Incorrect advice from agency, DPS deposit deduction

housebuyer143

Murphybear said:

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.  

I get it was lost, but that was a joke.
I was a letting agent for 13 years and also have all the qualifications and felt like I was a very fair when doing the deposit deductions.

My point stands though, if it's not in writing then don't believe it. 

pinkshoes

queena1 said:

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. 

Was there a check in inventory at the beginning of the tenancy, proving the state of the property when you moved in? If not, then I would PHONE the DPS immediately and ask why the money has been deducted when you left the property in excellent condition, despite being told by the LA that it didn't need cleaning. 

And NEVER act on anything that isn't in writing. Ever! I used to have a sneaky manager who liked to try and verbally ask me to do stuff that was a risk. If it paid off he took the credit, then one time it all went wrong and he blamed it on my, I said that he told me to do it, and he said "no I didn't. Show me the email..." I got well and truly stung. After that my response was always "put it in an email and I'll get on with it"!

Emily_Joy

There were a few viewings in the last month of our tenancy. I happen to be present during one of them and overheard a conversation between prospective tenants and the agent. The agent was telling them that (1) all carpets will be replaced with new ones (2) the windows will be replaced with new ones (3) the kitchen will be redecorated (4) there will be new bathroom. We thought we could save ourselves a bit of cleaning time and contacted the landlord to confirm. The landlord was very surprised and said that all he is planning to do is replace glazing due to blown seal.