Landlord claiming double the deposit after checkout to repaint the whole property

84Reason

Hi All,
Hope you can help me with this. I have just left a 1 bedroom flat recently and have yet to receive the deposit back. I requested this very early on and have only now got an email from the estate agents. They have sent me an invoice over email from the landlord claiming that we owe almost £2200, bearing in mind the deposit we paid was just of £1000, to fix a couple of things that were damaged (£267) and then over £1500 in costs to repaint the whole flat. I know these costs don't add up to £2200 but the quote is separated without VAT and then VAT is added at the end so I've just used the without VAT costs. 

The walls of the flat were left in almost exactly the same condition, barring a few scuffs and marks which surely are under fair wear and tear. The flat itself was not painted before we moved in and a number of scuffs and marks were already present on the walls. I cannot believe that he is able to justify charging is us over £1500 to repaint the whole flat when surely if the walls have not been damaged enough or they haven't been marked so much that it needs a repaint (which they definitely haven't been marked that much) as is the deposit not there to only fix damaged/missing items and/or rent etc?

Please can someone let me know how best to deal with this and if we are able to dispute this claim? I cannot see anything in the contract that says he is allowed to take the deposit (+more) to repaint it and from what I've looked at online the deposit should only be for repairs & rent loss etc which surely this does not come under?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

H

HampshireH

84Reason said:

Hi All,
Hope you can help me with this. I have just left a 1 bedroom flat recently and have yet to receive the deposit back. I requested this very early on and have only now got an email from the estate agents. They have sent me an invoice over email from the landlord claiming that we owe almost £2200, bearing in mind the deposit we paid was just of £1000, to fix a couple of things that were damaged (£267) and then over £1500 in costs to repaint the whole flat. I know these costs don't add up to £2200 but the quote is separated without VAT and then VAT is added at the end so I've just used the without VAT costs. 

The walls of the flat were left in almost exactly the same condition, barring a few scuffs and marks which surely are under fair wear and tear. The flat itself was not painted before we moved in and a number of scuffs and marks were already present on the walls. I cannot believe that he is able to justify charging is us over £1500 to repaint the whole flat when surely if the walls have not been damaged enough or they haven't been marked so much that it needs a repaint (which they definitely haven't been marked that much) as is the deposit not there to only fix damaged/missing items and/or rent etc?

Please can someone let me know how best to deal with this and if we are able to dispute this claim? I cannot see anything in the contract that says he is allowed to take the deposit (+more) to repaint it and from what I've looked at online the deposit should only be for repairs & rent loss etc which surely this does not come under?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

H

He isn't. Dispute through deposit scheme

leypt1

What a chancer!
Was your deposit protected with one of the 3 schemes? If so raise a dispute with that scheme and claim back the whole of your deposit. The scheme will then get the landlord to prove that the deduction is justified.
First check your inventory to see what it says about the state of the walls when you moved in because that's the evidence the scheme arbitrator will use
P.s. when we moved out of our tenancy in August, threatening the letting agent with a dispute was enough to make him back down - a classic chancer!

84Reason

HampshireH said:

84Reason said:

Hi All,
Hope you can help me with this. I have just left a 1 bedroom flat recently and have yet to receive the deposit back. I requested this very early on and have only now got an email from the estate agents. They have sent me an invoice over email from the landlord claiming that we owe almost £2200, bearing in mind the deposit we paid was just of £1000, to fix a couple of things that were damaged (£267) and then over £1500 in costs to repaint the whole flat. I know these costs don't add up to £2200 but the quote is separated without VAT and then VAT is added at the end so I've just used the without VAT costs. 

The walls of the flat were left in almost exactly the same condition, barring a few scuffs and marks which surely are under fair wear and tear. The flat itself was not painted before we moved in and a number of scuffs and marks were already present on the walls. I cannot believe that he is able to justify charging is us over £1500 to repaint the whole flat when surely if the walls have not been damaged enough or they haven't been marked so much that it needs a repaint (which they definitely haven't been marked that much) as is the deposit not there to only fix damaged/missing items and/or rent etc?

Please can someone let me know how best to deal with this and if we are able to dispute this claim? I cannot see anything in the contract that says he is allowed to take the deposit (+more) to repaint it and from what I've looked at online the deposit should only be for repairs & rent loss etc which surely this does not come under?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

H

He isn't. Dispute through deposit scheme

leypt1 said:

What a chancer!
Was your deposit protected with one of the 3 schemes? If so raise a dispute with that scheme and claim back the whole of your deposit. The scheme will then get the landlord to prove that the deduction is justified.
First check your inventory to see what it says about the state of the walls when you moved in because that's the evidence the scheme arbitrator will use
P.s. when we moved out of our tenancy in August, threatening the letting agent with a dispute was enough to make him back down - a classic chancer!

Thank you both! This is what I thought. I have since learnt that he is only requesting the full deposit amount rather than the full invoice they sent me but was a little confusing as they hadn't put anything in the TDS system and just sent me an invoice! Now everything is in the system I have still disputed everything as suggested as I still don't believe it is fair to paint the whole flat. Hopefully this will be seen by the TDS people.

I'm have disputed the repairs he has asked money for as well (£267) as he claimed there was damage to the grouting & tiles on the bath, which I agree there was however the damage was caused by a very small leak in the tub/shower panel, maybe this was our fault for not reporting it to them (covid stopping people coming out etc then by the time they could come out we were getting ready to move) but I should think we are not able to be held accountable for this? 

In addition to this, the charge is also made up of fixing a light which doesn't turn on. I'm 100% sure we didn't break it, and the bulb just stopped working however they are claiming we've broken it? I haven't got a photo of this as I didn't think to take one, are we able to dispute this?

greatcrested

Raise  a dispute.

