Landlord problems

[susan123]

Bit of background.......

We rented an apartment for 2 months as the house we were buying needed serious work and we did not want to live through it with a toddler and 4year old. The landlord knew we had a small dog and agreed to have him living there. We moved out last Friday into our new house/building site, and my husband went to the check out with the landlord who said everything was fine. We thought that the landlord might be a problem as I saw him a week before moving out and he said that some people he had shown round had complained about the dog smell, so we hired a cleaner and made sure there was no trace of dog smell, and despite doing a comedy sniff in ever room he agreed that everything was fine and there would be no deductions.

However, at 5ish this evening I was in chaos sorting out tea, and instructing builders when the landlord turned up on my doorstep under the guise of handing over a piece of junk mail which hadn't been forwarded. He then went on to say that unfortunately he was unable to rent out the apartment again as everyone (when questioned 2 people), said it smelt of dog, and he had now found dog hairs on the carpet.

I pointed out to him that he had agreed that he would be returning the entire deposit last Friday, but he is now adamant that he wants us to pay for the carpets to be cleaned, and handed me the card of a company so I could sort it out. He didn't give my husband anything in writing, it was just a verbal agreement ( yes, I have pointed out how stupid that was).

There's no way I wan to pay for carpet cleaning now, especially as he has admitted to having people look round, and after having he keys back since Friday we have no idea what's gone on in there.

Also, we are pretty sure he has not protected the deposit, and it says in the contract he uses my deposits, who have no record of it, and we never received the certificate.

We don't want to cause ill feeling, as we have just moved to start a new life in a small town, where the landlord is well known and liked, and know that we risk being badmouthed to everyone, however I feel that he has gone about this all wrong, and is taking out on us the fact that he can't rent out his ridiculously overpriced apartment ( we only took it as he would give us a 2 month contract, and everywhere else was 1year)

Sorry for the novel, but would appreciate an advice, as was already up to my ears in builder problems and sick kids and really didn't need this today!

[Katastrofee]

I sympathize, though I am not the person to help, I am afraid.
We have the same problem. The landlord also didn?t do the checkout report and promised to refund 100% of deposit. A few weeks later he sent us a bill for redecorating and relandscaping the garden. I would laugh if it wasn't for 2k of my money. So I would also like to hear some advice as to how it will play out when the landlord comes up with damages after the checkout when there was no check out inventory.

As to the deposit, it must be protected by a government approved scheme. The landlord must provide you with the certificate within 14 days. If he doesn't, he must pay you compensation 3 times the amount of the deposit, plus the deposit. But I don't know whether this applies for 2 months contracts. Look into your rental agreement. It should specify which scheme applies to you and call their dispute resolution service. We called TDS and they were very helpful first call. Citizens? advice is another resource obviously.

[QueenofWhatever]

My recent landlord tried to charge me £130 to replace a broken switch on the kitchen extractor fan. There was no check in report to show it had been working when I moved in. I went to the Tenancy Deposit Service and had the full £130 refunded. It was pretty straightforward but I did have proof of my deposit being protected.

I'm also a landlord myself and have to say it really pisses me off when other landlords try and pull this sort of stuff.

[InventoryClerk]

The three approved by the government Tenancy Deposit schemes are:
Deposit Protection Service (DPS) (www.depositprotection.com)
My Deposits (www.mydeposits.co.uk)
Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) (www.tds.gb.com)

If your deposit is not register with any of them, the you can take your Landlord to County Court.

If you want to keep this person happy just find a cheap carpet cleaner. Whatever you decide to do I would strongly advice you to have everything in writing (e-mail is fine). You can also call the Landlord and ask him to send you an e-mail with his request for carpet clean.

[dilbertina]

Have you checked your contract? I know that the one our tenants got when we were renting out required them to get carpets and cooker cleaned at the end of the tenancy. If yours requires the same you need to get it done.

If he hasn't protected your deposit then he's an idiot. If I were you I would ask him to confirm again which deposit scheme it is with so you can raise it as in dispute - you might find he realises the possible penalties involved and returns your deposit. Good luck!