get my keys" - and what do you do then? Say "no thanks...." with your car parked outside with your stuff in it?

But the problem there is getting yourself in a position where the options are take it or leave it. I've never signed a tenancy agreement without taking it away and reading it first. I accept there's probably not a lot the tenant can due to change terms in many agreements, but it's disingenuous to call it small print. Typically it's much larger than the font you'd find in a newspaper or paperback book (or modern electronic equivalent).