Letting agent holding deposit

DYWD

Hi,

I have moved out of a flat in the UK more than 3 weeks ago.
As I moved back to France, a friend kept the keys and gave them to the letting agent on 01/05.

The inspection of the flat was done on that day.
Despite me chasing her, she didn't send me the report before 07/05.

She sent the report only, without any deductions breakdown as she said she couldn't tell me before I was showing her I had paid my final water / electricity + gas bill on time.

I sent everything to her within 30 minutes.

It took her another week to reply, and then, she said it wasn't enough. She wanted screenshots from my bank account to show that I really paid and mentioned that I was liable for the council tax until the end of the tenancy (I left the flat 2 weeks before the end). 

I resent her everything. Including proof that I have paid the council tax until the end of the tenancy.

She then said that she still couldn't send the breakdown of the deductions as she was waiting for the price of a mattress topper as in the report she mentioned she had to buy a new one. As if it couldn't have been done before, she had two weeks to look for the price and buy it. Anyway.

2 days later, Wednesday last week, at 2 am, she finally sent the breakdown of the deductions.

The report was saying she wanted to send something for cleaning as she could find "a few cat hair strands", despite the move in inspection saying for example that the toilet was black and needed a good clean but she never did anything.
In the end,  the deductions breakdown shows that she wanted to take 35 GBP out of it, and refund me the rest. So I agreed straight away.
She got my email last Thursday at 7 am.

Since, she has been messing with me and still hasn't requested the deposit to be released to the DPS. I have called them. They have confirmed she didn't get in touch whether by phone, by email or anything. 

I am just literally turning crazy. I have told her I would take legal actions, and that she has to refund it within 10 days of us agreeing, but she still doesn't do anything except messing with emails telling me I am too rude (I am French, I am more than straight forward with her, but still polite), that I have no ground to take legal actions, and that she won't reply to me anymore.

Still, she hasn't released the deposit.

I have moved abroad, she is holding more than 800 GBP and this is affecting me and my finances too much. 
Can anybody help with what I can do?

Adding to this that when I moved into the flat, within a month I found out that:
-water wasn't gas heated as she said it was, it was electric
-boiler broke down on the first night, then within the first month I found out the thermostat of the flat wasn't even wired. I had no control over the heating.
-electric shower broke down for a whole month, her solution was "just take baths"
-I had blisters full of water on the bathroom wall due to wated getting infiltrated by the window. The painting was completely damaged, they said they could redo it, plot twist: nothing was done a year and half later
-there was damp in the bathroom and bedroom, bathroom wall was SOAKED, it took them 4 months to send a damp inspector to do a survey and it wasn't fixed before last november (meaning a year after being raised, when the boiler broke down for good and they had to change the whole system including the thermostat that also took a year to be fixed)

That's for the first month.
-I also had a leak from the roof, they had to send 3 roofers including one without telling me.
-She forgot about the gas safety inspection, so she gave me less than a 48 hours notice and I told her I wasn't available on that day but every other day of the month. She said I wasn't accommodating enough and I had to either be there or she would come to the flat.

RHemmings

The descriptions of what was wrong with the flat, including what was wrong when you moved in, would only help if you wished to challenge large deductions. As the deduction is only £35, there's limited value in those arguments, I think. 

The deposit scheme that your landlord used will have T&Cs describing what happens in situations where one party refuses to engage with the system. However, for the schemes I'm familiar with, this tends to be not easy. E.g. you may have to sue. You may have to provide documents to claim the money, which could cost you money. 

I'd be careful in case she is trying to run out the clock. Have you gone onto the scheme and proposed a resolution/offer including the landlord getting the £35 and you getting the rest. Check the T&Cs to make sure that you haven't failed to take any steps that you need to. I don't know what scheme your landlord used, but for schemes I'm familiar with the tenant can start the repayment process, and then if the landlord agrees (and it's a custodial scheme) you get your money. 

You say that you have received information from the landlord. Has this been direct to you, or through the deposit scheme. 

Which scheme is your money protected by? The T&Cs will be the place to start. Is it a custodial or insured deposit? 

RAS

Reclaim the entire deposit from the deposit scheme. Ideally you should have done this immediately. Which one was it registered with? One is insurance based but the others the money is actually with the scheme. So they need to release it.

The EA can then ask for £35 deduction but needs to prove that this is not betterment.

propertyrental

Which country in the UK? It makes a difference. Comments in bold below

DYWD said:

Hi,

I have moved out of a flat in the UK more than 3 weeks ago.
As I moved back to France, a friend kept the keys and gave them to the letting agent on 01/05.
Did you serve proper notice to end the tenancy? If not you may owe ongoing rent, utilities etc
The inspection of the flat was done on that day.
Despite me chasing her, she didn't send me the report before 07/05.

that's not long
She sent the report only, without any deductions breakdown as she said she couldn't tell me before I was showing her I had paid my final water / electricity + gas bill on time.

