Deposit dispute

zebrarose

Hello,
We have recently moved out of a property and the check out inventory has brought up 3 extremely minor cleaning faults. Dust on 1 light fitting, a sticker on the kitchen floor and a cobweb in a corner. The property was left in a higher standard of cleanliness than what it was handed to us in. They have also flagged to us that the carpet must be steamed cleaned, which the contract does stipulate, as we have a cat. The carpets were cleaned with a heavy duty carpet cleaner which we purchased specifically to make sure we would receive our deposit back. The main issue they have with us is that there is wear and tear (foot traffic) on the carpet which was there when we moved in and is also documented in the check in inventory. Do we have the right to amend these faults in order to receive our deposit back in full?

G_M

Once the tenancy ends and you move out, you have no right to return.

See also:

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

leslieknope

i thought that a landlord cannot deduct from the deposit for general wear and tear? that's supposed to be factored in to their costs. of course the carpet will be walked on!

zebrarose

Thanks for your reply. The lettIng agent supplied a certificate of cleanliness when we checked in but upon inspection was not professionally clean as we found many cleaning issues. All of these issues were reported immediately at the beginning of the tenancy and photos supplied. In the link you provided, it says that they cannot enforce the professional clean clause if it was not handed over in that condition. The reason I mention this is because they said the property requires a further clean (the 3 minor faults) and that they can supply a cleaner for £195! They will not let us amend these faults and have not got back to us about the carpets. They said that if we cannot come to a resolution that they will have to go down the legal route. The manager of the Lettings agents is a massive cow and does not listen to a single thing we say in turn not allowing us to come to a mutual agreement for a course of action. This whole process is causing us a huge amount of distress as they served us the s.21 and had a huge amounts not of stress due to finding out about CCJ in my name and unable to pass references with other LA and losing reference fees in the process. We are not very well off and are just getting by and the added distress they are causing is absolutely unnecessary.

saajan_12

Once the tenancy ends, you have no right to return. Possible arguments for receiving your deposit back could be

1. Each area is in the same / better condition than in the check in inventory (note you don't get any benefit for a better area so can't 'net out' one better area for another worse area')

2. Changes in condition come under fair wear and tear (that would be expected through normal use)

3. Cost to rectify 'damages'. (Note the LL / agent do not have to do the work themselves and can employ someone paying market rate, but at the same time they must be reasonable. e.g. I'm not sure if dust on one fitting calls for a professional job).

Propose your disputes to the LL / agent or if they are uncooperative, claim your full deposit through the protection scheme.

zebrarose

Can I employ someone to rectify the issues if they suggest someone charging an extortionate amount?

FBaby

Assuming that the deposit is protected, was within 30 days of you paying it, then dispute the amount through the deposit scheme. Offer £20 (or £10!) and if they don't agree, take it to the ADR. Unless they have pictures of high standard that shows a clear difference between between the check in and check out that can't be attributed to W&T, they have no chance and you'll get your deposit back.

Marvel1

I hope you have copies of the issues and photos you supplied when you moved in, it strengthens your case.

saajan_12

zebrarose wrote: »

Can I employ someone to rectify the issues if they suggest someone charging an extortionate amount?

Not directly, your employee going is the same as you rectifying the issues, which you can't after the tenancy has ended. But if their suggested costs really are extortionate, you can submit a more reasonable quote as proof of the true cost of rectifying. This may be fairly obvious, but can make your case watertight.

Heather2603

We had issues with a landlord trying to charge us £50 for cleaning an oven that was in a better state when we left than when we moved in. We just stopped speaking to the letting agent because they were being really aggressive and went to TDS and requested our refund. It went to arbitration which meant we were refunded everything but the disputed amount, we then put both our cases forward and it was found in our favour. Really easy process but we had pictures and things to back us up and they didn't have an inventory from when we moved in! Took about 2 months to get the final £50 back though because of timescales.

My advice would always be to stop engaging with the letting agent if they are being ridiculous and aggressive and take it to the TDS.

always_sunny

leslieknope wrote: »

i thought that a landlord cannot deduct from the deposit for general wear and tear? that's supposed to be factored in to their costs. of course the carpet will be walked on!

They had a cat, a simple clean might not do it and would need to be steamed cleaned.