Rental Deposit Return

indigo95

Hi,
I am after a bit of advise as to where I stand legally regarding the return of my deposit for a rental property.
We moved out of property and had the inventory check out on 9th March.
We attended the check out and were told by the check out clerk there was nothing that wasn’t fair wear and tear.
We then received the check out report a few days later to see a few things listed as tenant chargeable. We sent a response as lot of these items were covered by our inventory comments submitted when we moved in. It appears the agent had not incorporated then into the inventory (we have the emails to prove this).
The problem is, all this has now been sent to the landlord for him to advise on what he wants to deduct. This was the week after we moved out. Throughout our tenancy the landlord has been difficult to contact and very slow to respond to anything. We have still not received a response on the charges.
Now I understand that as our deposit is protected the agent should release back the undisputed portion while the rest is agreed/contested. However as we don’t know what the contested amount is, we cannot get any of it back yet.
The agent have told us that the landlord has 90 days (!) to respond before we can do anything.
Is this correct - do we really have to just wait for him to respond while we get none of our money back? Can anyone advise what we should do?

00ec25

why oh why are tenants still asking these questions when deposit protection scheme were brought in specifically to provide a mechanism for dealing with deposit disputes

have you read the process for your deposit scheme rather than posting on here about how to invent the wheel?

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection

steampowered

Personally, I would tell the letting agent that you require a response regarding the deposit within 7 days, otherwise you will be opening a case with the deposit dispute service.

Or just open a dispute immediately with the deposit protection scheme for the full amount.

I don't think you should be waiting 90 days.

steampowered

00ec25 wrote: »

why oh why are tenants still asking these questions when deposit protection scheme were brought in specifically to provide a mechanism for dealing with deposit disputes

Why oh why won't landlords and letting agents deal reasonably with tenants, rather than ignoring the rules of the tenancy deposit scheme (by failing to return the undisputed portion of the deposit promptly) and failing to say what is being contested?

Pixie5740

Surprise surprise the letting agent is talking Horlicks. There's nothing stopping you from disputing the whole amount now. That might gee the landlord into action.

Read G_M's guide to Deposits for further information.

G_M

indigo95 wrote: »

....
We attended the check out and were told by the check out clerk there was nothing that wasn!!!8217;t fair wear and tear.
Nice of them to allow you to attend.
Did the clerk put this in writing? No - thought not.It was an off-the-cuf comment. It's the report that matters

We then received the check out report a few days later to see a few things listed as tenant chargeable.
Ah! there you go!
We sent a response as lot of these items were covered by our inventory comments submitted when we moved in. It appears the agent had not incorporated then into the inventory (we have the emails to prove this).
Not unusual. The check out report is simply a report of the condition upon check-out. The report may have been (often is) done by someone quite different from the original inventory.

The problem is, all this has now been sent to the landlord for him to advise on what he wants to deduct.
Of course. He will compare the condition at the start (inventory etc) with the condition at the end(heck out) in order to determine whether you have cause damage, mislaid items etc

This was the week after we moved out.
Fair enough
Throughout our tenancy the landlord has been difficult to contact and very slow to respond to anything.
Irrelevant
We have still not received a response on the charges.
Enough time has passed. Pursue this.

Now I understand that as our deposit is protected the agent should release back the undisputed portion while the rest is agreed/contested.
It is nothing to do with the agent. It is the landlord.
But from what you've said, the LL has not yet made a decision so may not be intending to deduct anything.

It is his decision you need to chase, not "the undisputed portion ".

However as we don!!!8217;t know what the contested amount is, we cannot get any of it back yet.
Indeed. See above.

The agent have told us that the landlord has 90 days (!) to respond before we can do anything.
Rubbish. Ignore.
Is this correct - do we really have to just wait for him to respond while we get none of our money back? Can anyone advise what we should do?

Either

1) write to the LL requesting your deposit back - giving him perhaps 5 working days, and/or

2) put in a single claim for the deposit with the deposit scheme.

See

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

dimbo61

Have the letting agents put in writing or email that you will have to wait 90 days ?
Have a look on there website and find out which redress scheme they belong too.
There are 3
Get on the phone on Tuesday and complain.
It is now over 3 weeks since you moved out so claim your full deposit return from the DPS people.

indigo95

Thank you all for the useful advise, I will be opening up a dispute on Tuesday.

Although I would like to point out I am not “ill-educated”, I just have no experience of this and was asking advise from supposed experts!

Mulder00

What's the significance of Tuesday? Why not open the dispute immediately?

Remember that once you open the dispute, all the clocks reset again; so waiting until Tuesday just causes more delay to the entire process. I know, I've been through it. My check out was done at the end of October and I only had my disputed deposit returned by mid-January (and that's without the case having to go to adjudication).

If I ever had to go through that again, the one thing I would do is to start the dispute process the moment anything smells fishy, rather than trying to reason with an estate agent.

bigisi

indigo95 wrote: »

and was asking advise[sic] from supposed experts!

No, you were asking adviCe from strangers on the internet. If you want expert adviCe you pay for it. This is for free and you seemed to have done no research of your own at all before asking.