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AIBU?

Rent deposit

56 replies

Unicorn1981 · 06/10/2016 22:30

I wasn't sure where to put this. Just hoping for some advice or guidance really please. We moved out of our rented property nearly 3 months ago and we still haven't had any of our £1600 deposit back. We lived there two years, gave plenty of notice and moved due to relocation. We kept the house and garden as clean as we could but when we moved in it wasn't in the best state (weeds in garden, worn skirting boards, stains on carpets). The bathroom was re grouted twice by the landlords son but whenever I cleaned any mould marks off the grout would come off. We kept garden tidy but weeds kept coming back. We basically left the house in the state we found it (possibly cleaner). Basically we received our end of tenancy report a couple of weeks ago which confirms wear and tear and small issues ie light bulbs not replaced. When we have chased the landlord to let us know what the next step is in regards to our deposit we get the landlord telling us to call his son; his son says my father has been on holiday or evicting some tenants from another property. My dp called the landlord this evening and he said he has discovered Japanese knotweed in the garden. DP said the garden was a mess when we moved in and relatively tidy when we moved out; we have pictures to show this. He said he would talk to his son then hung up! The deposit is in a protection scheme at least. What can we do?

OP posts:

Report

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 06/10/2016 22:31

Have you spoken to the deposit scheme? You can go to them after a week and they mediate the release on your behalf. Or has it been released from the scheme now?

Tumtitum · 06/10/2016 22:33

One of you had to go onto the website for the deposit protection and initiate the process of getting your deposit back. They then contact the other party and manage any disputes. I'd be extremely shocked if the Japanese knotweed was held against you! You should have got a letter from the scheme with a code or something on it that you will need for the website.

kerryob · 06/10/2016 23:00

What scheme is your deposit with? You need to contact the scheme asap as you have limited times to get them involved. If the LL has registered the deposit you could take them the court, the fine used to be 3x the deposit amount

kerryob · 06/10/2016 23:01

Sorry hasn't registered the deposit not has!

MsVestibule · 06/10/2016 23:06

We had this problem a few years ago. We sent a registered letter, saying that if we didn't receive the deposit back within 10 days, we would start legal action. We received the cheque pretty quickly.

I honestly think some landlords either hope their previous tenants will get fed up asking, or it's just very low on their 'to do' list. The threat of legal action brings it higher up their list of priorities.

44PumpLane · 06/10/2016 23:10

Your deposit should be in a protection scheme and you should have received details of this Whithin 30 days of you moving in.

Find the email, log in and see if it allows you to put in a request to receive your deposit back. At least this way you can track what's happening.

Didactylos · 06/10/2016 23:15

they are so trying it on!

are they accusing you of planting the Japanese knotweed or just not treating it? if the former then they are mad, and if the latter - recognition and treatment of such a species is a bit much to ask of any tenant and eradication should be arranged through a professional company rather than a renter dealing with it as its a long term problem and often requires specialist use of chemicals etc

if there is Japanese Knotweed in the garden it will have got there two ways - local spread eg from neighbours gardens/wasteground or by contaminated topsoil garden or builders waste etc which has live plant or root in it. So unless you redesigned the garden and delivered tons of earth etc it cant really be your fault that it is there. It doesn't spread by seed spread in the UK as all the plants are sterile

I suspect your tenancy said something along the lines of 'keep the grounds/garden tidy and in good order' not 'start and fund a 10 year plus eradication program against non native destructive weed species if found'

Get on to the deposit scheme - if he has protected it make a claim for it as soon as possible as they are clearly trying it on
and if they haven't protected it make a claim against them for that: you may be awarded up to 3 times the deposit if they have breached their duties as a landlord to protect and enrol your deposit in the scheme

Oysterbabe · 06/10/2016 23:15

Last time I had to log on to DPS and kick things off.

lastqueenofscotland · 06/10/2016 23:21

Ring them at 9am tomorrow and say you're submitting a TDS/DPS/whatever your with claim. And do so, and I find they generally
Are quite heavily in tenants favour

Unicorn1981 · 06/10/2016 23:42

The landlord has text DP can you talk so he called him back and it sounds a bit heated to be honest. I can't hear it clearly but seriously talking about it at this time of night seems a bit out of order but this is because DP text him saying he didn't want to have to take action but he would if he doesn't hear anything! Thanks for all your advice. We really need this money and it is a worry.

