Assistance with landord

Kunfuslippers

Long time reader, first time poster so please be gentle.

I was in a short term tenancy ending Jan 28th 2015. The reason behind termination of the tenancy. We received a letter from the agency stating our tenancy was coming to an end on the 28/01/2015. The landlord is happy to extend your agreement for a fee for £389. Me and my housemate moved out on the 27th and handed over the keys on the 29th (first working day after tenancy end date). The house was primarily in my housemates name. Before we both moved house, we followed to usual procedure for ending a tenancy. (cleaning, pictures etc)

She has recently received an e-mail stating there are damages to the property and she is not eligible for her deposit back. Also the landlord is also trying to charge us £287 in arrears but on the day we handed over the keys we paid the extra weeks rent we owed at the time.

The landlord is also trying to charge us $480 for a cleaning bill. The only thing in the house, inside and out was 2 extra bin liners next to the wheelie bin which i will accept a minor charge for. not £480

We have asked for Photographic proof of the damages and uncleanliness of the household as we took pictures of everything. also for a copy of the invoice from the cleaning company they have used (which they have refused to supply us with)

Is there anything we can do to challenge these fee's

any advice would be greatly appreciated as they're threatening court actions

CM66

Assuming your deposit was protected correctly, you can go online and claim the whole amount back and its up to the landlord to prove otherwise (through TDS, DPS etc)

Did you have a signed inventory when you move in?

Kunfuslippers

We have a signed and countersigned by the landlord Inventory checklist still in the paperwork from the property.

Im not sure if the deposit was protected as my housemate was the only person at the office when the account was agree'd as i was at work on that day.

i may sound a little dim here but...what is TDS and DPS?

Pixie5740

Who is actually named on the tenancy? You and your friend or just your friend? Assuming you were both named on the tenancy and your friend was the lead tenant then when the deposit was paid, the LL had 30 days to protect the deposit in one of the deposit schemes (TDS, DPS, MyDeposits) and your friend should have been issued the Prescribed Information (details of where deposit is protected, date it was protected etc).

Where did the extra week of rent payment come from? If your tenancy ended 28th January and you moved out 27th January there shouldn't be any extra rent to pay.

Kunfuslippers

the tenancy ending on the 28th but we paid the rent on the 20th (housemates payday).

The tenancy was in Her name and i was added to it shortly after we moved in as they required a little information from me which took a little time to gather.

The deposit is 100% my housemates but she doesn't know which channels to go down to try to reclaim her deposit. As i spend a lot of times on these forums etc i thought i would ask as everyone on here seems to be very helpful and more experienced in handling these things than most.

If anymore information is required feel free to ask

Pixie5740

See Deposits (payment, protection and return)

If your friend has not been issued the Prescribed Information she can check all the deposit schemes herself to see if it is lodged anywhere. If it's been protected then your friend can raise a dispute to get the deposit back. If it hasn't been protected then the LL is in trouble.

fishpond

Before you do anything else, you need to know if the deposit was held in an approved scheme.
If it wasn't you are home and dry.
If it was, you should of been given the prescribed information about the deposit within 30 days of paying it.
If it was and you have the prescribed information, go to the relevant site for your deposit and read.
You need to check all this now(today/tonight),even though reading when the tenancy ended, the deposit monies will now belong to the LL if it has all been done correctly.
But as you have heard nothing, I suspect the deposit was not lodged in an approved scheme.

G_M

There is another aspect:

....our tenancy was coming to an end on the 28/01/2015. ......Me and my housemate moved out on the 27th and handed over the keys on the 29th (first working day after tenancy end date).

So depending on what was said/agreed, you may well have remained 'in occupation' beyond the end of your fixed term.

Paying an extra week's rent would not suffice (unless that is waht the LL agreed). You created a periodic tenancy on the 29th, and were liable to pay another full months rent (and possibly two months if notice was not served).

Having said that, the LL does not seem to be pursuing this rent liability, so be thankful!

As for the deposit, read:

* Deposits (payment, protection and return)

Kunfuslippers

Thank you for all the Info guys/gals

Have passed on all the knowledge to my housemate....the outcome is now in her hands after passing on your info =D