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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

MY previous landlord wants to detuct £40 from my deposit because there was dust on the skirting boards.

186 replies

TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:20

I have just recieved an email from my property manager regarding my deposit for the flat we moved out of a few months ago. now i was expecting SOME deductions of my deposit as i did scuff and mark the walls a little, not a lot just everyday wear and tear sort of thing.

I can't say i was expecting her to deduct a total of £210 though!

this is the email i recieved...

vacuum all carpets £40
skirtings were dusty £40
oven and extractor fan to be cleaned £60
clean the grout in the shower £40
scuffs on walls £10
small dent to the kitchen door £20

now, i have many issues with this. i used to hoover or sweep my carpet every single day without fail. it was a horrible carpet which just collected dust and grit and i couldnt stand the feeling of walking on it barefoot without giving it a good vacuum first. the very last thing i did before walking out of the door the final time was vacuum the whole flat. so i can say with 100% certainty that this is total BS.

£40 for some dust on a skirting board is fucking disgusting! how anyone can justify that i don't know!! it doesn't need painting just simply dusting.

I have never ever used the oven extractor. i opened it when i first moved in saw the dirty grimmy muck behind it and never opened it again. as for the oven itself when we moved in the glass door was so caked in shit you couldn't see into the oven through it. i scrubbed and scrubbed that thing for hours until the glass became clear so if anything the oven is in a better state now than it was when we moved in.

grout in the shower £40 the flat had a bad mould issue, the shower cubicle was damp and mouldy when we moved in the grout was possibly a bit worse when we left so i sort of understand that deduction although that was not our fault.

scuffs and dent to the door £30 yes, i scuffed the wall and supposedly dented the door thats fine i will glady pay the money for that.

she has also sent me the inventory for the flat with pictures of all the damage we had supposedly done. we didn't recieve one at the beggining of our tenancy though so she is swearing blind that all these problems were caused by us yet they truly was there when we moved in, we just have no way of proving it.

if you have made it this far thankyou Wine
what would you do in this situation?

OP posts:
psychicpaper · 05/06/2014 10:24

You moved out months ago and only heard this today?

Assuming you are in the UK they only have 28 days after you end the contract to inform you if they want to deduct money from your deposit I think.

Also your deposity should have been held in a scheme which will arbitrate this.

Did you take photos when moving in and out, and did you put on the moving in inventory how unclean the extractor was?

Joysmum · 05/06/2014 10:24

I would ask for a copy of the original inventory with your signature on it. Without it, they can prove their case and can't make deductions, even if there were major damage.

This is scare tactics to get you to agree so you can have some of your deposit back sooner rather than later. If you are prepared to wait for it, fight them.

BrianTheMole · 05/06/2014 10:24

Is the deposit in an approved scheme? It should be. I would challenge it through that.

Joysmum · 05/06/2014 10:25

Good point, what country are you in? I'm coming at this from English Law.

StackALee · 05/06/2014 10:26

read

camtt · 05/06/2014 10:27

I think this is not unusual when moving out - at least not in my experience. I once paid for a professional clean and the LL still wanted something ridiculous to dust the top of a washing machine that had been overlooked. But I wouldn't just accept it, I would go back and explain about the items that are actually cleaner than when you moved in or have never been used. Does she have any evidence of the condition of the property when you took it on? Did you sign anything agreeing it was in clean condition (whether it was or not)? I would think a property collects dust quickly so if she did not check quickly after you vacated it will have got dusty anyway. And presumably will get dusty again before it is relet. Tell her that £40 is an unreasonable amount to charge for dusting skirting board (unless you have just vacated Buckingham Palace perhaps?). I think dusting is pretty much a minimum wage job, even adding a little for admin, it's unlikely to be £40 worth!

BarbarianMum · 05/06/2014 10:31

Challenge it. It is completely unacceptable at this late date. Landlords can't even charge for reasonable wear and tear, it's an inevitable part of living.

Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:33

I live in england, we move moved out april 1st. The flat had no end of problems the window panels were rotton so we couldn't open the windows, the storage heaters/radiators did not work the stairs leading from our front door to our living area ( think 1 house converted into 2 flats) had black mould growing down the walls which had to be proffessionally treated twice. the hot tap in the kitchen didn't work at all so we had mentioned all of these problems to the landlord many a times.

when they sent a handy man round to fix our shower i showed him all of the issues with the flat and he said the previous tenants had complained about the same problems.

we did not take photos moving in as we were told the landlord had already done the inventory but we did take photos with the estate agent when we left.

