Reposit

canaldumidi

Your sister paid a 'fee' (not a deposit) at the start. This is non-refundable.

If she is not happy with proposed charges at the end (note, these are not 'deductions') she can raise a dispute by paying £60 to Reposit who will refer it to independant arbitrators. The £60 is refundable if the arbitrators decide the charges were not fully justified.

I'd be interested to know what the LL/agent can do if the tenant simply declines to pay the charges but not raise a 'reposit dispute'. I assume the LL/agent would then have to go to court to claim the charges and the T could then defend the claim in a small claims court.

eddddy

Reposit are claiming that your sister owes them a debt of £200.

(Essentially, it's the same as if a plumber, or a shop, or a neigbour said your sister owed them a debt of £200)

If your sister doesn't pay, Reposit might decide to make a claim against your for the £200 through the small claims court. If that happens...

• Reposit will explain to the court why they believe your sister owes them £200 (with evidence)

• Your sister will explain to the court why she believes she doesn't owe Reposit £200 (with evidence)

The court will decide who they believe  - based on the balance of probabilities.


The court will read the contract that your sister agreed to, plus statements from Reposit and your sister, plus any other evidence that either side puts forward.

Unless / until Reposit make a court claim, there probably isn't really anything for you and/or your sister to do.


(Reposit have a dispute resolution process - but it sounds like you've probably missed the chance to use that.)

Robbo66

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

And yet they ended up doing anything but that, you are always quick to denigrate Landlords but the reality is the vast majority of landlords and agents are decent.

what do you mean ?

What Artful meant was zero deposit schemes were brought in to stop greedy agents and landlords getting money from unsuspecting tenants by way of a large security deposit and making moving easier and more cost effective but in reality as you have found out they do anything else but. The tenant has no protection against supposed claims for cleaning or repairs where as with a  protected cash deposit there is and the majority of deposit disputes do go the way of the tenant.

canaldumidi

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

And yet they ended up doing anything but that, you are always quick to denigrate Landlords but the reality is the vast majority of landlords and agents are decent.

what do you mean ?

....The tenant has no protection against supposed claims for cleaning or repairs where as with a  protected cash deposit there is and the majority of deposit disputes do go the way of the tenant.

Of course there is protection. Judges are independant (of government, landlords/agents and anyone else) and if a 'greedy' or 'avaricious' LL wishes to make 'supposed claims for cleaning or repairs' he would have to convince a judge it was justified.

Adezoo

GDB2222 said:

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

Reposit does not seem to allow it. They say it’s final and cannot be disputed. They are threatening court but I am sure you should be able to dispute the price 

Reposit are a zero deposit scheme so there is no one to dispute the claim with but Reposit. A tenant pays the equivalent of a weeks rent to move in to a house. Repsoit then indemnify the Landlord for 8 weeks rent against lost rent or damage. Should they pay out they claim this back from the tenant. from their website

 "Reposit isn’t tenants’ liability insurance; our tenants remain liable for any unreasonable damage or unpaid rent at the end of tenancy."  https://reposit.co.uk/blog/reposit-vs-deposit/

My sister has proof that the room was left in the same state as initially, apart from the LED lights that was left in the room. So there’s no damage in there. There was no unpaid rents as well. Painting and deep cleaning as they might call it isn’t a good enough reason. 

We all believe you. You need to convince Reposit that you will put in a spirited defence if they try to recover the money through the court system. 

I will try and contact my lawyer. Never heard of anything like that, I’ve seen people losing deposit for unpaid rents or DAMAGES to the property. But never had any landlord, even my previous one, requesting money for cleaning (we clean always before going) and painting 😅

Adezoo

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

Reposit does not seem to allow it. They say it’s final and cannot be disputed. They are threatening court but I am sure you should be able to dispute the price 

Reposit are a zero deposit scheme so there is no one to dispute the claim with but Reposit. A tenant pays the equivalent of a weeks rent to move in to a house. Repsoit then indemnify the Landlord for 8 weeks rent against lost rent or damage. Should they pay out they claim this back from the tenant. from their website

 "Reposit isn’t tenants’ liability insurance; our tenants remain liable for any unreasonable damage or unpaid rent at the end of tenancy."  https://reposit.co.uk/blog/reposit-vs-deposit/

My sister has proof that the room was left in the same state as initially, apart from the LED lights that was left in the room. So there’s no damage in there. There was no unpaid rents as well. Painting and deep cleaning as they might call it isn’t a good enough reason. 

Only other option is to write to them dispute the charges, if they dont agree they will start court proceedings to reclaim the money at that point you can use your photos as evidence as to why the money isnt owed and hope the judge agrees.

