Deposit advice - Updated 10.06.08

tbs624

sexki11en wrote: »

Thank you Olly300. We have the landlords name so aren't completely screwed. Do the LA legally have to give us the address of the LL? As the LL address was on the tennancy as C/O the LA?

It's acceptable for the purposes of S48 for a LL to have given an address as c/o their LA.

A tenant can write to an LA and request the name and address of the LL and the LA must give the info within 21 days of the request ,but you are now an ex-tenant?

You can try others ways - a Land Reg search on the property, or sometimes the LLs address appears on the gas safety certificates if you have a copy of one of them in your possession ( obviously a current one would be at the property) .

Loretta

I would have thought that if you were quoted £85 for a full professional clean including carpets the price should have made you wonder how good it could be for that price. So many people go for the cheapest not for what is actually required. Your cleaners may be used to doing a weekly hoover and dust not a full end of tenancy clean and may not know what it should include. Did you have a written quote for the clean from the cleaners you used? if you have you could look and see what it includes and see if those items were done properly. It is usual for agents and landlords to ask for a flea treatment if they allow you to have pets but it should be in your agreement at the start of the tenancy not sprung on you at the end

sexki11en

The problems we are having now (cleaning aside for a moment) is that both the LA and the LL are denying giving us permission for cats which is why they are justifying charging us for flea treatment (please remember w e moved out 3 weeks ago now and there is still no sign of fleas - this is opurely preventative) We stood in front of them when they made the call to the LL to ask for permission! We wouldn't have taken the flat without. If they want to play it like that then I will deny all knowledge of having pets as the first thing we said when we went into them is 'we have 3 cats - can you help us'!

Also they have given us quotes both for replacing the whole sofa (if the frame is damaged - which it won't be) and for replacement covers - but both quotes are for a small corner sofa. The sofa that is there is neither small nor corner. We also have still not seen a receipt for the original as they are saying it was new in 05 but it didn't state that on the inventory (everything else was stated as new in 05) The LL has conveniently gone on holiday the day I asked for a copy of the receipt. I have e mailed to LA for clarification on why they are quoting for a sofa which is nothing like what was in there but 2 days later, they still haven't come back to me.

They are also getting a quote from the most expensive shop in the area (they say the original was bought there) but could we offer to buy a similar sized brand new one from somewhere like DFS at half the price? They want £1,200 for a new sofa or £650 for replacement covers (for a corner unit which won't fit!)

This is getting rediculous now, the LA seem to be coming up with every underhanded trick in the book to keep hold of our deposit. We were good tennants, rent was never late - not once and we looked after the place. This is the thanks you get? I wish now we'd trashed the place - they wouldn't treat us any worse!

Captain_Mainwaring_2

sexki11en wrote: »

Ok, want a laugh?

This is the breakdown of what they are charging us for:
House clean - £80
Carpets cleaned - £65 (both plus VAT
Flea treatment - £94 (this was not in the contract, or ever mentioned to us)
Replacing the sofa that the cats scratched (I am not denying this) £674. They say the sofa was brand new 2.5 years ago - this is not stated on the inventory (everything else was new in Aug 05 and stated as so) They say the sofa was £1,349 brand new and because it is 2.5 years old they will 'settle' with half to replace it.

Total they want from us: £954.82

Does anyone else find it strange that our deposit amount is £975?

We paid a professional cleaner £85 and have provided a receipt to the LA. They were saying there was a hair on the cooker(!) fingerprints on the lightswitches dust on the carpet (round the edges) etc.

I have e mailed them a letter which I will paste in a reply below. Any ideas anyone where I can go from here? I'm so annoyed that we did everything right and honest and STILL they want to keep all our money.

You of course have a note on the contract about your !!!!!?

If you didn't want to pay for the sofa then don't let the cat have a go at it, after that any arguement is futile.

LittleMissAspie

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

If you didn't want to pay for the sofa then don't let the cat have a go at it, after that any arguement is futile.

So if you had a bit of an accident (let's say you fell over that pesky cat) and spilt red wine on a white sofa, you'd be happy to be charged for a corner sofa when the one you damaged was a 2-seater?

sexki11en

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

You of course have a note on the contract about your !!!!!?

If you didn't want to pay for the sofa then don't let the cat have a go at it, after that any arguement is futile.

I think that's a little unfair. The law states a like for like replacement - not betterment. They still have to prove to me it was new in 05 so we can account for depreciation. I am not saying I won't pay a fair cost but they are just taking the pi$$ now!

sexki11en

Guys, they are trying to take £950 from us. Does no one have any advice other than 'it's your own fault' and 'put it down to experience', despite the fact we've tried to do everything right??

Do we just give in and let them have our money???

Tori_Bellatrix

Are you dealing with all corresspondance yourself SK, or have you engaged the skills of a solictor. I know it's further expense but it helped me get my deposit back recently and showed my devil of an ex-LL that I wasn't prepared to mess about. I did have a thread running for the duration and I got so much support on this thread it was fantastic ...

Captain_Mainwaring_2

sexki11en wrote: »

I think that's a little unfair. The law states a like for like replacement - not betterment. They still have to prove to me it was new in 05 so we can account for depreciation. I am not saying I won't pay a fair cost but they are just taking the pi$$ now!

I'm at a loss as to why when the tenant knew there was damage to the sofa, why they didn't get it put right themselves?

I'd also like to see you deny the presence of a cat when the sofa has teeth marks in it.

See it from both sides, if you were the landlord would you want to be messing about with this?

I had a tenant once who burnt a kitchen worksurface with a cigarette, despite I didn't allow smoking inside, then denied it - then she demanded the deposit back quite vehemently. She got a bit of surprise when she was informed that the deposit wasn't enough, and thought I should change the item myself to save money.

Tori_Bellatrix

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

I'm at a loss as to why when the tenant knew there was damage to the sofa, why they didn't get it put right themselves?

I'd also like to see you deny the presence of a cat when the sofa has teeth marks in it.

See it from both sides, if you were the landlord would you want to be messing about with this?

I had a tenant once who burnt a kitchen worksurface with a cigarette, despite I didn't allow smoking inside, then denied it - then she demanded the deposit back quite vehemently. She got a bit of surprise when she was informed that the deposit wasn't enough, and thought I should change the item myself to save money.

Do you mean the costs or the labour? If it's the labour then I don't think that's entirely unfair (if it's something you were able to do of course). After all, it should the most economical solution to repairing the damage.