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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 15:22

I've printed the email from the letting agent clearly saying 'The landlord has agreed to settle the carpet cleaning bill' and highlighted it Angry same with the oven door handle. Highlighted that. It's so infuriating.

OP posts:
CuriousaboutSamphire · 07/09/2018 15:26

donajimena I am an inventory clerk, one of the nasties who comes in after you and points out all the bits you miss Grin

I can tell a cleaner who knows what an end of tenancy clean is - the cooker extractor hood is clean, so are the extractor fans in the bathroom! Usual cleaners don't seem to see them Smile

LRDtheFeministDragon · 07/09/2018 15:26

They sound cheeky, but you sound like a pushover. I've no idea why you'd agree to something as 'goodwill'. They obviously realised you were an easy target.

Our last LL tried to push for various things and we simply kept pointing out things were either in as good a state as they'd been at the start of our tenancy, or only showed reasonable wear and tear. He backed off eventually and we got the whole thing back.

serbska · 07/09/2018 15:26

Fight the claims... it is virtually impossible to get cash out of the depost now as a LL.

New carpet because the tenant has burnt a patch in the middle of the 4 year of carpet?

Nope.
You can have 1/20th of 6/10th of the price of a new carpet...

Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:29

I do feel like a pushover with the 55 quid now but they rejected it so it's up to adjudicator I guess!

OP posts:
serbska · 07/09/2018 15:30

I have guided lots of people at work through getting their entire deposit back via TDS. One of my favorite ones was a colleagues LL trying to charge him for a new toilet after a 6 month rental because of limescale.

We live in London. Of course there is fucking limescale but 1) that isn't new toilet worthy and 2) it was there on the move in photos anyway!

DoryNow · 07/09/2018 15:31

Where is the letting agent in all this? They should be dealing with the LL on your &(&his) behalf that's what they are paid for.

If photos where not taken as part of the first inventory & checking in/out procedure then it's their lookout if things aren't done to a good standard. (which clearly they were with you OP) Def trying it in.

I have worked in a letting agents AND have been a tenant - never had a problem if it's all done properly, but I know many don't.

Myotherusernameisbest · 07/09/2018 15:34

Yes, alot of LL's do think they are entitled to keep the deposit, or most of it.
We recently moved out of a house and they insisted we had the carpets professionally cleaned (they were really old crappy carpets) We had no pets and had only been there 1 year, so I queried to make sure they were serious. Anyway we had them professionally cleaned at a cost of £165.

We moved out and 2 weeks later the carpets were in a skip outside the house and new ones being laid.
Angry doesnt even cut it.

They also withheld half the deposit for 'cleaning' Which was a joke as like you me and 4 friends cleaned that place to within an inch of its life when we left.

chillpizza · 07/09/2018 15:37

I think most LL do this. Our house certainly wasn’t lovely when we moved in and no doubt they will ty to claim but doesn’t most rental items have a lifespan considered like 5-7 years max for even good carpets. Shouldn’t charge for painting unless you’ve actually changed or damaged it as they have to expect wear and tear.

LookAtMeLookAtMoy · 07/09/2018 15:39

Between H and I we've lived in a few rentals and only once had the deposit back, which was at the last house. We had been there 10yrs, so it needed repainting and new carpets but we were pleasantly surprised to get the lot back.

clarabellski · 07/09/2018 15:40

In my last rental the landlord tried to claim the entire deposit for a whole load of hilarious stuff (scuffed paint in the understairs storage cupboard anyone?!?!?)

After a couple of back and forths we offered £200 to draw a line under it (with no admission of liability). He refused and took as to TDS who awarded him £0

tee hee....

swingofthings · 07/09/2018 15:44

It goes both ways. I had two lots of tenants and both times the property was left in a state with both adamant that every damage was due to T&W. Both times the adjudicator agreed with me.

One tenant had painted the frames and doors all in white because the original wood made the room too dark. These were original wooden doors. I was livid but they insisted they had made improvements and that I should be grateful.

In the end people will have different views of what is clean or not and what is damage vs T&W. That's why there is a process in place to decide.

If you are convinced you are in the right than trust the system will support your case.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 07/09/2018 15:44

Mould is actually a health hazard and can kill you if you are unluckily allergic to the spores. I reported stinking mould in my bathroom and the owners kicked up a fuss and accused me of 'asking for too much'. I now have notice to leave at the end of my tenancy. I'm expecting to be stiffed for my deposit.