Normally these bills are your responsibility so nothing to do with the landlord. However

1) you've left the country, so if if some bills are unpaid (esp Council Tax!) the LL might end up having to pay

2) if the tenancy was not properly ended (just 'handing back the keys' does not end a tenancy) you will have ongoing liability
I sent everything to her within 30 minutes.
Well done
It took her another week to reply, and then, she said it wasn't enough. She wanted screenshots from my bank account to show that I really paid and mentioned that I was liable for the council tax until the end of the tenancy (I left the flat 2 weeks before the end).

she's right about the CT.

What exactly did you send her? Statements from the utilities etc showing the accounts closed and fully paid up?
I resent her everything. Including proof that I have paid the council tax until the end of the tenancy.

Just to be clear - what did you send?
She then said that she still couldn't send the breakdown of the deductions as she was waiting for the price of a mattress topper as in the report she mentioned she had to buy a new one. As if it couldn't have been done before, she had two weeks to look for the price and buy it. Anyway.

How old was the toppwr? Did you damage/stain it?
2 days later, Wednesday last week, at 2 am, she finally sent the breakdown of the deductions.

The report was saying she wanted to send something for cleaning as she could find "a few cat hair strands", despite the move in inspection saying for example that the toilet was black and needed a good clean but she never did anything. She was under no obligation o clean the toilet. Similarly you were under no obligation to clean it when you left. But I fail to see the relevance in relation to 'something' (what?) having cat hairs.
In the end,  the deductions breakdown shows that she wanted to take 35 GBP out of it, and refund me the rest. So I agreed straight away.
She got my email last Thursday at 7 am. what exactly was the £35 for?

Since, she has been messing with me and still hasn't requested the deposit to be released to the DPS. I have called them. They have confirmed she didn't get in touch whether by phone, by email or anything. #So make a claim to DPS. Follow their procedure.

I am just literally turning crazy. I have told her I would take legal actions, and that she has to refund it within 10 days of us agreeing, but she still doesn't do anything except messing with emails telling me I am too rude (I am French, I am more than straight forward with her, but still polite), that I have no ground to take legal actions, and that she won't reply to me anymore.

Still, she hasn't released the deposit.

So make a claim to DPS. Follow their procedure.
I have moved abroad, she is holding more than 800 GBP and this is affecting me and my finances too much. 
Can anybody help with what I can do?

Yes  make a claim to DPS. Follow their procedure.

Adding to this that when I moved into the flat, within a month I found out that:
-water wasn't gas heated as she said it was, it was electric
-boiler broke down on the first night, then within the first month I found out the thermostat of the flat wasn't even wired. I had no control over the heating.
-electric shower broke down for a whole month, her solution was "just take baths"
-I had blisters full of water on the bathroom wall due to wated getting infiltrated by the window. The painting was completely damaged, they said they could redo it, plot twist: nothing was done a year and half later
-there was damp in the bathroom and bedroom, bathroom wall was SOAKED, it took them 4 months to send a damp inspector to do a survey and it wasn't fixed before last november (meaning a year after being raised, when the boiler broke down for good and they had to change the whole system including the thermostat that also took a year to be fixed)

That's for the first month.
-I also had a leak from the roof, they had to send 3 roofers including one without telling me.
-She forgot about the gas safety inspection, so she gave me less than a 48 hours notice and I told her I wasn't available on that day but every other day of the month. She said I wasn't accommodating enough and I had to either be there or she would come to the flat.

All the other issues above are irrelevant and should have been dealt with during the tenancy, not after it has ended (if indeed it has ended....)

DYWD

Hi,

to reply to your questions: the deposit is with DPS.
i served a notice by email once month before, even asked her if she needed it by post mail. She said my email was enough.

i have shown the proof that I have paid by sending her the final bills, and screenshots of the different accounts showing the balance was £0, and also screenshots of conversations with United Utilities and Octopus confirming I had paid everything. This was apparently not enough, she required screenshots of my bank statements showing that I paid it. Which I also sent, amongst proof that I have paid the council tax until the end of the tenancy that was 12.05.

the mattress topper was new when I moved in, there were « a few cat hairs strands » so she required for it to be replaced, which I said I was ok with. 

The £35 was for cleaning (25) and the mattress topper (10). I have agreed with the deductions of £35 without any issue.

i have now requested the deposit through the dps website as I called them and they confirmed that she still hasn’t done anything nor contacted them regarding the refund of the deposit. It’s my understanding that she has 10 days from the day we agreed to refund it.

DYWD

@propertyrental @RAS @RHemmings

Hi,

to reply to your questions: the deposit is with DPS.
i served a notice by email once month before, even asked her if she needed it by post mail. She said my email was enough.

i have shown the proof that I have paid by sending her the final bills, and screenshots of the different accounts showing the balance was £0, and also screenshots of conversations with United Utilities and Octopus confirming I had paid everything. This was apparently not enough, she required screenshots of my bank statements showing that I paid it. Which I also sent, amongst proof that I have paid the council tax until the end of the tenancy that was 12.05.

the mattress topper was new when I moved in, there were « a few cat hairs strands » so she required for it to be replaced, which I said I was ok with. 