You say she rented a room, i guess this was in a shared house, did she have her own tenancy agreement for her room or one that was signed by all the tenants as this will make a difference.

That would be the best case to be honest. The house is a student HMO. You don’t choose your house mates and you’re responsible for your OWN rent. Therefore why is she expected to pay when “strangers” don’t clean. Using the kitchen as evidence is crazy, my sister has complained several times about the fact that people don’t clean in that house. 

Adezoo

canaldumidi said:

Your sister paid a 'fee' (not a deposit) at the start. This is non-refundable.

If she is not happy with proposed charges at the end (note, these are not 'deductions') she can raise a dispute by paying £60 to Reposit who will refer it to independant arbitrators. The £60 is refundable if the arbitrators decide the charges were not fully justified.

I'd be interested to know what the LL/agent can do if the tenant simply declines to pay the charges but not raise a 'reposit dispute'. I assume the LL/agent would then have to go to court to claim the charges and the T could then defend the claim in a small claims court.

I would guess so. I’ve emailed them about my payment for the removal of the LED lights but I don’t see why she would pay for cleaning and painting when nothing was done to it. The room was spotless, I even thought it was the picture after cleaning. That room could have been let the same day and nothing would have happened. The falling, broken wardrobe she complained about for the whole stay was changed only after she moved out to take check out pictures.

GDB2222

Adezoo said:

GDB2222 said:

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

Reposit does not seem to allow it. They say it’s final and cannot be disputed. They are threatening court but I am sure you should be able to dispute the price 

Reposit are a zero deposit scheme so there is no one to dispute the claim with but Reposit. A tenant pays the equivalent of a weeks rent to move in to a house. Repsoit then indemnify the Landlord for 8 weeks rent against lost rent or damage. Should they pay out they claim this back from the tenant. from their website

 "Reposit isn’t tenants’ liability insurance; our tenants remain liable for any unreasonable damage or unpaid rent at the end of tenancy."  https://reposit.co.uk/blog/reposit-vs-deposit/

My sister has proof that the room was left in the same state as initially, apart from the LED lights that was left in the room. So there’s no damage in there. There was no unpaid rents as well. Painting and deep cleaning as they might call it isn’t a good enough reason. 

We all believe you. You need to convince Reposit that you will put in a spirited defence if they try to recover the money through the court system. 

I will try and contact my lawyer. Never heard of anything like that, I’ve seen people losing deposit for unpaid rents or DAMAGES to the property. But never had any landlord, even my previous one, requesting money for cleaning (we clean always before going) and painting 😅

Your lawyer will charge you more than £200 to dispute this. It's the same for reposit, though. 

You need to read up about court procedures, and how to dispute claims as a litigant in person. Or, just pay.

Adezoo

GDB2222 said:

Adezoo said:

GDB2222 said:

Adezoo said:

Robbo66 said:

Adezoo said:

theartfullodger said:

Your sister (not you) should dispute any deductions through deposit scheme.  Those schemes were brought in to give tenant better protection from avaricious landlords and agents.

Reposit does not seem to allow it. They say it’s final and cannot be disputed. They are threatening court but I am sure you should be able to dispute the price 

Reposit are a zero deposit scheme so there is no one to dispute the claim with but Reposit. A tenant pays the equivalent of a weeks rent to move in to a house. Repsoit then indemnify the Landlord for 8 weeks rent against lost rent or damage. Should they pay out they claim this back from the tenant. from their website

 "Reposit isn’t tenants’ liability insurance; our tenants remain liable for any unreasonable damage or unpaid rent at the end of tenancy."  https://reposit.co.uk/blog/reposit-vs-deposit/

My sister has proof that the room was left in the same state as initially, apart from the LED lights that was left in the room. So there’s no damage in there. There was no unpaid rents as well. Painting and deep cleaning as they might call it isn’t a good enough reason. 

We all believe you. You need to convince Reposit that you will put in a spirited defence if they try to recover the money through the court system. 

I will try and contact my lawyer. Never heard of anything like that, I’ve seen people losing deposit for unpaid rents or DAMAGES to the property. But never had any landlord, even my previous one, requesting money for cleaning (we clean always before going) and painting 😅

Your lawyer will charge you more than £200 to dispute this. It's the same for reposit, though. 

You need to read up about court procedures, and how to dispute claims as a litigant in person. Or, just pay.

I will read about it. Thanks 

RAS

Check whether daughter's university has a housing office?

They may offer support; they may also get other complaints of the same nature about reposit, or at least alert students to the implication of renting from LLs using them.