how do i get my deposit back?

becca01

Hi, i recently moved out of my rented accommodation as the landlord has sold the property, he is now saying that the carpets need to be professionaly cleaned (i had the carpets cleaned) as does the oven, when i moved into the property it hadn't been professionally cleaned at all, (the landlord told me this himself) i truely believe i left the property cleaner than when i moved in, the new owner told me herself that when she moves in she is having a new kitchen fitted knocking down the wall from kitchen to dining room and completely recarprting through out the property. where do i stand if i refuse to do what my landlord asks, with my deposit

sooz

Tell him to a) produce receipts for work done and b) produce proof that he warned you about this in writing, before getting the work done

If he can't find either, then he's to return your deposit in full, or see you in court.

did you have an inventory, and did you sign it?

becca01

the LL had an inventory done we disagreed with a lot of it and amended as needed, waiting for the sign out report LL wil get on Monday then phone us

coal9011

Yet again another tale (there have been so many on this forum) of a landlord trying to retain part or all of a tenants deposit!

The "front" of many LL's never fails to amaze me. These LL's frequently view a tenant's deposit as "theirs" which they can use towards funding their property maintenance costs.

They don't seem to care that the deposit is really only intended for damage to the property or some other serious breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement. These LL's also fail to understand - or even care - that the tenant's deposit is an important source of funds which in most cases, is needed to enable the tenant to move on.

Hopefully in the future we won't see so many posts about this subject on this site because of the introduction of deposit protection schemes which is now a requirement.

About becca01's plight: I suggest you write to your LL asking for your FULL deposit back(include a request for a reply within 7 days).

You will probably get a reply with your landlord trying to justify why he is keeping part or all of your money.

Write back to him saying that you want your deposit bank within 10 days(keep copies of all your letters for the court) or you will issue procceedings in the county court for its return. Don't get bogged-down - at this stage - with the reasons why he wants your money, let the court sort it out. Most of these "professional landlord's" rely on the fact that tenants can't be bothered or are to scared to take them to court. Don't let yourself become another one of his "victim's". AFTER THE 10 DAYS ISSUE YOUR CLAIM, don't let him get away with it, if you do then he will do the same to the next tenant. If your are justified, which it seems that you are; you will find that the court's are more sympathetic to tenants then they are to landlords in these cases. In fact that is probably one of the reasons that the DPS's are now in place. Remember - he's hopeing that you do nothing!

" Don't let him get away with it - it's YOUR money!". :mad:

clutton_2

wait until you see the signout report before doing anything, then come back here and tell us what it says.

becca01

Thank you all for your help it's great to hear all your responses, will keep you all updated fingers crossed my LL will NOT win, anymore advice will be very much appreciated cheers

funkydoodycool

Reawakening an old thread here.... I just wondered how the OP got in with their deposit? We're in exactly the same position - the landlord is asking for £150 for carpet cleaning, for a tiny one bed studio flat, plus a total of £210 for other cleaning, and £309 for a new kitchen sink!! This leaves us with £306 being offered in return of a £975 deposit.

All the costs, with the exception of £40 for oven and hob cleaning (which we'd failed to do) are unreasonable as we'd either paid for professional cleaning (carpets - £60) or the items in question were not cleaned before we moved in. The kitchen sink has a small 1cm mark in the enamel, with metal showing through. This was there when we moved in, albeit filled. Replacement of a sink is a bit drastic!! Our inventory happily confirms this.

From my understanding, the landlord would be required by law to provide us with 3 written, headed quotes for all jobs, and go with the cheapest. He hasn't done this - in fact he has supplied us with an invoice for carpet cleaning, and a quote for the sink, but nothing for the other cleaning, which I suspect he's done himself if at all.

We've drafted a letter to him stating our disagreement with the deductions, and giving reasons. We've suggested a more reasonable deduction of £100, made up iof £40 for the oven, and £60 for general cleaning (which made up £125 of the total). We've also asked for him to return our deposit, less £100, within 10 days, or we will contact the county court with the intention of claming it back.

Are we doing the right thing here? We moved out 10 weeks ago, and he's been stalling the whole time, and adding something new each time we speak (the kitchen sink appeared on the letter he finally sent).

On a secondary note, we were half expecting this. Soon after we moved in we made friends with our neighbours, and heard all sorts of horror stories about deposits not being returned to previous tenants. I don't want to rely on these people standing as witnesses (they still rent off him now!) but the character references aren't exactly glowing. I guess he just assumes we'll roll over and accept him ripping us off, like others obviously have.