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

AdrianC

Dispute everything. He has to prove the deductions are justified.

bbat

As others have said. Raise a dispute. And old landlady tried to get us to pay for repainting. We argued and actually offered 200 instead of the 1900 requested (there were some minor things like knocks to skirting boards from moving it...we know this was less but were just trying to settle it). She declined. It went through dispute and they gave her 60. The rest came back to us. 
They can not charge you for repainting!

davidmcn

84Reason said:

HampshireH said:

84Reason said:

Hi All,
Hope you can help me with this. I have just left a 1 bedroom flat recently and have yet to receive the deposit back. I requested this very early on and have only now got an email from the estate agents. They have sent me an invoice over email from the landlord claiming that we owe almost £2200, bearing in mind the deposit we paid was just of £1000, to fix a couple of things that were damaged (£267) and then over £1500 in costs to repaint the whole flat. I know these costs don't add up to £2200 but the quote is separated without VAT and then VAT is added at the end so I've just used the without VAT costs. 

The walls of the flat were left in almost exactly the same condition, barring a few scuffs and marks which surely are under fair wear and tear. The flat itself was not painted before we moved in and a number of scuffs and marks were already present on the walls. I cannot believe that he is able to justify charging is us over £1500 to repaint the whole flat when surely if the walls have not been damaged enough or they haven't been marked so much that it needs a repaint (which they definitely haven't been marked that much) as is the deposit not there to only fix damaged/missing items and/or rent etc?

Please can someone let me know how best to deal with this and if we are able to dispute this claim? I cannot see anything in the contract that says he is allowed to take the deposit (+more) to repaint it and from what I've looked at online the deposit should only be for repairs & rent loss etc which surely this does not come under?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

H

He isn't. Dispute through deposit scheme

leypt1 said:

What a chancer!
Was your deposit protected with one of the 3 schemes? If so raise a dispute with that scheme and claim back the whole of your deposit. The scheme will then get the landlord to prove that the deduction is justified.
First check your inventory to see what it says about the state of the walls when you moved in because that's the evidence the scheme arbitrator will use
P.s. when we moved out of our tenancy in August, threatening the letting agent with a dispute was enough to make him back down - a classic chancer!

In addition to this, the charge is also made up of fixing a light which doesn't turn on. I'm 100% sure we didn't break it, and the bulb just stopped working however they are claiming we've broken it? I haven't got a photo of this as I didn't think to take one, are we able to dispute this?

By "fixing" do you mean "changing the light bulb" (which I would normally say is a tenant job) or some more involved repair?

saajan_12

bbat said:

As others have said. Raise a dispute. And old landlady tried to get us to pay for repainting. We argued and actually offered 200 instead of the 1900 requested (there were some minor things like knocks to skirting boards from moving it...we know this was less but were just trying to settle it). She declined. It went through dispute and they gave her 60. The rest came back to us. 
They can not charge you for repainting!

To clarify, they can if there was actually damage or marks to the paintwork / walls beyond wear and tear. They can't charge for just refreshing painting. 

FBaby

How long were you there for? Did you have a check in and check out reports? What do both say about the conditions of the walls?

Marvel1

84Reason said:

HampshireH said:

84Reason said:

Hi All,
Hope you can help me with this. I have just left a 1 bedroom flat recently and have yet to receive the deposit back. I requested this very early on and have only now got an email from the estate agents. They have sent me an invoice over email from the landlord claiming that we owe almost £2200, bearing in mind the deposit we paid was just of £1000, to fix a couple of things that were damaged (£267) and then over £1500 in costs to repaint the whole flat. I know these costs don't add up to £2200 but the quote is separated without VAT and then VAT is added at the end so I've just used the without VAT costs. 

The walls of the flat were left in almost exactly the same condition, barring a few scuffs and marks which surely are under fair wear and tear. The flat itself was not painted before we moved in and a number of scuffs and marks were already present on the walls. I cannot believe that he is able to justify charging is us over £1500 to repaint the whole flat when surely if the walls have not been damaged enough or they haven't been marked so much that it needs a repaint (which they definitely haven't been marked that much) as is the deposit not there to only fix damaged/missing items and/or rent etc?

Please can someone let me know how best to deal with this and if we are able to dispute this claim? I cannot see anything in the contract that says he is allowed to take the deposit (+more) to repaint it and from what I've looked at online the deposit should only be for repairs & rent loss etc which surely this does not come under?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

H

He isn't. Dispute through deposit scheme

leypt1 said:

What a chancer!
Was your deposit protected with one of the 3 schemes? If so raise a dispute with that scheme and claim back the whole of your deposit. The scheme will then get the landlord to prove that the deduction is justified.
First check your inventory to see what it says about the state of the walls when you moved in because that's the evidence the scheme arbitrator will use
P.s. when we moved out of our tenancy in August, threatening the letting agent with a dispute was enough to make him back down - a classic chancer!

Thank you both! This is what I thought. I have since learnt that he is only requesting the full deposit amount rather than the full invoice they sent me but was a little confusing as they hadn't put anything in the TDS system and just sent me an invoice! Now everything is in the system I have still disputed everything as suggested as I still don't believe it is fair to paint the whole flat. Hopefully this will be seen by the TDS people.

I'm have disputed the repairs he has asked money for as well (£267) as he claimed there was damage to the grouting & tiles on the bath, which I agree there was however the damage was caused by a very small leak in the tub/shower panel, maybe this was our fault for not reporting it to them (covid stopping people coming out etc then by the time they could come out we were getting ready to move) but I should think we are not able to be held accountable for this? 

In addition to this, the charge is also made up of fixing a light which doesn't turn on. I'm 100% sure we didn't break it, and the bulb just stopped working however they are claiming we've broken it? I haven't got a photo of this as I didn't think to take one, are we able to dispute this?

Dispute it all.