Incorrect advice from agency, DPS deposit deduction

queena1

Until Sep I was renting a house through an agency, the house was due to be sold so we had to find an alternative home. Before we moved I rang the agency repeatedly to ask what the expectations were for leaving the property. I was told numerous times by the agency (verbally unfortunately) not to worry too much about the check out, the house was to be sold at auction and that the standards expected were different as it was not going to be tenanted again. I left it in a good state, the agency agreed with that. The garden needed a tidy (I was told not to bother by the agency). 

The landlady made a claim through the DPS scheme for £930 for gardening and deep cleaning. I just received the DPS decision and they have taken £560 from me. 

I have been let down by bad advice from the letting agent and the DPS did not take the fact the house was to be sold (and developed) into consideration. Do I have any rights to complain about the agents? It seems with DPS I have to accept the decision. Does anyone have advice please? I feel it’s unjust. 

user1977

From your point of view, the landlord's agent is the landlord, so the result ought to be the same as the landlord themselves telling you that you didn't need to bother tidying the garden etc.

But didn't you have an opportunity to make this argument to the DPS?

queena1

That’s helpful to know, yes I wrote a statement to the DPS detailing what I’d be told by the agent, it seems the DPS took nothing that I shared in the statement into consideration, there was no acknowledgment of the fact the house was being sold. 

_Penny_Dreadful

The house being sold is a red herring. It doesn’t matter what the landlord did with the property once the tenancy ended, you were supposed to return it in the same condition minus any fair wear and tear. 

What evidence do you have that the letting agent told you not to bother with cleaning or gardening? Anything in writing or was it just verbal? 

propertyrental

I assume you raised a dispute with the DPS scheme and this was considered by their arbitrators?

I don't think what the agent (even acting for the LL) said is relevant.

Nor the fact that the property was to be sold at auction.

All that matters, and all (I think) the deposit scheme arbitrators will take into account is

* the condition of the property (including garden) when you morved in (usually as evidenced on the inventory) and

* the condition of the property (including garden) when you morved out (usually as evidenced on the check out inspection and/or LL ro T's photos)

How did the two compare, and what evidence did the LL and yourelf supply to the arbitrators?

user1977

Or to put it another way, what's your loss? If the agent had said nothing to you then you'd certainly have had to do the gardening/deep cleaning, which presumably would have incurred a non-significant amount of time/money - maybe not £560 but perhaps something approaching that?

queena1

Ah thanks for comments, I wish I’d posted earlier. Everything the letting agents said was verbal. I was told clearly by the agents that it would be different as the house was to be sold, it seems I was given incorrect information. The house was in a good state when we left but the carpets were deep cleaned when we arrived and we not deep cleaned on departure (I knew the carpets were about to be ripped up to renovate) but I guess if the arbitrators job is to base it purely on comparing arrival and departure pictures then there were differences. I would say the differences were fair ware and tear but obviously the DPS did not agree. 

I naively believed the advice of the agents. After check out when I found out there was an issue I offered to do the tidy up but they did not respond and raised a claim with DPS. Stressful experience! 

It’s pretty unethical of the agents to give such inaccurate information, is there a way to complain about this or probably easier to move on and put the experience behind me? 

propertyrental

Move on I'm afraid. Becoming an agent is easy - no training, no exams, I could start a letting agent myself tomorrow.

You could refer to the relevant ombudsman

* The Property Ombudsman
* Property Redress Scheme

but as it was all verbal.....

queena1

@user1977 yeah I hear you, I would have done the garden tidy up myself it would have taken me a morning, same with the house. One of the complaints for the deep clean was having smears on the shower screen so stuff like that would have taken me extra time to be on top of. I’m a single mum so £560 is a lot for me, the issues would have been an easy fix if I’d have known they’d create such hassle. I guess I put it down to an expensive learning experience! 

housebuyer143

Never trust a letting agent. Too be fair they probably thought it would be fine but after check out the landlord decided to take you for everything she could. 
The agent might have been telling you the truth but without anything in writing there is nothing you can do.

Murphybear

housebuyer143 said:

Never trust a letting agent. Too be fair they probably thought it would be fine but after check out the landlord decided to take you for everything she could. 
The agent might have been telling you the truth but without anything in writing there is nothing you can do.

Rubbish advice.  Letting agents, like most trades people have good and bad.  I was a letting agent for years.  I had a franchise so I had a huge amount of professional training before I started.  I also studied for, and took, the ARLA exams.  The Advanced Legsl was both difficult and required in depth knowledge.  I passed with distinction.  My letting agency was successful and we had many landlord recommendations.  Never had a single complaint.  The franchise kept us up to date with everything, there are many changes and new rules, and the person who trained us was available for help if we had any queries.  

Since I retired I joined Citizens Advice as an adviser.  My speciality is landlord/tenant issues

So, please don’t tar all letting agents with the same brush.