Daughter being shafted by lettings agency

[Acrosstheuniverse123]

My daughter moved into a shared house last October on a year's lease which expired early October. When they moved in, the house was disgusting. Unflushed toilets, rubbish bags spilling into the street. The agent promised the house would be re carpeted and throughly professionally cleaned. When they moved in the place was still dusty and far from clean, so they asked for it to be recleaned. It was recarpeted. During the time they have lived there, they have really looked after it, and at the end of the tenancy, cleaned it throughly from top to bottom and the carpets were cleaned. The agency throughout their tenancy has been terrible, they have to hound the agent constantly to get anything done and often emails are not answered.

The agency checked the house as did the owner at the end of the tenancy and they were praised for the standard it was left in.
Subsequently, the agent refuses to return the deposit. First, they claimed the carpets hadn't been cleaned. When the cleaning agency sent the receipt, they claimed they had not received it. Then they insisted it was sent again and if not received in a two hour time frame, would be invalid. Now they say there were two stains on the carpet, that were NOT there when the tenants moved out. They cannot send photographic evidence despite being asked several times.

The agency will not speak to the tenants or respond. My daughter went to the deposit protection body and they then finally responded with the claims about the carpet. Two months on they have still not received the deposit back. My daughter is the only one left who is not going to accept being ripped off like this, the others are exhausted with it. What are their rights, and what can they do? Clearly the woman at the agency hates them and is out to get them somehow. My daughter desperately needs the money back.

[MsVestibule]

What did the deposit protection body say about it? Did they rule on it one way or another?

I had to write a letter (recorded delivery) threatening my ex-landlord with legal action if we didn’t receive the deposit back within 10 days. We got it back straight away. Can she try that?

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

Your daughter - or the Lead Tenant - need to go back to the deposit scheme and follow their usual protocol. They all have a help line.

Oh, and 2 stains on a carpet less than a year old wouldn't amount to a lot of money - they cannot claim for the cost of replacement, just a proportional amount towards the next replacement.

And that would be AFTER the cleaners go back in to see if the stains can be cleaned - should they have been provably there at check out!

Your DD, if she is the Lead Tenant, needs to spend a coupe of hours with the deposit scheme.

[19lottie82]

Don’t bother communicating with the agency anymore, the lead tenant needs to go straight to the deposit protection scheme and request the deposit back in FULL.

Was there any inventory taken when they moved in? Photographic and signed by both parties?

[specialsubject]

contract is with agent, not landlord.

call deposit scheme.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

The inventory will be moot, 19lottie. The carpet was replaced after they moved in. There will be an assumption made that it was new and unblemished when laid... they really need a timely check out report that shows stains on the carpet on the day they moved out, or the day after, maybe!

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

The landlord is always responsible for the deposit, regardless of who did/did not place it in a scheme!

[dingdongdigeridoo]

The deposit protection scheme is usually pretty good. Have they not provided any guidance? We had a similar issue with LL and as soon as he was contacted by DPS it was sorted pretty quickly. There must be a way to escalate through them?

[ForalltheSaints]

If the agency uses social media you could embarrass them that way.

[BananaSandwichesEveryDay]

Have to agree that the arbitration service offered by the deposit schemes is very good. Dc1 had an issue with ll when at university. Went to arbitration and was awarded the whole deposit - they didn't even allow ll to keep cleaning fees. Dc2 had an issue with the agent for their property and again, was awarded the whole deposit once the agency realised dc2 had an abundance of photographic evidence to disprove the agency claims regarding the state of the property. Definitely recommend using the service.

[mimp]

I used to work for a deposit protection scheme, did they rule in favour of your daughter?

[Acrosstheuniverse123]

I don't know what's happening with the deposit protection thing... it seems they are still doing battle with the agency. I will show her this thread, thank you1

[SilverViking]

Forget the agency, and don't waste any more energy on them ... just go to the DPS
(speaking as a landlord)

[Acrosstheuniverse123]

Thanks everyone. I have passed this on to my daughter.

[kitkatsky]

Not sure, but bank off a bit and let your daughter Take the lead