Charged for professional cleaning

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Hello,

My husband and I moved out of our flat, it was empty for about a month, and in the advice of the landlords we hired professional cleaners to come in the Thursday/Friday before check out on the Monday. We checked the cleaning on Friday when they were done and called them back in to do some further work we felt they had not done to a high enough standard, so in total they spent a good three days cleaning. We then sent the receipt to our landlord, it all totaled £132.

We were told by the letting agency we had to move check out to Sunday at 11am as they had new tenant moving in on Monday at 9am.

About a week later we recieved the check out report and planned deductions. We have been told that we need to pay a charge of £180 for additional cleaning. I contacted the landlord with the receipt and asked why we were being charged again, especially considering new tenants were now in situ.

After not recieving a response for 20 days, despite 6 follow up emails, I finally received a response saying they will respond later. They responded at 9pm today to say cleaning had already been done and we needed to pay.

I have asked for proof of reciept, but I am dubious that they have one, as I'd imagine they would've had to hire the cleaners after check out, as they wouldn't have been able to say the flat needed it until then? Which only gives them from noon on Sunday to 9am Monday, which seems a short window for cleaners to make any substantial difference.

If they don't provide a receipt do I have any action I can take? Also just wondering if anyone else has been in a situation like this where they've paid for professional cleaner and are being told to pay again?

Also should I say anything to the cleaning company if we do end up with the charge (£180) deducted from our deposit? They advertised themselves as an end of tenancy cleaner, but if we're charged again they clearly didn't dotheir job right?

For further info, the company is very well known, but operates mainly out of the capital, and hires intermediates for checkout and lettings.

Are they trying to take it out of your deposit? If so, find the deposit scheme it is in. If it is not in one then they are in trouble.
Raise a dispute with them for the full amount of the deposit back and you can provide the receipts of the cleaning as part of the dispute. They will have to prove with photos and inventory to prove it was necessary.

Shelter have advice:

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/challenging_deductions_from_your_deposit

Sorry OP, you sound like you’re doing all the right stuff and your landlord is grubby little chancer

Do you have a deposit they are holding & are saying they will deduct the £180 that from or are they just saying you owe it?
You've provided evidence you paid for full cleaning, were checked out and then a week later they mention additional cleaning? that is joke!
You've got email evidence where you've contacted them on numerous occasions - they've completely ignored you, dismissed it by saying they'll get back to you "later" and then just said "we had it re-cleaned" - give me a break! If they aren't holding any of your money, I wouldn't do or pay ANYTHING! Ignore it and If they contact you again, demand not only a receipt for cleaning but images showing what needed to be re-cleaned. Without that, they don't stand a chance.
However, if they do have your deposit & are refusing to give it back - keep on at them for that info and go to citizens advice if they don't get back to you!

I assume they're threatening to take this out your deposit? If so you can dispute via the tenancy deposit scheme your money is stored with. I haven't don't it myself and I know it's a little lengthy process but if you don't desperately need the money back then you should definitely go down this route. It's not just a receipt they have to provide for the independent party to decide whether it's fair or not, they should also be providing pictures as evidence too.

Did you take any pictures when you left the property (if not make sure you do when you leave any other rented properties in the future for this precise reason)? Did they carry out an inventory/check out report and explain to you the discrepancies between them?

I had a similar problem years ago. Because they did not take photos of the "dirty" house before they had it recleaned, they were forced by the deposit protection scheme to give me all my deposit back. They were not happy. It did not take long to sort out - a few weeks. Keep everything in order in terms of copies of everything, and contact the deposit protection scheme (most people use this one as it is free) and you should already have the information from the landlord to allow you to access it. If he did not put the deposit in a scheme, then he is in bigger trouble than the 180 that he wants to take from you so you hold the upper hand.

Hi everyone, thanks for your suggestions :-) we don't have any photos, but apparently they do, we were actually asked to leave before the person doing the checks did anything, something we didn't realise they shouldn't have asked us to do.
Honestly I don't doubt the cleaners missed a few things, they seemed a bithalf arsed,but at the end of the day they spent three days cleaning.
We haven't received any of our deposit back, I have asked for the monies back that is not set aside in this dispute, which they never responded to, so I'll ask again today.
We are looking at going through the deposit scheme, but they won't tell us who the money is with until we agree to the charges...
Luckily we now own our own home, so sent in desperate need of the money, though the £1500 back would be nice!

The tenancy deposit scheme is known for being biased towards tenants
Good luck OP

You need to find out your rights and contact shelter for more information. They can't not tell you who the deposit is with, or charge you without proof. We've been through the dispute with a landlord via the tenancy deposit scheme and they were brilliant.

If worse comes to worse, you can take them to court to make them respond. Ignoring you for so long while they hold £1500 of your cash is wrong. Is it through an agency or a private landlord?

If the landlord hasn't used a scheme, which he's required to by law, he's in a lot of trouble and you can take it much further.

You can search to see if your deposit is in the deposit scheme and if you can't find it I'd suggest you advise the landlord you'll be taking advice from shelter.

What is very concerning and possibly worth knowing to raise with your landlord if things do get tricky, you have moved out on the Sunday and the new tenant in on the Monday. Apart from leaving no time for any repair works, how would he have had time to have a gas check, electrical check and EPC carried out? Failure to provide these to your tenant is against the law and furthermore invalidates any notice he may wish to serve on the tenant in the future.

Did they not give a tenancy deposit certificate when you moved in?

OP they have to tell you who the deposit is with and they should have told you as soon as your deposit was protected. This should have happened within 30 days of you starting the tenancy. If you extended your tenancy they should have updated the details on the deposit scheme.