The £35 was for cleaning (25) and the mattress topper (10). I have agreed with the deductions of £35 without any issue.

i have now requested the deposit through the dps website as I called them and they confirmed that she still hasn’t done anything nor contacted them regarding the refund of the deposit. It’s my understanding that she has 10 days from the day we agreed to refund it.

RHemmings

DYWD said:

i have now requested the deposit through the dps website as I called them and they confirmed that she still hasn’t done anything nor contacted them regarding the refund of the deposit. It’s my understanding that she has 10 days from the day we agreed to refund it.

This is good to hear. Though, I believe that for the DPS if your landlord simply doesn't respond to your offer, that it's not the case that you then get refunded. 

Shelter seem to imply that if it's a custodial deposit (DPS has the money), then if the landlord doesn't reply within two weeks that you will get the money. https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/how_to_get_your_deposit_back/if_your_landlord_does_not_respond    

But, my memory of the process (my landlord did reply just within two weeks) is different. And the DPS pages seem to imply similar. A statutory declaration is needed, which will most likely cost money. https://www.depositprotection.com/repayments/statutory-declaration-process-tenants  

It's important to be careful: the process will differ depending on whether it is a custodial or insured deposit. It would be best if you confirmed what type of deposit we are talking about. 

BikingBud

Cleaning  - How can you get anybody to do anything for £25?

And £10 for a mattress topper that most of us would consider is a disposable item, especially in a rental property? And as a disposable item then it should fall under wear and tear.

Extremely petty and has probably cost more in time than they wish to recoup.

RHemmings

BikingBud said:

Cleaning  - How can you get anybody to do anything for £25?

And £10 for a mattress topper that most of us would consider is a disposable item, especially in a rental property? And as a disposable item then it should fall under wear and tear.

Extremely petty and has probably cost more in time than they wish to recoup.

When I made an offer (accepted), I put on three hours of cleaning at £20 an hour. I checked on a website to get that price and what I see now is similar: https://www.wecasa.co.uk/domestic-cleaning/articles/the-average-house-cleaning-prices-in-the-uk  

The tenant is only required, often, to pay proportionally. E.g. if replacing non-new items. Similarly, I believe, if the tenant was responsible (over and above normal wear and tear) for say 20% of a £100 cleaning bill, then £20 is what they should be charged. Hence, think it could work out that £25 gets charged against the deposit. Even if it is impossible to get any cleaning job, as a whole, done for £25. 

I was surprised that £10 would be charged for a mattress topper, and also considered it petty. I wondered how long a mattress topper should last, and I read three to five years. https://www.eluxury.com/blogs/eluxury-official-blog/how-long-does-mattress-topper-last  I suppose if the topper was only a year old and needed replacement, then maybe.

On the other hand, when I negotiated my last deposit return I strategically offered based on paying the landlord more than I believed I should, small amounts, to show willing. It was accepted, eventually. 

DYWD

@RHemmings @BikingBud it seems to be custodial (meaning DPS has the money). 

The guy at DPS said to me she wasn’t allowed to hold the deposit while waiting for the bills - bills that she received within 30 minutes.
and even more she apparently wasn’t allowed to ask for screenshots of my bank account.

as i have requested the deposit to be refunded now; technically does it add 14 days to her being able to reply? Or legally, is she still supposed to refund it within 10 days of us agreeing as per the law?

also i don’t know if these 10 days / 14 days are working days?

this is literally driving me insane as I paid my rent on time, gave back the flat cleaner that it was before, sent her everything she needed and now she is playing this game telling me she won’t reply because of the tone of my emails / text messages. 

I haven’t been rude but I told her she had to do her job or I would take legal actions as she is clearly taking the !!!!!! now.

RHemmings

DYWD said:

@RHemmings @BikingBud it seems to be custodial (meaning DPS has the money). 

The guy at DPS said to me she wasn’t allowed to hold the deposit while waiting for the bills - bills that she received within 30 minutes.
and even more she apparently wasn’t allowed to ask for screenshots of my bank account.

as i have requested the deposit to be refunded now; technically does it add 14 days to her being able to reply? Or legally, is she still supposed to refund it within 10 days of us agreeing as per the law?

also i don’t know if these 10 days / 14 days are working days?

this is literally driving me insane as I paid my rent on time, gave back the flat cleaner that it was before, sent her everything she needed and now she is playing this game telling me she won’t reply because of the tone of my emails / text messages. 

I haven’t been rude but I told her she had to do her job or I would take legal actions as she is clearly taking the !!!!!! now.

I suggest that you read through the time spans in the FAQ for DPS, and also I believe that the emails will give the time allowance for responding. I would be very surprised if these times weren't consistent with the law. 

You are in a much, much, better situation than you would have been before deposit schemes were mandated. It might be frustrating, but you can now do everything through the scheme and not have to deal with the landlord unless they refuse dispute resolution. Which is, I believe, rare.