BewareOfDragons · 07/09/2018 15:44

Dispute the lot. By the sounds of it, if you write a very detailed, itemized letter covering each charge they have raised, you should get it all back.

Yes, I do think they view the money as theirs which is wrong and hard to fight back. But I have successfully argued and gotten all our deposit money back on several occasions (admittedly, some years ago) save for a lightbulb which we told them upfront we hadn't had time to replace.

Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:45

I really hope TDS backs me up from n this. Surely written admission that the agent broke the oven door handle is enough?

OP posts:
Original poster
Strawbroke · 07/09/2018 15:47

I wish I could post my detailed check out report with photos. The house looks spotless on the photos!

OP posts:
swingofthings · 07/09/2018 15:47

Yes it is considered that 5 to 7 years is reasonable for carpet lifespan but that makes me really question how tenants live because our carpet is now 12 years old and still in a good condition. My parents and I'm laws also have carpets more than 10 years as is my friends. I don't know anyone who owns their house who replaces their carpets every 5 years.

swingofthings · 07/09/2018 15:48

Yes admission that agent broke the door will be enough. How did they manage that though? When did it happen?

Walkerbean16 · 07/09/2018 15:48

mine tried to keep it all. gave her £100 for odd bitd but she wanted it all so i took it to the dispute serbice and got it all back.

MulticolourMophead · 07/09/2018 15:49

I'm in my first rental, after having left ex. There was supposed to have been a professional clean before I moved in. No chance that happened, the toilet was grim and covered in limescale, and the carpets were filthy. I did get a set of check in photos, and will be making sure the house is as good as or better.

44PumpLane · 07/09/2018 15:50

Raise a dispute, the dispute service is (in my experience) quite fair.

We never withhold deposit if it can be avoided- we know we are going to have to repaint between tenants and either clean carpets or put new ones down.

We would also expect to have to do a thorough clean, including oven.

We have only once had to withhold deposit and have this disputed. It turned out to be a great experience for us as it taught us the level of detail that we should be going into when someone moves in (having photos taken of the whole property and having the tenant sign and date a copy for us and for them).

We ended up getting 70% of the money back and the tenant got to keep about 30% of their deposit (they hadn’t paid last months rent so we were awarded that, they had damaged the oven which we could prove so we were awarded that, but having a receipt for brand new carpet wasn’t proof enough that the chap had moved in to brand new carpets and then cut a hole in the middle of the lounge carpet and burnt a hole in the bedroom carpet and cut a chunk from behind the bedroom door....... he was only there 6 months)!!!

With regards the mould- whenever anyone alerts landlords to issues do it by a trackable means and attach pictures if you’re able. Do it in a “just keeping you updated on the mould situation” kind of way- then you’ll always have proof you did what you could.

My husband fits negative air ventilation systems into any properties with damp issues and they make a huge difference.

Arkengarthdale · 07/09/2018 15:50

My most recent rental was filthy when I moved in (the professional inventory company were rubbish) so when I moved out i cleaned it thoroughly but normally myself and the agent thanked me for leaving it 'beautifully' clean. Then tried to charge me for a lightbulb out that wasn't out when I left (take photos of all the bulbs when you leave!!!) Eventually they gave in as I proposed to bill them for the cleaning of the property on my arrival when it was supposed to have been professionally cleaned. Take it to dispute! The Tenancy Deposit tends to find in favour of the tenant in my experience, especially under the circs you describe. They landlord can't expect 'betterment', ie in the same or better condition as when it was let however many years ago. Stay strong and refuse to budge. They're taking the piss. This is why the deposit scheme was set up, to stop landlords and agents helping themselves to deposits for spurious reasons

swingofthings · 07/09/2018 15:52

Multicolour if it wasn't as stated either I. The contract or check in report you need to make this clear in an email to agent or LL as it will be used as evidence.

Arkengarthdale · 07/09/2018 15:54

But yes, there is another side which is when crap tenants cause damage, the deposit is there to protect the landlord from all the costs of putting things right, but it doesn't sound like you're one of this tenants

NameChangeyMcChangerson · 07/09/2018 15:55

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.

Agreed. The letting agent of one of our previous places said we of course had to pay for professional carpet cleaning (after six months!) because 'the landlord hasn't been walking about on the carpets so they shouldn't have to deal with it'. No, they hadn't been walking on them, I'd been paying them a fortune to walk on them! We're talking about a carpet that was clean to anyone looking at it - no spills or stains, hoovered regularly.

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