Deposit deductions - fake invoice

beigesummer

We have recently ended our tenancy at our last house and our landlord is trying to make some deductions from our deposit that we don’t agree with totalling over £300. The main one being a cleaning bill for £163. 

Prior to moving in an inventory was done by the estate agents and it was noted how the property was dirty and untidy but the landlord had said it would be professionally cleaned before we move in. It wasn’t, and I emailed the estate agents upon moving in to confirm this. We did clean the house top to bottom and took pictures which show it was in a much better condition than the inventory shown. On this basis I feel like our backs are already covered in terms of getting this part of the deposit back. 

However, on top of that, the cleaning invoice we have been sent looks like a fake one to me. I’ve worked in accountancy practices for over 10 years and seen many invoices to know this one looks unusual. 

-There are no contact details of the person raising the invoice or any payment details.
-There is a very lengthy description of what has been cleaned in each room (this in itself seems unusual) but coincidentally all the ‘issues’ the landlord has communicated in writing have found their way into this description.
-The tone of the description also is written basically as if the landlord has wrote it such as ‘found coffee stain on one of the doors’.
-The invoice was sent to us on 30th August, but it says at the bottom of it ‘paid in full by card 31st August’.
-It also states the cleaning was carried out on 28th & 29th but we only did handover of keys and final inspections at midday on 28th. 

For context, we ended the tenancy early due to the fact we felt uncomfortable living there from the get go. He would turn up unannounced when we first moved in, all of his post was still being delivered to the property so he would be at the house every week or so to collect it. He had cameras on the outside of the property which he was tuning into remotely to spy on us (we have a child too so this made us feel very uneasy). The estate agent told us this wasn’t allowed or agreed and to unplug the cameras from the wifi so he could no longer access remotely. 

Despite all of the above and feeling he broke contract by not allowing us quiet enjoyment, we still agreed to pay the letting fees in order to leave the tenancy early. 

I suppose my question is should we take any further steps due to his actions and the potentially fraudulent invoice?

We are already in a dispute over the deposit deductions via the DPS, we have to upload evidence and have 1000 characters to support but also struggling to condense all of our argument into that. 

Wonka_2

beigesummer said:

We are already in a dispute over the deposit deductions via the DPS, we have to upload evidence and have 1000 characters to support but also struggling to condense all of our argument into that. 

Having just gone through the DPS process then initial 1,000 characters is just to make the basis for your dispute i.e. disputed deduction for cleaning. Once this is done the system asks you to upload evidence and the agent will upload theirs.

Good luck - for ours the agent has just not responded so we're now 4 weeks in and assuming no response today then the Deposit Scheme take it in house to make their decision (another 4-6 weeks)

RAS

Dispute the deduction on the grounds that the property was grubby when you moved in. You were required to return it in the same condition.

The invoice is irrelevant.

FreeBear

beigesummer said: He had cameras on the outside of the property which he was tuning into remotely to spy on us (we have a child too so this made us feel very uneasy). The estate agent told us this wasn’t allowed or agreed and to unplug the cameras from the wifi so he could no longer access remotely.

If you ever come across this again, just unplug the cameras and/or cover the lenses. Report it to the ICO (good chance he isn't registered as a data controller). If you have admin access to the WiFi router, change the passwords and block the cameras - Most (all ?) routers have a reset button that will restore it to factory default including the admin password. Often, this password is printed on the bottom.

Bookworm105

none of the deposit deduction schemes require the LL to provide an invoice for amounts claimed ,

you seem unaware that the claim is in fact compensation to the LL for damage done to their property, it is not reimbursement of a cost incurred. As such there is no requirement for them to spend that compensation on repair work at all.

the deposit schemes will decide if they accept the evidence there is damage and will award on the basis of how much of the damage is down to the actions of the tenant. The £ amount will then be based on whatever basis underpins it, for example it could simply be a quote for carpet cleaning, not an actual invoice. The deposit scheme may decide the quote is high and may scale the award back accordingly, or it may accept the £ at face value.

a "fake" invoice is just the LL evidencing the amount of compensation they want. It has zero meaning in its own right, it is a bit of paper with an amount on it.

Herzlos

Are you saying the invoice from the cleaning company doesn't even mention the company name, contact or payment details? That'd certainly be odd.

You can bring it up in the dispute mentioning that the invoice is clearly fake.

I'd also talk to the police about the attempted fraud. Even if you get a crime reference number you can mention it in the dispute, which might be enough to get the landlord to back off.

Bookworm105

Herzlos said:

Are you saying the invoice from the cleaning company doesn't even mention the company name, contact or payment details? That'd certainly be odd.

You can bring it up in the dispute mentioning that the invoice is clearly fake.

I'd also talk to the police about the attempted fraud. Even if you get a crime reference number you can mention it in the dispute, which might be enough to get the landlord to back off.

let's hope the police don't waste any time on this.
the scheme will ignore this non crime, it is a piece of paper with an amount on it, Nothing more, nothing less in the context of a claim for damage

BarelySentientAI

Herzlos said:

Are you saying the invoice from the cleaning company doesn't even mention the company name, contact or payment details? That'd certainly be odd.

You can bring it up in the dispute mentioning that the invoice is clearly fake.

I'd also talk to the police about the attempted fraud. Even if you get a crime reference number you can mention it in the dispute, which might be enough to get the landlord to back off.

An invoice can be a post-it note with "You owe me £500" written on it in crayon.

MEM62

@beigesummer Just make your case through the deposit resolution process.  You have a good enough case to win.  Even if you didn't the decisions are usually bias in favor of the tenant.