OP posts:
Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:37

They do have an inventory from when we moved in but strangely enough they will not give us a copy.

MIL and i spent at least a good 3/4 hours scrubbing the kicthen and bathroom the day we moved in as it was pretty grim.

OP posts:
Paq · 05/06/2014 10:38

Yep - she has not got a leg to stand on in if you didn't receive and inventory when you moved in.

She has also passed the allowable timescale to tell you of these problems.

Do you have your deposit protection scheme details to hand? You should have been given all the details when you moved in.

Also, NEVER move out of a property without having an inspection meeting with a landlord, which is then documented and signed. You leave yourself open to this kind of dodgy practice.

Good luck!

Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:40

At the end of the day we lived there for a year and a half some wear and tear is surely expected?

If it wasn't for them wanting £40 for a dusty skirting board i would just take the rest on the chin but they really are taking the piss

OP posts:
Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:42

paq i will have to ask my partner where the deposit details are paperwork is his thing lol

so what do i do now? they have my deposit so i can't just refuse to pay.. who do i take this up with?

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 05/06/2014 10:43

Challenge this!

pianodoodle · 05/06/2014 10:43

Do fight this if you afford to wait for the money.

I'm still annoyed I accepted a £50 deduction from a deposit once that was unfair, purely because I needed that money for the deposit on the next place.

Grim :(

VivaLeBeaver · 05/06/2014 10:45

Threaten the LL with the small claims court. Legally they have to put your deposit in a proper deposit scheme, legally they can only charge for damage, not wear and tear. I believe legally they have to give your deposit back in ten days from moving out.

specialsubject · 05/06/2014 10:45

which scheme is the deposit in?

the landlord has left it far too late.

this is what the deposit protection scheme is for, to stop this kind of sharp practice.

SallyMcgally · 05/06/2014 10:48

You should contest the deposit. Onus on LL to prove that the house is in a worse state than when you entered it, so they should have photos of how it was or a v detailed Inventory. They are also supposed to return deposit or notify you of problems within 10 working days. That's government guidelines. Sounds as if they've breached these.

allisgood1 · 05/06/2014 10:50

What others have said. You don't have to pay for wear and tear, just damage. LL is acting illegally, take her to court.

Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 10:56

Thankyou all, i will show DP this thread when he gets home from work.

like i said they DID do an inventory before we moved in as its standard procedure we just never recieved a copy. i emailed LL and asked for a copy but strangely enough i have had no reply.

money grabbing bastards.

OP posts:
MollyWhuppie · 05/06/2014 10:59

You need to challenge it via the deposit protection scheme where your deposit will be held. If it has not been held in a scheme this is ilegal and your LL can be fined. You should have been sent an inventory - you should have raised this with the LL when you moved in if you hadn't received anything and logged it with the letting agent as if they did one and you just didn't sign it you are deemed to have accepted whatever inventory was made at the time. So you really should have pursued it at the time, otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable to this sort of stuff.

Our landlord tried to charge us £200 for a couple of bolts that never worked which we had not noted on the inventory and had been missed by the inventory clerk too. We challenged it, the LL did not counter our challenge so we ended up with just £30 to pay in the end. It was a bit of a faff and time consuming but worth it in the end. Our LL had loads of properties and probably did this every time knowing it would mostly go unchallenged. It was a total try on, and a lot of LLs are unscrupulous like this.

Unfortunately without evidence it's hard to challenge, but if I were you I would get cheaper quotes for the work to reduce the cost, and argue fair wear and tear for the rest.

HighwayDragon · 05/06/2014 11:03

My previous ll tried to get £600 out of a £750 drposit, he ended up with just 150. Donot let them get away with it

kylesmybaby · 05/06/2014 11:07

Please don't just pay it. The flat sounds in a terrible state when you took it on. It really annoys me that landlords don't get this stuff fixed.

Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 11:07

molly this was our first 'home' ( we are early twenties) we had never rented before so didnt really click on that we should of recieved an inventory at the start of the tenancy.

but i know that they do have one somewhere and i fully intend to kick up a fuss until i get a copy of it. i will go and sit in their office if i have to.

OP posts:
Original poster
TurtleyAmazing · 05/06/2014 11:09

kylesmybaby yes the flat was pretty grim. bordering on unlivable.
i'm sure environmental health woud have a field day in there.

OP posts:
MollyWhuppie · 05/06/2014 11:13

You may end up chalking it up to experience this time but it's definitely worth challenging. It will be decided by an independent arbitrator. LLs shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.