To tell the landlord where to go.......

[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!

It was in July 2009 though so possibly things have changed since then - the CAB and Shelter told me I couldn't win it too btw but I ignored them as after endless hours of research I reckoned I could.

Good for you Queen! I wish I had known that it was possible, I really could have done with that money at the time :o

I have dogs and Im fully aware that they stink, and a carpet shampoo is the best cure for that - the only thing I was wondering is given that he did actually ok it when you moved out and he does sound like hes playing games can you query where your deposit is, and if he cant prove its protected as it should be suggest that either he sorts the carpets or you will take that matter further?

Can see it from both sides its just a shame your husband didnt get something in writing

Maybe the landlord has a poor sense of smell, or the cleaning products used on the rest of the house masked the dog smell, and now after two viewings he's realising there is a problem?
(All dog and cat owners I know don't realise how doggy and catty their places smell, even when regularly professionally cleaned and well aired.)
I think the carpets should be done, whether you feel obliged to pay for it, is another matter.

Hang on a second.

Are you certain the deposit hasn't been protected?

Why are you working yourself up into a frenzy that he is going to start bad mouthing you?

If it is an apartment then surely carpet cleaning won't cost that much (certainly not as much as your deposit) - why not just do the decent thing and get it done.

The fact that his apartment is overpriced and he is well known and liked in the village is irrelevant. Its up to you to do the right thing. Its not rolling over and doing his bidding, it is taking responsibility for your pet.

Thanks for all your opinions.

The thing that is to me very unreasonable is that at check out he agreed everything was fine, and has now, after traipsing numerous people round on the carpets, changed his mind. The contract does not mention carpet cleaning, as obviously I would have had it done if it did. If we are going to do it then I will have to take a day off work, unpaid, so will be hugely out of pocket. I took my last 2 holiday days off for moving, so have none left. I was off on Monday to sort things out, so could easily have done it then.

I don't really want to have to go done the line of threatening him about the deposit protection, but unfortunately think it will have to be that way. I would much rather not waste time taking him to county court, and from the research I have done it could go either way, which could result in us having to pay his expenses.

Bibbity - I have spoken to mydeposits and the deposit is definitely not protected. I would happily have got the carpet cleaned at the time, but he said that everything was fine, and we would be getting our full deposit back. The issue I have is that he has now changed his mind.

It is possible that (even though you had the cleaning done properly) when the doors and windows were shut for nearly a week, and the smell of cleaning fluids faded, the smell of dog began to reassert itself... especially since you say the aroma was there initially.

In which case I don't think he's being totally unfair to say that something has come to his attention since his visit last week...

No, I would politely point out that now he has shown other people around the house, the issue of the carpets is beyond your control.

Then I would make a politely surprised query at the fact that your deposit does not appear to have a record with the protection company, ask him to let you know about this urgently, as an unprotected deposit is indeed a matter for legal action.

Sit back and wait for him to back down

Definitely don't have them cleaned - he is trying it on.

... although, although, although...

... I also think that once he had waived his own rules (No Dogs), he should have made it very clear if that meant you were expected to do something differently in return.

There. Entirely unhelpful. My apologies.

Actually I think you are being really unreasonable.

As bibbity points out all the details are irrelevant.

The carpets smell. This is not caused by other people walking on them at viewings, but by your pet . Which you accept.

So what if he said that you could have your deposit and then changed his mind - he is entitled to take into account things that subsequently come to his attention.

And threatening him over the TDS is out of order. Yes he has acted improperly but so have you: failing to clean carpets after you've had a dog in the house is pretty grim and two wrongs do not make a right.

Fulfi your obligations and get the carpets cleaned.

Could you perhaps suggest you split the cost of cleaning as a compromise? Get a quote, ask for your deposit back then arrange for the cleaning to be done.
Maybe you could point out the legal implications of the unprotected deposit in the guise of being helpful?

I agree with TheQueen/Bibbity - I'm quite shocked you didn't have a clause in the contract or it didn't occur to you to clean the carpets as pets do make carpet smell. We have a clause in our contract that says we have to fumigate and have the carpets cleaned when we leave as we have a cat

I agree that it's a bit unfair that he didn't notice the smell and said that you could have the full deposit back, but I think a good compromise would be to agree to either have them cleaned once you have it, or you book a cleaning company and he pays them from your deposit

ll has acted more than 'improperly' - he has acted unlawfully by failing to protect her deposit

the laws re. deposit protection were brought in to stop exactly this kind of dispute and give both parties protection and the benefit of arbitration

by failing to protect the deposit the ll has lost the legal right to keep any part of it

thats is his tough shit tbh

he should comply with the law and then he could benefit from the right to keep part of a deposit

yes, carpets may need professional cleaning, i don't know, i havent seen them. but ll has no right to decide how much deposit should be withheld for that purpose.

if he'd protected it he could legitimately claim part for cleaning up dog smells

he chose not to do so and so he has basically chosen not to have that right

if op took it to court she would almost certainly get it returned in full

But he hasn't decided how much to withhold - he's left it to OP to sort out. He's probably worried if he hands the deposit back first, he'll be left with smelly carpets since the OP is reluctant to act on it.

he is withholding all of it at the moment!

it is not his money - it belongs to the op and there are legal steps he should have taken to protect that money, that would have given them both protection and the use of an arbitration service to resolve disputes like this

Yep, not denying he's in the wrong over the protection scheme - he is. But just because he's wrong about that doesn't mean his flat doesn't smell of dog.

It sounds a bit like nobody wants to fulfill their obligations first, in case the other party screws them over. Yes, yes, which is what the scheme is for, I know - but if you want to insist on your rights, you should at least consider your obligations.

Kick up a fuss about the deposit not being protected. If he's failed to do that, you'll win. You can always give him the cost of cleaning the carpets once you have it all back, which you perhaps should do if you genuinely made the place smell of dog. At this stage, I would ask him which scheme he's chosen to protect the deposit with (there's more than one) and how much he proposes to charge.

Remember that you also have the power to bad mouth him to new tenants as well. I'm not suggesting you do this, but you aren't the only one whose reputation might be tarnished over this.

YABU.

You should clean the carpets; he should give you back your deposit. He's perfectly entitled to realise it smells of dog a week later. You should tell him you will clean the carpet when he has returned your deposit. Add that you would do it before the return of the deposit, but as he has not put the money in a protection scheme as legally required, you'll need to have the money back first.

Then clean the stupid carpets.

Agree with Kick....you should clean the carpets, it was your dog that made it smell. I am a LL and dont actually rent my house out to people with pets but when I did there was a clause in the for carpet to be professionally cleaned upon leaving and also to be fumigated too. I thought that was pretty standard.

Your deposit should be protected though but thats another story.

Just clean them, it's the right thing to do!

I think the problem with this thread is that both the OP and the LL are in the wrong :o

I do feel that the OP should clean the carpets if there is an issue, if only for goodwill and the fact that under the protected deposit scheme, it would probably find against her and she would have to pay.

But I dont think that the LL should get away with not protecting the deposit, and they should report him for that if only to ensure he protects them in future and other tenants of his dont go through the same mucking about.

Actually I'm not sure the deposit does have to be protected.

On the basis of the OP it seems unlikely that the OP had a AST (only 2mth rent and had her main home elsewhere). As far as I am aware only AST's require that the rent is held in a scheme.

However, regardless the OP knows she is responsible and is just trying to wriggle out of her responsibilites. Frankly she deserves to be bad mouthed round the village.