Send a recorded delivery letter requesting the name of the deposit scheme as required by the tenancy deposit rules. State you will take further action against them including legal action for the deposit and compensation as you believe your deposit was not protected properly through out your tenancy.

Give them 21 days to do this in the letter, and after 30 days if they haven't told you take them to court stating that your deposit wasn't protected through out your tenancy. Enclose copies of your evidence showing the landlord and agent were delibrately trying to withhold part of your deposit, copies of the letter and copies of the recorded delivery receipt plus list anything else they did wrong. Ask for 3 times the deposit amount plus costs.

It does cost a lot to take them to court as it is a paper application but worth it as there are now a few cases of tenants winning on this technicality.

What does your inventory say about the condition of the flat? We went through the DPS dispute service as our landlord was trying to claim for cleaning despite the marks he was saying we’d left being there when we moved in as evidenced by the inventory. We provided both inventories and our cleaning receipt and he couldn’t take anything.
If there’s no inventory then there’s no proof you didn’t leave it as found is my experience.

Check your paperwork from when you moved in. The Agency or die then Landlord should e provided this link
www.gov.uk/private-renting And this assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/821379/6.5707_MHCLG_How_to_Rent_v4.pdf.

They were required by law to tell you how and where your deposit is protected at the beginning of your tenancy, tell them you’ll be reporting them. It sounds like they’re relying on you not knowing your rights.

Oh and small claims cases you do yourself. Just make sure you double check the paperwork which is easy to complete.

They are ruled on the balance of probabilities and the 2 landlords I threatened in the past with court action paid up due to me showing them the evidence of them delibrately trying to without my deposit for no reason.

I spent years renting and at almost every property had problems getting my deposit back. However once the deposit scheme was brought in I got the full deposit back every time. The pressure is in them to prove you left the property in an unclean state. The fact you have a receipt for 3 days cleaning will easily be evidence to the contrary. As others have said they have a legal right to tell you who the deposit is with. Write a letter stating this. It sounds like they have broken the law and haven't put your deposit in a scheme. If so they won't want you finding this out so will probably pay up.

I've had something similar happen to me. My deposit was in the dps scheme so I disputed it. I won. Do that and you will win anyway.

My old landlord tried to charge me twice the cost of my deposit for cleaning etc. My deposit was in the deposit scheme so I simply said there was no signed inventory therefore no proof of landlords claims and got my full deposit back.

This is a real problem. If you clean it yourself, they will argue it isn't clean enough, get a professional in and they still say it isn't clean enough. They really don't like giving deposits back, do they???

You cannot legally 'not know' what deposit scheme your deposit is held with. Your landlord is obliged to give you details at the start of the tenancy.

Are absolutely sure they didn't? Could you have forgotten or not understood the significance of the information at the time? Can you check back through your emails etc for the time from arranging the let to a month after you moved in?

You sound like an inexperienced tenant who doesn't know how the system works. Your landlord is taking advantage of this. (Or they may be thick-skinned enough to try it on with every tenant but your lack of knowledge could allow them to get away with it).

You should have signed an inventory when you moved in, been present at check out - or at least have the opportunity to check and agree or dispute the agent / landlord's report.

You were naive not to take pictures, on moving in and out (did your cleaning company take any to show you?).

BUT the onus is always on the landlord to prove the claim you are making. You do not have to agree to anything.

Get clued up, read about deposit schemes and how they work. Write to your landlord in a factual, neutral tone, seeking the necessary information (details of deposit scheme, signed inventory, check out inventory). Proceed from there.

Sorry - the onus is on the landlord to prove the claim THEY are making.

Also, if you weren't present for the assessment afterwards, do you know if anyone else was in the property between you checking out and them doing it?

We had loads of problems with an old landlord. When we moved out on a Fri, had the property professionally cleaned (really well), took photos and handed back keys. I requested to be there for the checks when the letting company did them but didn't hear anything. Happened to walk past the property on the Sat morning and the landlord's really shoddy maintenance guys were coming in and out. A few days later got an email with a long list of cleaning issues stating they were withholding our deposit. Turned out they had done the assessment on Mon morning without me present, but the builders had left a total state of the place on the Sat. If I hadn't seen them and had photos after our cleaning, it would have been really hard to prove it hadn't been us.

If it took three days to clean a flat what state was it in. I regularly use orofessional cleaners. Team of three for three hours does a readonably well looked after house in two hours - cost in London under £200 using a reputable agency.

They really don't like giving deposits back, do they???

There is nothing to “give back”. By law the tenant’s deposit must be placed on a deposit protection scheme and remains the property of the tenant. If the landlord wishes to make a claim against the deposit, they must go through the correct channels and must provide before and after photographs and evidence that the tenant has signed inventories for moving in / moving out. Otherwise the deposit must be returned to the tenant in full.

If the landlord didn’t place the deposit in a DPS, they have broken the law and must return the deposit in full to the tenant, regardless of any claims they may wish to make.

Please read the Shelter information linked to upthread, OP and follow their advice. The law is on your side.

Hi everyone, thanks for all your advice :-)

I've emailed asking for an itemized receipt and time stamped photos to show the flat was cleaned to a further £180 standard. Not expecting a response today tbh.

For the time taken to respond I've been told the admin dealing with it is only part time, and was off for almost a week because of the bank holiday!

I honestly dgaf, in my mind if she can't respond to an email when she's in work 3 out of 5 days then she's not doingherjob properly...but that's more just something that annoyed me than is directly related to the deposit so may be a bit off topic!