Landlord Retaining Deposit

benfaulkner1979

Hello,

i have recently moved out from a flat which i rented from an agency. They informed me that they would be retaining £80 of my deposit because of a stain on the carpet for cleaning costs (which did not remove the stain) and to contribute towards the cost of replacing the carpet.

We spent 2 days cleaning the flat before we left and there was a minor stain left on the carpet. However having recently returned to the flat to pick up any remaining mail that was there i discovered that new tenants had moved into the flat and the carpet had not been replaced.

I have only just received the deposit back (minus the £80) 8 weeks after i left the property. I have written a letter to them telling them all of this to which they responded that the carpet will be replaced some time in the future. I said to them that if the flat was left in a suitable state for new tenants to move into then i should not be charged anything. Needless to say they disagreed .

I know it is not a huge amount of money but it is more the principle of the thing as i do not appreciate being conned by the agency.

I have told them that i will be taking the matter further.

Do you think that this is acceptable, or should i be able to recover my money through the small claims court?

Many thanks.

Fergie73

I have a similar problem, but it's only for the paltry sum of £12. Thing that bothers me is that when I moved in, the flat was a tip and I spent a day cleaning it. I then spent another day cleaning it when I moved out, so it was far cleaner when I moved out that when I found it! There was so specific mention of what needed cleaned (nothing did, and it was only a tiny flat anyway). I'm not sure whether it's worth complaining about £12, but I'm pretty sure that no cleaning was done, so I'm wondering whether I'd be within my rights to demand to see a copy of the invoice for the £12?

moneysavinmonkey

Hi fergie73 + venfaulkner1979

In both your cases, I would say the costs deducted are just about reasonable.
and it really pains me to say it as i'm not the biggest fans of landlords!

If the carpet was new and it's now stained then £80 for devaluing would seem ok to me.. I don't think you landlord has to replace it.. ARLA recommend £15 to £35 for a small to medium sized stain on a carpet.

£12 for cleaning is nothing - this would barely cover cleaning the outsides of the windows. By all means ask for a receipt though.

In the interests of moneysaving theres not much you can do... it would cost you £80 to file small claims court papers and the risk would be that you landlord might start nit-picking and come after even more of your deposit!

benfaulkner1979

thanks for the reply, surely they have to replace the carpet if the reason stated for not returning the full deposit was to contribute towards the cost of a new carpet?

i understand that it is probably not worth the bother of claiming for but i would hope that when threatened of legal action they would just pay the money back.

Thanks

moneysavinmonkey

no, I don't think they have to replace the carpet, but they are entitled to compensation for the damage...

think of it the other way round, if you had stained the otherwise new and perfectly useable carpet and they were saying you had to pay to replace the whole thing you wouldn't be too happy!

SquatNow

Ask for receipts and full details of what was done and when.

If the amount retained was small this will make you feel much better as the paperwork/hassle involved will cost the LA far more than £12

Loretta

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Hi fergie73 + venfaulkner1979

In both your cases, I would say the costs deducted are just about reasonable.
and it really pains me to say it as i'm not the biggest fans of landlords!

If the carpet was new and it's now stained then £80 for devaluing would seem ok to me.. I don't think you landlord has to replace it.. ARLA recommend £15 to £35 for a small to medium sized stain on a carpet.

£12 for cleaning is nothing - this would barely cover cleaning the outsides of the windows. By all means ask for a receipt though.

In the interests of moneysaving theres not much you can do... it would cost you £80 to file small claims court papers and the risk would be that you landlord might start nit-picking and come after even more of your deposit!

I think the court costs for this amount are £35

threesacrowd

hi i just wanted to offer my support. i am going through exactly the same thing with my landlord please see my thread "help".
why is it the good tenants are always ripped off.