Moving out of rented flat - no deposit

Mr_Dangermouse

Hi all,

This summer, myself and my 3 flatmates will be moving out of the flat we have been renting from our university for the past three years. The property is owned by a private landlord but we never deal with him, he rents to the university and we sub-let from them, so all of our rent etc is paid to the uni.

When we moved in back in 2013, the four of us paid a deposit of a month's rent to the uni, the money was placed in a safe deposit scheme however this was then returned to us in full a year later when they decided they weren't going to bother holding deposits anymore.

Now that we're ready to move out, there are a few things that should in theory lead to financial penalties. There are some markings on the carpets, and a couple of the lampshades are damaged beyond repair.

Without any deposits to withhold, would the university have any legal right to fine us?

Bossypants

It's been some time since I was at uni, but when I was the practice was that all bills had to be settled before they would allow you to graduate, including anything relating to rooms rented from them. This is just my anecdotal experience, but it might be worth checking your paperwork and/or posing the question to your students' union rep?

G_M

They can't 'fine' you, but they can make a claim for any damage.

You can either

* pay what they claim
* dispute it and negotiate with them (directly) or
* ignore them/refuse to pay

If you refuse to pay (or can't reach a negotiated agreement) they could

* sue you via the courts and/or
* refuse to graduate you

Mr_Dangermouse

We are actually scheduled to graduate a couple of months BEFORE the lease ends.

Marvel1

The way I see it is treat property as if it were your own.
If you don't wish to pay for the damages, then don't moan/expect someone to pay for any damage they do to your property in the future.
Don't mean to come across as blunt, just trying to give an example.

Pixie5740

Mr_Dangermouse wrote: »

We are actually scheduled to graduate a couple of months BEFORE the lease ends.

Ok so it won't prevent you from graduating but you can be taken to court to recover the cost of any damage you cause. Then you'll not only wind up with the cost of the damages but court costs as well.

sniggings

Come to a fair deal on the amount owed, if you can't they may take you to court, very unlikely if for a small amount and they may or may not get awarded court costs. Court will only decide what a fair amount is, and that's if there is a record of the state of the place when you moved in, with your signature on it...very unlikely for them to win any case without that.

Remember they can only ask for the costs of the damage not for e.g a new lamp shade, they can only ask for the cost taking into account how old the lamp is, what reasonable wear and tear is acceptable, same for the carpet, they can't ask for a new carpet, just a reasonable amount for the damage, if the carpet is more than say 5 years old for a cheapish carpet or say 10 years for a quality carpet then they can't ask for anything as the carpet would e classed as past it's reasonable expect life.

ancientofdays

It could work out much cheaper to replace the lampshades and clean the carpet. A rug doctor machine can be rented for very little, is quick to use and you'd share the cost,.