To not put the house back to what it was PART 2

[itsallgoneshitflavoured]

Can someone tell me how to link the other thread please? I'm the OP but unable to log in to that account. Then I will update.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4348511-to-not-put-the-house-back-to-what-it-was

Stories like this enrage me. Renters get such a raw deal in this country. If you spend nine years living in a house you ought to be able to paint it whatever colour you like and it should be up to landlords to return it to bloody magnolia at the end of the tenancy if they want to. Surely that's not a lot to ask in return for nearly a decade of paying tenants?! It's bloody stupid that you aren't allowed to make your home your own without this penalty.

Lovely, thank you so much.

I'm sorry to have to resurrect this whole debacle but there have been further developments and I'm pretty angry about them right now.

Following the email exchange I had with the agent in which he denied telling me to go and finish cleaning the house and get the keys returned to the office despite having Covid, I heard nothing. I ended that exchange by asking him not to contact me again unless it related to the return of my deposit and any issues surrounding that, because it was just becoming a tit for tat argument and wasn't getting me anywhere.

So after hearing nothing I finally emailed the office to ask if there was any news. They then sent me the breakdown of my check out report....and they've itemised a list of things that total more than my deposit by £25!
The redecorating isn't mentioned, like they conceded that battle but then decided to screw me over anyway. It's things on the list like 'damage to woodwork beyond what is reasonable wear and tear'. For the life of me I cannot think what they're referring to. And also charges because the stair carpet isn't in excellent condition. But how can it be after 9 years???
The one that really pissed me off and confirmed to me that they're having fun with this is for 'faeces removal from garden -£40'. I mean....what? A few neighbourhood cat turds over the course of a few weeks with the house empty and it's my fault?

What do you think? Should I walk away now or fight them on this?

Dispute it all through the deposit protection scheme.

It's the only way - and after 9 years the DPS will regard most things as being fair wear and tear. They'll have to provide photos etc of the "damage".

Did you take photos just before you moved out? That will help but isn't essential.

Fight all the way op. Our ll has ignored our request for new carpets. Carpets that have been down 15 years... So we have replaced a few. And kept the old bits which I WILL be putting back down when we move.

Go to arbitration. Assuming you are in England, the rule is that in the event of a dispute it goes to independent mediation. Look up the terms of the deposit scheme you are with.

You will need to refute the charges one by one in a factual way. Evidence if you have it, and for reasonable wear and tear items just state the length of the tenancy and that item x would normally be replaced after such a long time.

I would fight it and I speak as an ex landlord. Some people are just greedy and unreasonable.

@UndertonesOfCake

Dispute it all through the deposit protection scheme.

It's the only way - and after 9 years the DPS will regard most things as being fair wear and tear. They'll have to provide photos etc of the "damage".

Did you take photos just before you moved out? That will help but isn't essential.

This ^^

Deposits are in protected scheme for this reason, they have to show photos of damage and if they hadn't reached carpets they will be due for change anyway after 9 years I'd imagine

So ask for every item to be detailed and invoices shown with your old rental address on it (or for property X address) and dispute every item you disagree with, including that carpets were x years old and. Or replaced by landlord during your tenancy if 9(?) years so carpets are fair wear and tear replacement at landlords cost. Get advice from Shelter or another housing agency who can provide details of what is considered fair use of deposit

They can't not return your deposit with 29 days without giving you written details of why and breakdown so I'm pretty sure you can dispute this and may win on default. Anyway get advice

@UndertonesOfCake

Dispute it all through the deposit protection scheme.

It's the only way - and after 9 years the DPS will regard most things as being fair wear and tear. They'll have to provide photos etc of the "damage".

Did you take photos just before you moved out? That will help but isn't essential.

I was advised on the first thread to document everything and take photos, but sadly I was so ill and felt so rough when I finished cleaning the house that I just wanted to go home and it slipped my mind. I left my phone on the roof of the car that evening and drove home, I must have just been so out of it. So never saw that again. Another thing that stings!

Ah, you snd they have limited time to agree despoil and you need to go to arbitration with TDS so do this quickly

www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/disputes-and-problems

Go to arbitration.

Stop letting them annoy you. Go to the scheme your deposit is kept in and work through their procedure.

It should be easy to do, they are set up to be simple to navigate.

Your LL is definitely taking the piss. Have at them!

Of course you have to put it back the way you found it.
Most places don’t let you decorate or change things for this very reason.

That’s the worst thing about renting - you don’t want to spend much money on it to make it more ‘homely’ so it always feels like it’s not home.

I would fight all of them cat poop is not your issue uf no wood broken then fight that too ask to see what there carpet looked like after 9 years then invoice them for the floor you put down

Definitely fight it. What arseholes!! Good luck OP!

I'd fight it but I don't think that you've made life easy for yourself by forgetting to take pictures.

