Landlord Problems

siandevlin

Good Evening,

We are having an issue with our letting agent as we are moving out of the property.

A bit of background. We moved in to the property in November 2014 and only after we had moved in did we realise the condition of the house (my wife viewed, not myself). Our main concern were two sets of built in wardrobes, which were in our bedroom and our daughters bedroom. The sliding mirrored doors kept falling off of their runners. This concerned us a great deal as our daughter was 9 months old at the time and starting to walk.

We notified the letting agent of the issue and they said they would get the land lord to come to the property to have a look. He did attend the property and said that he would return with some timber so that he could secure the doors more adequately. He never returned and then the door fell out one day when my daughter was in the room. Luckily she was not hurt but we did have a smashed mirrored door and one hell of a scare.

My wife rang the letting agent and explained what had happened, she told them the wardrobe was unsafe and it needed to be removed. They agreed over the phone so we removed the wardrobe.

After this we had countless inspections and the wardrobe not being there was never mentioned to us so we assumed that there was no issue.

As soon as we handed in our notice it was raised as an issue. The letting agent said the landlord was very angry that we had removed it and the letting agent is now saying they never said that we could remove it.

They insisted that we replace the wardrobe at our expense. The quality of workmanship of the wardrobes that are currently there is incredibly poor and my wifes grandfather is a carpenter so we said this would not be an issue. Then the landlord said he was concerned about what was going to be installed and would prefer to be compensated. We argued that the work would be of a better quality than what was there before but he insisted that we compensate him with £150. We provisionally agreed to this and asked if it could be taken from our deposit. The landlord has said no to this and we have to pay him this money separately and then get our deposit back. But i was under the assumption that this was exactly what a deposit was for. What concerns me is giving him money and then still having our deposit retained.

To make matters worse the manager and agent who deals with our property (mother and daughter) at the letting agent are close family friends with the landlord and it only seems to be his views and interests that are of any interest them.

We feel like we are having to do everything they want to get our deposit back.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the long post.

G_M

Presumably when the door first fell off, you reported the problem officially, in writing, to the landlord, at the address provided for that purpose?

And presumably following each inspection, you wrote to the LL, again at the proper address, listing all the issues the inspection had shown up (including the wardrobe)?

So there should be o problem on check out - you simply refer to your letters.

siandevlin

We stupidly only reported the problem over the phone, which the letting agents are saying didn't happen and no-one in the office remembers taking the call, baring in mind the phone call was over a year ago?

Also after each inspection they never said there was any problems with the property.

G_M

siandevlin wrote: »

We stupidly only reported the problem over the phone, which the letting agents are saying didn't happen and no-one in the office remembers taking the call, baring in mind the phone call was over a year ago? I don't know. Was it?

Also after each inspection they never said there was any problems with the property.

so why on earth did you not correct them!?

The primary point of 'inspections' is to identify work that needs doing to the property, so that the landlord knows about it.

An implied term of every tenamcy agreement is that the tenant will act in a 'tenant-like manner'. That includes informing the landlord, properly, of any repairing issues. You appear to be in breach of your contract.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

G_M wrote: »

so why on earth did you not correct them!?

The primary point of 'inspections' is to identify work that needs doing to the property, so that the landlord knows about it.

An implied term of every tenamcy agreement is that the tenant will act in a 'tenant-like manner'. That includes informing the landlord, properly, of any repairing issues. You appear to be in breach of your contract.

Oh hang on G_M, I sure no tenancy would state that reporting defects by phone must be followed up in writing.


OP do you keep your telephone records landlord or mobile contract?


If so go back to the time approx. and search for the number.


If not contact telephone supplier, ask them you specifically searching for amount of calls made to this number since say the start of your tenancy.


An inspection of the property is exactly that G_M if any fixtures and fittings and and items supplied or safety issues seem to be broken or defective or maliciously damaged the agent is supposed to note them and report to landlord and have them either repair or a notice sent to the tenant that they are responsible for repair and in breach of tenancy.


The lack of issues from inspections about the wardrobe suggests to me the agent either wasn't bothered and let both parties down in their obligations, or they knew and thus excluded it from inspection.


OP your under no obligation to PAY for the wardrobe in cash, You simply have to replace like for like do what it states in the tenancy agreement before you leave Or The landlord will be entitled to take the cost of repairing/replacing it out of the deposit.


If he refuses, and you don't agree to pay for something your deposit should cover, only a court can decide what is fair.


As I see it and understand damage and repairs clauses, your under no obligation to be instructed to pay in cash for anything only that you can replace like for like at your expense before you leave.

siandevlin

We notified the letting agent of what had occurred and they Manage the property on behalf of the landlord. No direct communication would occur.

The primary point of inspections is to identify that the tenant is maintaining the property and that there are no damages. These inspections took place and no fault was ever reported by the agent to the land lord. And nothing was ever said to us from the agent either after the phone conversation. As I am not an expert in property law (which is why we are posting a question for advice, not asking some one to point out mistakes which we are now well aware we have made) i was unaware that every correspondence between ourselves as tenants, the agent and the landlord must be in writing.

We made the old fashioned, and wrong, assumption that telling some one something and then them telling us that was fine, that it would indeed be fine.

Do you have any genuine advice? For example should the landlord be demanding extra payment on top of the deposit?

Please think before you reply if what you are saying is actually helpful. If at any point you find yourself smiling and thinking about how clever you are maybe you should just close the browser and reconsider your life choices.

Tyler_Du

Was the wardrobe listed on the inventory? Is the deposit protected in one of the official schemes?

siandevlin

yeah the wardrobe is listed on inventory. And yes the deposit is in an official scheme