Deposit advice - Updated 10.06.08

sexki11en

Hi Guys,

We are about to move out of a rented property and after a phonecall today, I anticipate problems.

When we were showed round the flat, the woman admitted it was filthy and said the cleaners would be in before we moved in. The same day, after we left the property, I called and asked when this would be so we could move in. We were told it had already been done! (mould was literally growing in the toilet about half an inch thick)

We were also told the property was unfurnished when we took it on and most of the furniture that was there when we looked round would be gone. If unfurnished includes beds, knives, forks, spoons, duvet covers! etc then my idea must be wrong!

Anyway on the phone today the LA said to my other half, don't forget to get the carpets professionally cleaned and the cleaning must include windows (filthy when we moved in) top of door frames and oven (again, filthy when we moved in) :mad:

When we moved in I must admit I wasn't as savvy as I am now. I noted a few things as dirty on the inventory (which we singed and returned but never got a copy signed by them) I did make notes of things that were damaged.

My question is - given the state of the place when we moved in, could they realistically hold our deposit back if they say the place is not clean enough when we move out?

Doozergirl

Do you have a full inventory of condition?

Was your deposit protected? When did you sign your last tenancy agreement?

sexki11en

Doozergirl wrote: »

Do you have a full inventory of condition?

Was your deposit protected? When did you sign your last tenancy agreement?

Hey Doozergirl, thanks for the reply

Yes we have a full inventory of condition. Signed only by us though and not checked by the agent (we faxed them a copy on 6th March 2006) Our deposit wasnt however protected unfortunately, we moved in on 4th March 2006 (bad timing on our part lol)

We had a 6 month tennancy then it went onto rolling contract after that so the first tennancy we signed was the last IYSWIM

sexki11en

Bump Anyone have any ideas?

empfun

sexki11en wrote: »

Hi Guys,

We are about to move out of a rented property and after a phonecall today, I anticipate problems.

When we were showed round the flat, the woman admitted it was filthy and said the cleaners would be in before we moved in. The same day, after we left the property, I called and asked when this would be so we could move in. We were told it had already been done! (mould was literally growing in the toilet about half an inch thick)

We were also told the property was unfurnished when we took it on and most of the furniture that was there when we looked round would be gone. If unfurnished includes beds, knives, forks, spoons, duvet covers! etc then my idea must be wrong!

Anyway on the phone today the LA said to my other half, don't forget to get the carpets professionally cleaned and the cleaning must include windows (filthy when we moved in) top of door frames and oven (again, filthy when we moved in) :mad:

When we moved in I must admit I wasn't as savvy as I am now. I noted a few things as dirty on the inventory (which we singed and returned but never got a copy signed by them) I did make notes of things that were damaged.

My question is - given the state of the place when we moved in, could they realistically hold our deposit back if they say the place is not clean enough when we move out?

Given how you did not pursue the matter of the unclean state of the place the onus would fall on you to maintain what would have been a presentable rental property when you moved in unless otherwise noted on the agreement's condition report.

If the door frame was worn or in disrepair as opposed to filthy then that surely should have been recorded on the tenancy agreement on the condition report.

So the answer to your question is yes. Because as far as anyone is concerned they had presented you a nice habitable property with any faults and issues noted on the agreement.

sexki11en

empfun wrote: »

Given how you did not pursue the matter of the unclean state of the place the onus would fall on you to maintain what would have been a presentable rental property when you moved in unless otherwise noted on the agreement's condition report.

If the door frame was worn or in disrepair as opposed to filthy then that surely should have been recorded on the tenancy agreement on the condition report.

So the answer to your question is yes. Because as far as anyone is concerned they had presented you a nice habitable property with any faults and issues noted on the agreement.

Empfun, thank you for your reply.

However, I am not saying I haven't cleaned my property in 6 months! Nor am I saying the door frame is in disrepair.

I DID state on the inventory when we gave it in that the place was dirty, my question is - as many LA's try to keep your deposit back at the end of the tennancy by saying you haven't cleaned it thoroughly enough - can they legitimately claim this and try and withold deposit from us when we move out, as we had stated on the inventory that it was dirty when we moved in?

Doozergirl

I disagree with empfun. If your inventory says that something is dirty when you move in, then theoretically you can leave it dirty when you move out. A landlord cannot ask for anything to be in better condition when you leave than it as when you moved in!

That doesn't mean to say that they won't attempt to withold part of your deposit. Personally, I would clean everything I could to try and avoid the stress of the letter writing and the possible small claim for the rest of your deposit.

Try to walk through the house with the letting agent if possible - I bet they'll be using your inventory as a template for the next one.

Fred1_2

Have you paid the last month's rent? Is the deposit for more than one maonth's rent? You can see where I'm going here, although I would never advise anyone to withhold their last month's rent in order to get their deposit back, if someone were to do that, they should write to the landlord / letting agent explianing exactly why. In most cases that will be the end of the matter.

empfun

sexki11en wrote: »

Empfun, thank you for your reply.

However, I am not saying I haven't cleaned my property in 6 months! Nor am I saying the door frame is in disrepair.

I DID state on the inventory when we gave it in that the place was dirty, my question is - as many LA's try to keep your deposit back at the end of the tennancy by saying you haven't cleaned it thoroughly enough - can they legitimately claim this and try and withold deposit from us when we move out, as we had stated on the inventory that it was dirty when we moved in?

If you had stated the items that needed attention in the conditions report then there is nothing to worry about. :-) Only concern is you didn't have a copy, but I wouldn't worry to much about it unless the agent/landlord is dodgy or doesn't keep good records.

sexki11en

Thank you guys for the advice.

We fully intend to clean it thoroughly before we leave only every time we have done this before LA's have claimed it wasn't good enough.

We had paid our last month rent the day before we handed notice unfortunately.

We also fully intend to complete a check out with the LA the day after we move out and also take photos. I'm just so gutted we moved in so shortly before the deposit protection scheme took hold.

sexki11en

Ok,
so we paid a cleaning company £85 to clean the flat and do the carpets to avoid any confrontation, we've just come from the checkout and the LA say they will STILL charge us as it's not clean enough!!!

They say it was clean when we moved in and that it doesn't even look like a cleaner has been in. We have a receipt stating that carpets were cleaned, plus cooker, oven, fridge and full house clean including skirting mopping, dusting & hoovering.

I need your guys help please as we've already paid £85 and I am NOT paying the estate agent again for something that has already been done! Is it up to the estate agent to take it up with the cleaners or is that our responsibility? Can the LA really charge us for something we paid for and have a receipt for?

I will check this thread on Sunday, so forgive me if I don't reply immediately, we don't have internet yet at our new place.

Thanks in advance for your help