Landlord Refuses to Refund Deposit

Sleepysophie

My daughter rented a house for 12 months and left the property in what I would consider an excellent condition. I took photos as proof. The carpets were brand new when she moved in and there was an area in the bedroom where she had dropped some bronzing pearls which I cleaned with carpet cleaner to the best of my ability. 
The house was cleaned by myself and I was pretty proud of it (other than for this small area - which was still not how I would have liked it but to the untrained eye was not noticeable). 

Toilets, bathroom, fridge, cooker and all cupboards were cleaned out etc. and no waste was left on the property. 

When my daughter applied for her £600 deposit back, the Landlord said he would not be returning it because the kitchen worktop had been damaged. He sent a picture of it and it was the edging of the worktop around the front of the sink where water had made the laminate rise away from the work surface. He said he needed to "buy a whole new worktop" to replace it as he was unable just to purchase the edging and he couldn't just replace that small section because they no longer had the same worktop in stock at his supplier?! which would be at a cost of £800 to replace the whole thing. He also said he needs "all of the carpets cleaning" and estimates the total cost to be £1000 for everything. 
He made promises which were not fulfilled during the tenancy about repairs to the bathroom etc which did not materialise and when my daughter mentioned this as explaining how reasonable she had been in not withholding any rent due to the unfulfilled promises, he got really quite nasty.

The deposit is in a Deposit Protection Scheme with an Estate Agent and I have advised my daughter to tell them that she is disputing the amount the Landlord wishes to claim against it. 

Its has been over a year now and she has just received an email from the Estate Agent saying "the landlord has agreed to refund you £100, please forward your bank details". 

Does anyone have any advice? Whilst I agree she maybe should have to pay for a carpet cleaner I really don't think she should be responsible for water damage to a worktop especially not a full kitchen amount?. 

RAS

In which scheme was the deposit secured?

Has she ever put in a claim to have the deposit returned? 

Sleepysophie

@RAS She was told by the Landlord that if she was disputing it she should let the Estate Agent know. She did this but now she has found out she should have let the Deposit Protection Scheme know [MyDeposit] in the first 3 months. Is she out of time now ? Is there nothing that can be done? She and I had wrongly assumed that the Estate Agent was the Deposit Protection Company!

anselld

If it is DPS Insured scheme there is a three month time limit within which to raise a dispute after which they will not touch it.

If it is DPS Custodial it should still be in there and a dispute can probably still be raised but if that were the case the Agent would probably not be offering £100 repayment.

It could still be taken to Court, however I would suggest after this lenth of time just take the £100 and accept the lesson to raise a dispute promptly with the scheme if it happens again.  That is what it is there for.

RAS

Was she given the required documentation detailing the deposit information scheme when she moved in?

I know from these boards that some people don't seem to have read it but they must be given it.

propertyrental

Has she got the original 'Prescribed Information' which the LL should have given within 30 days of the deposit being paid? That would tell her exactly which scheme was used and how to raise a dispute.

If she never received it, she can claim a penalty against the LL (up to 3 times the deposit).

It is the scheme she should be raising a dispute with, not the LL or agent.

And waiting 12 months......?

Wear and tear cannot be claimed. But damage can, and it sounds like the kitchen unit was damaged. Debateable. But that does not mean a whole new unit can be claimed.

The carpet you agree she damaged, but again that foes not lead to the cost of a brand w carpet.

Carpet cleaning sounds like not a valid claim.

If you can no longer use the scheme arbitration service (12 months. Check), then small claims court here
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Also read:

Post 3: Deposits: Payment, Protection and Return.

Sleepysophie

Thank you everyone for your contributions. I am going to ask her to check all the documents and see whether she was sent the information. 
My sister is a landlord and she has had her properties left in terrible states. I know how much anxiety that caused her which is why I put in several days to make sure my daughter left her rental property as she found it. The property was 45 minutes away from where I lived and I went every day in the week she was moving out to make sure it was left in a good condition. It just seems so unjust for it to result like this. 

propertyrental

Sleepysophie said:

Thank you everyone for your contributions. I am going to ask her to check all the documents and see whether she was sent the information. 
My sister is a landlord and she has had her properties left in terrible states. I know how much anxiety that caused her which is why I put in several days to make sure my daughter left her rental property as she found it. The property was 45 minutes away from where I lived and I went every day in the week she was moving out to make sure it was left in a good condition. It just seems so unjust for it to result like this. 

That's why the deposit schemes were introduced.

But if tenants don't use the schemes there's not much more the gov, you,or we can do.

Grumpy_chap

It's unclear what the timelines are here, and how the situation reached 12 months without being resolved but, hence, outside the 3-month time limit for the deposit scheme.

Assuming the first request to the LL was made and responding to quickly and the LL said to contact the EA, all quite quickly.

Then, contacted the EA.  Again, assume that was quite quick.  If the EA failed to provide timely information about how to contact the deposit scheme to lodge the case, the EA may be under some trade body guidelines that might give a route for redress.  It seems entirely reasonable that if the question was asked of the EA and should have been asked of the deposit scheme, then the EA would say reasonably quickly how to do that.

macman

Sleepysophie said:

Thank you everyone for your contributions. I am going to ask her to check all the documents and see whether she was sent the information. 
My sister is a landlord and she has had her properties left in terrible states. I know how much anxiety that caused her which is why I put in several days to make sure my daughter left her rental property as she found it. The property was 45 minutes away from where I lived and I went every day in the week she was moving out to make sure it was left in a good condition. It just seems so unjust for it to result like this. 

'The system' is fine, but she failed to pursue it through the DPS for a whole year. At which point the only option is litigation against the LL. The system works well, but the tenants have to use it as intended.

Sleepysophie

propertyrental said:

Sleepysophie said:

Thank you everyone for your contributions. I am going to ask her to check all the documents and see whether she was sent the information. 
My sister is a landlord and she has had her properties left in terrible states. I know how much anxiety that caused her which is why I put in several days to make sure my daughter left her rental property as she found it. The property was 45 minutes away from where I lived and I went every day in the week she was moving out to make sure it was left in a good condition. It just seems so unjust for it to result like this. 

That's why the deposit schemes were introduced.

But if tenants don't use the schemes there's not much more the gov, you,or we can do.

I appreciate this but if you don't know, you don't know. She contacted the EA saying she disputed it and they didn't reply to her. it would have been helpful for them to say "you need to register your dispute with ...."  She has looked through the emails she received from the EA at the time she began renting. There is a receipt for her deposit and the first months rent and the tenancy agreement, but there is nothing else. I have read the tenancy agreement and it mentions the deposit being held in a DPS but not which one, which is why she thought it was the EA she needed to contact to raise her dispute.