Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think lots of landlords see a tenants deposit money as rightfully theirs?

176 replies

Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 14:50

Third (and last, whoop!) time I've left a rental property after leaving the marital home 4 years ago.

Every single one has forced me to use the dispute service tovretirn my deposit, even though I have tried to negotiate with them. First two I agreed to them taking half as I was a bit of a wet fish but nothwanted it all. Forced me to go to dispute. They got half. After loads of stress and a delay of 3 months.

This last tenancy was a 20 month tenancy and I was determined to get the house perfect on leaving. 5 adults cleaned the place to pristine levels and i mean or, we covered everywhere. After final inspection from letting agent she said it was in good condition but needed extra cleaning Angry so I agreed to £45 for cleaning. They then proceeded to come back over the next 4 weeks to say they wanted professional carpet cleaning at £255. I said no way, the carpets were as new. So the LL said okay, I'll settle the carpet cleaning bill but you owe me £180 for a new oven door. Which the letting agent broke and admitted via email! Again I said no. Then they added £150 for painting the bannister and handrail in the hallway. It was unpainted when I moved in. I offered £55 as goodwill. They refused it. £100 not enough! At this point I just said give me an itemised list of everything you want to claim off me, they ignored me for two weeks so I had to raise a dispute.

Landlord has put in a claim for 650 for carpet cleaning, oven door, handrail and replacement light bulbs! So with the £650 basically. My entire bond.

AIBU to think a lot of landlords see deposits as an entitlement to keep? The property was let within days so obviously was in great condition! I had to create my own check out report as they didn't bother doing one. It's so frustrating and I was a great tenant. The LL even said when I moved out. I am so glad I've finally managed to buy and not have to deal with this anymore!

OP posts:
Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 14:51

So many typos. Sorry Blush

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 07/09/2018 14:54

Bloody hell that's awful. They're just out to screw you

Oakmaiden · 07/09/2018 14:54

If the property was let within days have they already had the disputed work done?

rosalife · 07/09/2018 14:56

I am dealing with this right now.

We are moving to another rental place (can't buy) and I doubt we will see any of our £1250 deposit. The problem we have is that the bathroom has no window so ventilation is impossible and it's made mould a big issue.

We moved in four years ago and not a single bit of upkeep or maintenance has been done by the landlord since since so there is standard wear and tear of the carpets, which I'm happy to pay to be professionally cleaned.

I just know we won't get our money back though, even if we reasonably offer to pay for any cleaning professionally before we leave.

Sigh.

Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 14:57

Have they heck had the work done! My neighbour is my good friend and she said after the letting agent came round two days after tenancy ended nobody has been near the place until the tenants moved in.

OP posts:
HisBetterHalf · 07/09/2018 14:57

did you take photos prior to moving in

Rarfy · 07/09/2018 14:58

It does seem to be the case. What i dont get is the cleaning thing including carpets. Surely that is part and parcel of beimg a landlord. A bit like a hotel. They clean the room between guests and maintain it.

As long as u dont leave the place a dive and the rent is up to date surely the landlord has had their benefit because i assume most make a small profit on the rent not to mention eventually they will own a.property that has only cost them a deposit really.

Witchofwisteria · 07/09/2018 14:58

You are doing the right thing taking it to a dispute to get your deposit back. I am currently fighting my landlady who is saying it took her 33 hours to clean my 2 bed flat after I left the property. I cleaned before I left and the check out report only mentions dust on some windows and skirtings and the need to clean a kitchen cupboard again. I have had cleaners give counter quotes of maximum 1.5 hours work which will get submitted as counter evidence to the rubbish time breakdown sheet she has written. You should try and obtain 2 or 3 similar quotes to show the time/cost spent was unreasonable.

Make sure you find the email admitting the oven door was the letting agents fault and ask for every single receipt. As the property was let within days you should be able to argue it was left in a good state to re-inhabit.

I would like to thing these adjudicators know when someone is just taking the piss! Hopefully he has priced himself out. Also he doesnt have much of a leg to stand on without a check out report and you have the evidence from your own check out report to back up that everything was left in a good condition.

bingbongnoise · 07/09/2018 15:00

YANBU. Many of them do this. I think it's awful.

lowtide · 07/09/2018 15:00

I think it’s pretty standard sadly. I let out my flat and gave it all back they were getting married and I was selling.

Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:00

It's so frustrating isn't it rosalife?

My landlord (a plumber) was on holiday when the bathroom sink pipe leaned into the electric light fitting in the kitchen. So to ensure the house didn't catch fire my dad rerouted the pipe into a box so all out tootbrishing/washing waste water had to be emptied down the loo. He didn't come fix it for 4 weeks! Taught me a lot about water waste!

He was a useless landlord tbh but a nice guy...or so I thought!

OP posts:
Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:01

Hisbetterhalf luckily I did. After being bitten previously!