I'm in the middle of a deposit dispute and waiting for a decision from the DPS. I agree with PP that unfortunately your biggest asset in these sorts of disputes are photos, however for certain things you should still be able to contest the landlord's charges by invoking the 'fair wear and tear' rules. e.g things like carpets should have been replaced after 9 years anyway. You can try asking your landlord to produce invoices that detail all the charges they're taking off the deposit and see if they're taking the mick with any of them?

I've found the deposit dispute process to be quite painless tbh, as long as you have the energy to do so then definitely try and fight your landlord on this! Even if you don't get your whole deposit back you might get something.

Go to arbitration.

You don't have any pets do you? So it's going to be obvious you didn't leave it.

Do you have any screen shots if the property when it was listed to let recently?

The agents are a bunch of bastards & so is the owner. What happened to the nicest one, the woman, that came out to look at the property.

@thetwofridas

I'm in the middle of a deposit dispute and waiting for a decision from the DPS. I agree with PP that unfortunately your biggest asset in these sorts of disputes are photos, however for certain things you should still be able to contest the landlord's charges by invoking the 'fair wear and tear' rules. e.g things like carpets should have been replaced after 9 years anyway. You can try asking your landlord to produce invoices that detail all the charges they're taking off the deposit and see if they're taking the mick with any of them?

I've found the deposit dispute process to be quite painless tbh, as long as you have the energy to do so then definitely try and fight your landlord on this! Even if you don't get your whole deposit back you might get something.

The 'cleaning' apparently came to £340 or something. That makes my blood boil, because it was immaculate. I had the window cleaner come too the day before checkout. Why did I bother doing that just to then be charged £340 anyway?

We were charged by our landlord for car wheel removal from the garden. We disputed this as it was there when we moved in. But it's not in the inventory of the garden, they said. No, but it's in the photos insteadwe came back with. Loved winning that one.

@itsallgoneshitflavoured

I had almost exactly the same situation regarding a ridiculous cleaning charge for a property that I had left essentially spotless. It's so frustrating and I also wondered why I bothered!

Again, if you can, ask your landlord to provide an invoice for the cleaning (ideally broken down into exactly what/how much was cleaned). Look up average cleaning charges for your area and for a property of that size and see if it's a reasonable price. Unfortunately if there aren't photos to prove the state in which you left it then it may be difficult but worth a go!

DPS are pretty good at stuff like this. We had a shit of a LL who tried to charge us £50 to change two lightbulbs (burned out because the estate agents left the lights on after a viewing), £500 to repaint a single wall from very light blue to a ‘neutral tone’, plus some amount I’ve forgotten because the ancient hall carpet was worn, which they blamed on us not hoovering enough.

Sent all the information to DPS and had our deposit back in two weeks.

Absolutely dispute it through the protection scheme. I had a similar issue a few years ago with the letting agent trying to take me for my entire deposit because they were annoyed they couldn't get an extra fortnight's rent from me when my fixed term contract ended.

The bit I found most amusing in their list of the chaos and destruction I'd apparently left was "debris all over the worktop" and a picture of a single grain of rice they must have picked out from behind the sink to illustrate the mess

They also tried to charge me a £300 administration fee for disputing it.

Oh how I laughed when I got my deposit back

For me, at this stage, the £2300 would be less important (as you've said you can afford to not get it back) than the principal of the thing.

I'd have no problem knocking on the door & speaking to the current tenant to ask if I could take some photos & I wouldn't have minded when I rented if someone had done this.

From the beginning ive been 'on your side' . The blue would be a nightmare to cover, BUT, it's saved then 2x decorating already and although it's dark, it's still quite a neutral colour and probably not unpleasant in most tenants opinions, so it might be YEARS & YEARS before it needs covering, if ever!!

You upgraded loads of other things (your choice, I know, but they're benefiting from it).

@nettytree

We were charged by our landlord for car wheel removal from the garden. We disputed this as it was there when we moved in. But it's not in the inventory of the garden, they said. No, but it's in the photos insteadwe came back with. Loved winning that one.

🤣🤣 well done!!

@CleanQueen123. Oh you slattern! A grain of rice... filthy mare!

@kwiksavenofrillsusername

DPS are pretty good at stuff like this. We had a shit of a LL who tried to charge us £50 to change two lightbulbs (burned out because the estate agents left the lights on after a viewing), £500 to repaint a single wall from very light blue to a ‘neutral tone’, plus some amount I’ve forgotten because the ancient hall carpet was worn, which they blamed on us not hoovering enough.

Sent all the information to DPS and had our deposit back in two weeks.

Ah yes, lightbulbs. I've been charged £77 for two spotlight bulbs not being replaced upstairs and one in the kitchen. I frequently bought packs of these bulbs from Tesco. Three bulbs for £4.