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19lottie82 · 07/10/2016 03:23

Stop talking to your LL and claim it back via the deposit protection scheme, as you've been advised.

Sandalwearingdoglady · 07/10/2016 06:45

As 19lottie82 said, don't talk to the landlord. The deposit protection scheme is there for a reason - to stop tenants being dicked around by landlords. You log in, request it back, that then goes to the landlord, they decide if anything needs to be deducted, and it can be mediated from there. Yiu dont need to speak to him directly at all. That's the point.

JustGettingStarted · 07/10/2016 07:07

Did you get information about the deposit scheme?

Are you in the UK?

Unicorn1981 · 07/10/2016 07:16

So in the phone call the landlord went on about a wasp nest in loft-there was a padlock on loft hatch-we never went up there! Also that we left a tv there-it was already there! And dangerous decking which was already dangerous (when it was wet it was very slippy) and a hole in the bottom of the bath but there was a bath panel we never moved. It's like they're clutching at straws. DP is calling dps today for advice. He's given landlord till Monday to come back to us so although I want to do it through dps I guess we have to stand by what we said. Last night he offered us £400 which is a joke then half our deposit which again is a joke!

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SavoyCabbage · 07/10/2016 07:25

Don't let him push you around with his talk of wasp nests and knot weed. OI'm to getti

loveisagirlnameddaisy · 07/10/2016 07:25

Just stop contact with LL. The scheme will act as mediators if there are valid grounds for retaining the deposit. The LL can't just pull random figures out of the air: he needs to show material loss and how much it will cost him to repair or replace.

Presumably you have an inventory and photos from when you moved in?

SavoyCabbage · 07/10/2016 07:27

Sorry

All of those things are his responsibility.

EssentialHummus · 07/10/2016 07:34

Stop contact with the LL and get onto the deposit scheme. There's a time limit for this too, so you'll need to crack on.

Unicorn1981 · 07/10/2016 07:37

Yes we do. And he moaned about how we didn't do professional clean when we moved out (did with last place and landlord still took all our deposit and place looked no cleaner!)so dp said was there a professional clean before we moved in and he said no. DP thinks we should give them a chance and I think we should start the claim. Thanks for all the comments- it's made me feel much more confident now. We got ripped off by our last landlord so it's not happening again. DP said they need to provide in writing what the problems are and he will be ok if they take £400 but frankly I'm getting annoyed they think so little of us to try and rip us off I don't want to settle for that.

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Unicorn1981 · 07/10/2016 07:38

Sorry yes we do was regarding the inventory and pictures.

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SavoyCabbage · 07/10/2016 07:46

Don't give them a chance! Go through the proper channels. That is what you are supposed to do anyway. It's not rude or anything. And as someone just said there is a time limit as well.

Unicorn1981 · 07/10/2016 07:56

I really think we should. I heard DP say last night though 'oh yes I'd like to keep it between us too!' I think he's just trying not to antagonise them but if we now start a claim after saying that will that be nasty?

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timeforachangeithink · 07/10/2016 08:08

Stop talking to your landlord direct, he is clearly an arse (speaking as a former landlord). Phone the deposit protection scheme and request your deposit back. If he wants to make any deductions it is up to him to prove to the dps that they are justified, it certainly doesn't sound like they are. He is clutching at straws.

Unicorn1981 · 07/10/2016 08:11

Thank you. DP is ringing them today.

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Collaborate · 07/10/2016 08:16

If they haven't protected the deposit you can get up to 3x the deposit back.

See this www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-your-landlord-doesnt-protect-your-deposit

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