OP posts:
TheMagicTorch · 07/09/2018 15:03

Having a similar problem at the moment, and like rosalife we are being charged for mould in the property, although the lack of ventilation and damp conditions were pointed out on every inspection during our tenancy.

We left 2 months before our tenancy ended (bought a property - yay!) but paid the rent for those 2 months.

We paid for the carpets to be professionally cleaned but they are claim the living room carpet is 'damaged'
This isn't my picture but is basically what the carpet looked like, joining the living room and kitchen. This will allegedly cost 595 for the whole carpet to be replaced. Our deposit was 600. They are also claiming damage from mould/condensation and water damage to the kitchen units (from a bath that was incorrectly fitted - not by us!)
I

To think lots of landlords see a tenants deposit money as rightfully theirs?
Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:04

It's the carpet cleaning that drives me nuts as the carpet between the living/dining room wasn't stretched properly on fitting; I called him numerous times about that and he got someone out but it worked loose from the Z bar. He's claiming I damaged the carpet! Luckily I've kept all our text exchanges about the carpet!

OP posts:
Cyclewidow46 · 07/09/2018 15:07

I think it very much depends on the rental agency that is managing the property.
I am currently in my 5th rental house and have always received 100% back of my deposit.
Whenever I have moved into a place a detailed inventory has been done and the condition of the house compared to this when we have left. As part of the agreement I have to pay for professional cleaning and carpet cleaning to hotel standards. This is expensive and a complete pain but it also means the properties were spotless when I moved in so I didn't need to do anything except unpack.
The landlords in my case do not even have the money but is held by some 'deposit agency' for want of a better phrase, don't know what they are called, to avoid all the aggro you're having now.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 07/09/2018 15:07

If they have no check out report then how do they expect to make a claim?

They cannot charge you for painting woodwork that was unpainted when you moved in unless you painted it and they now have maintenance that they wouldn't have had/did not agree to!

Lightbulbs are down to you, if they were working at check in they should be working at check out, that is your responsibility and can be quite expensive these days!

Carpet cleaning is a wash, you have an email saying they will waive it!

The oven door is also not our bill as you have an email admitting liability.

Did you have a full inventory? Did they do everything else right... ?

I would imagine the arbitrator will have some fun with them, once you submit your evidence!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 07/09/2018 15:10

This will allegedly cost 595 for the whole carpet to be replaced. They are claiming 'new for old' which is called 'betterment' and they won't get it! They will get a %, based on a well worn equation itself based on the lifespan of an item - all every day and common place for arbitrators!

The landlords in my case do not even have the money but is held by some 'deposit agency' for want of a better phrase, don't know what they are called, to avoid all the aggro you're having now. ALL deposits should be held in a scheme, this has been law for over a decade in the UK!

Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:12

The bannister and handrail weren't newly painted when we moved in and were grubby.

I have agreed to the lightbulbs as that's fair enough. All the lightbilbs worked except some little fiddly Ines in their horrible chandeliers. I reluctantly agreed the £45 cleaning and offered £55 for the painting just to get them off my back, so they could happily have had £125. But no.

OP posts:
PandaPieForTea · 07/09/2018 15:14

I think you should dispute the lot. Don’t cave in for an easy life as they just keep pushing if they know you’ll let them away with anything.

CloudCaptain · 07/09/2018 15:14

Yanbu. We moved into a shabby house with threadbare carpets and rotten floors as a student. We couldn't hoover because the carpet would disintegrate. Was awful. LL tried to claim it needed a deep clean and wanted our whole deposit. Luckily we had been round with letting agent at the start and documented everything, and managed to get whole deposit back.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 07/09/2018 15:15

Ah! Missing word - newly

Then they can also whistle for that... they may, at very best, get a tenner, if you put a dent or scratch in the handrail! Again they are looming for 'betterment', and they won't get it!

Having offered £125 it may be that the arbitrator finds for them in that amount, as you have been very amenable!

SnuggyBuggy · 07/09/2018 15:17

The other side is when they make the new tennant pay for a professional clean and then you move in and the place is filthy.

Prettysureitsnotok · 07/09/2018 15:18

Go through the proper dispute channels with the protection scheme, they're trying their luck and won't get a penny of this.

donajimena · 07/09/2018 15:19

You have got to fight these claims all of you. I'm a cleaner and I do lots of end of tenancy cleaning for agencies. Sometimes a tenant will ask me to clean before checkout and I dread doing those because some agencies will try it on and I'm left looking like the bad guy.
To cover myself I take lots of photos and point tenants to the TDS guidelines. I had a client who had lived in a hovel (poor condition flat) and it was like polishing a turd. The enamel had gone in the bath. There was rust, chipped paint and lo and behold the agency tried to charge a fortune.
I told him what to say in dispute and he got his full deposit back. Smile

actualpuffins · 07/09/2018 15:21

Cheeky fuckers. Much of that is reasonable wear and tear, you don't charge it back to the tenant.