Recovering a deposit.

arunadasi

I have a rented flat in a South East town. I live in Ireland. The flat has been rented for several years, and is managed by the letting agent. Last February, the previous tenants moved out and a new tenant moved in -- just before lockdown, thankfully! The tenants left a holy mess. The kitchen had a huge pile of rubbish they had left behind, there were other items all over the place; they had replaced my lamps with their own very ugly and dated lampshades, left a wall fixture for the TV, etc. 

Worst of all was the condition they'd left the kitchen counter in. It was a solid wood counter which needs extra care, but they had used the counter itself as a chopping board! So it was full of cuts. And the wooden area behind the sink was blackened with mould, because they had not kept it dry.
They had gone up into the attic (I had not permitted them to do so) and moved our stored stuff to the back, where there was no boarding, and put their own stuff on the boarded area. Doing so, they had broken the glass on a large picture.

The flat had been rented with a few pieces of furniture, among them a bookcase. The bookcase was missing, so I alerted the letting agency. upon which the tenant replied that they had taken it apart and stored it in the attic. This means I can just throw it away, as I do not know if and where they left the screws, and if it can be put together again. If they had told me they didn't want the bookcase I could have had it stored in the garage which comes with the flat, but which was not rented as I use it for storage.

They had paid £800 deposit.  I sent the managing company a bill which came to £432, including an estimated £100 for the broken picture glass and the unallowed removal of the bookcase.  The rubbish removal and countertop repair came with actual invoices. I sent the company this bill, along with photographs of the damage, back in March. They said they would contact the tenants for confirmation or some such thing. Never heard back. On two more occasions, I've reminded them, and still no result.
The  last time was a mail in early November, which said: "Thanks for your call earlier – I have now sent both tenants a follow up message to review the update on the deposit, and when I get the response which will hopefully be soon I will let you know and keep you updated."

I do not understand why I have to wait for the tenant's response. If they do not contest it (and really, they have no argument as the proof is there!) why cannot I simply get my deposit? What can I do?

greatcrested

Eire or Northern Ireland?

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/tenants_rights_and_obligations.html#

https://www.rtb.ie/

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/landlord-and-tenant-obligations

arunadasi

I live in Eire and the flat is in England. Thanks. Will check the links.

davidmcn

greatcrested said:

Eire or Northern Ireland?

I would have presumed that a reference to a "South East town" and the money being in Pounds means we're not talking about the South East of Ireland...

greatcrested

Forget the links above. The property is in England. It's irrelevant where you are!

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

arunadasi

davidmcn said:

greatcrested said:

Eire or Northern Ireland?

I would have presumed that a reference to a "South East town" and the money being in Pounds means we're not talking about the South East of Ireland...

I only added that because the first reply was questioning locations; I wanted to show that I'm not in the same country.

arunadasi

greatcrested said:

Forget the links above. The property is in England. It's irrelevant where you are!

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

Thanks. So I guess I have two options:
"2) Failure to agree
If landlord and tenant cannot agree on deductions the landlord wishes to make from the deposit, they can resolve the disagreement in one of two ways
a) through the deposit scheme arbitration process. Either side can raise a dispute. See the relevant scheme process for details.
b) through the courts. Either side can make a claim, and where the claim is for less than £10,000 it will be allocated to the 'Small Claims Track'. This means the case will be heard by a judge in an informal setting, and legal costs cannot be claimed by either side."

But what is happening here is, apparently, that the tenant is simply not responding. So I guess I should first raise a dispute through the deposit scheme arbitration process?

AdrianC

Whether you "allowed" them access to the loft or not is irrelevant - you were renting the entire property. If the damaged items that were up there weren't on the check-in and -out inventories, you may have issues claiming for them. You cannot claim the replacement value of a bookcase simply because of some missing screws - the second-hand value of the bookcase is going to be negligible anyway.

You have to wait for the tenant's reply to the deposit deductions simply because it isn't your money until either a certain time has passed and the deduction has been un-challenged, or they explicitly agree. If they do not agree, then the arbitrators will decide based upon the evidence you provide.

Having said that, March until now...? I suspect your agent already agreed return of the deposit, between the tenant leaving in Feb and you claiming the deductions in March.

arunadasi

Having said that, March until now...? I suspect your agent already agreed return of the deposit, between the tenant leaving in Feb and you claiming the deductions in March.

Surely the agent must contact me first (just as they are now contacting the tenants) -- especially as there were immediate complaints by the new tenant about the state of the flat (rubbish, damaged countertop, etc). She complained on the first day she moved in. I had to arrange everything (rubbish clearance, repair of counter) on the day she moved in. I voluntarily paid her £100 compensation for her inconvenience. I would never normally hand over a flat in that condition.

You have to wait for the tenant's reply to the deposit deductions simply because it isn't your money until either a certain time has passed and the deduction has been un-challenged,

How much time has to pass? That's what I really want to know. If they have indeed been contacted (as the agent claims), and have not replied in almost a year -- how much longer do they have?....

HA! I was just about to post this, checked my email, and found this reply from the agent:

I do apologise it has been busy and I was hoping that the tenants would have replied so we could finally look to release the deposit but I’ve not had a response – it has been a few months now and I do believe we can form an indemnity so we can release the claimed deposit, and if the tenants reply then we can arrange to sort the deposited amount.

Let me have a chat to my senior to see if we can action this.

 

arunadasi

So it seems they (the agent) is sorting it out.
I'm still wondering about something mentioned above.
I rented out a two-bedroom flat. Inventory was taken, indeed, but there was no mention in the contract that the attic was available for use. There's even some doubt if I could use the attic -- one of the other flat-owners beneath me once said I should not store things up there as the attic was not part of my leasehold. 

And dismantling a bookcase that was part of the inventory, putting it in storage, without a by your leave? Surely they should have asked me first, told me to remove it. That could easily have been done without taking it apart. There is/was plenty of room in the garage, and we could have brought it to Ireland along with our other stuff, as we plan, once lockdown allows us to make the trip in a van. It doesn't matter about the value of the bookcase. It is a nice wooden one, matching a wardrobe and other furniture. The new tenant wants the furniture in the flat removed but we cannot do so until lockdown is over. We3 would have brought it all over intact.

Since they do not seem to be disputing the charge, it's all moot; but I am still curious about the legal aspect. Can a tenant just dismantle furniture that was part of the inventory, and put it in storage, without asking? Can they use part of a building that was not mentioned in the contract, without asking?

AdrianC

arunadasi said:

I rented out a two-bedroom flat. Inventory was taken, indeed, but there was no mention in the contract that the attic was available for use. There's even some doubt if I could use the attic -- one of the other flat-owners beneath me once said I should not store things up there as the attic was not part of my leasehold.

We can't read your lease from here.
If the attic is not part of the lease, or if you wanted to exclude it from the tenancy, why did you not fit a padlock to the hatch?

It doesn't matter about the value of the bookcase.

That is the only thing that DOES matter.

Look, this is a business you're running. Don't leave sentimental-value furniture in the property, because as soon as the tenancy starts, they are simply a numeric value on the inventory.

Can a tenant just dismantle furniture that was part of the inventory, and put it in storage, without asking? Can they use part of a building that was not mentioned in the contract, without asking?

Yes, and yes.

The only thing that matters about the furniture is whether it's present in the same condition, less reasonable wear and tear, at the check-out. If not, the value is deducted from the deposit.

You are renting the entire property. ALL of it. The entire leasehold flat. If the attic is part of the lease, then they have access. If the attic is not part of the lease, you should not have access either.

Yes, you can put a padlock on the loft hatch. But if the padlock is gone when they check out, they owe you the cost of a used padlock.