Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Help with landlord

57 replies

Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 12:16

I hope someone can help me.

we moved out of a property and were only there short term. It was in a bad way when we moved in but I cleaned and put up with things being broken.
i left it spotless. Far far better than when we moved in. It was two days solid cleaning.
thr landlord has now sent me a list saying various things are broken- shutters- chipped worktop- broken fridge. None of these things are true. She has alsI said I need to pay for professional clean. She’s holding the deposit.
i have photos and video showing that the place was left perfectly clean and undamaged.

before we moved in the carpets were very badly damaged and I think the landlord will need to replace before she lets another tenant in because it’s horrible to live like that. Burned and stained and moths everywhere. My guess is she is hoping to charge me for the professional clean she will need to do once the contractors have fixed up the house.

my question is could anyone help me with wording a letter saying I refute the dishonest claims on my deposit and have photos and video of when we moved into and out of the property.

for more context this is an extremely greedy woman who has a family business letting out residential properties in London. We were paying 4,500 per month and she is now asking much higher so she will definitely need to do the repairs that she refused to do for us. But she wants that at my expense. I’m furious but can anyone advise? Can we take her to court? It’s fraudulent and also defamation surely? I spent 6 months there cleaning up her property.

thank you to anyone who can help.

OP posts:
Name99 · 02/06/2022 13:44

Just focus your attention on the deposit scheme
You refute this with them.
Have you checked your deposit has been protected?

Lysianthus · 02/06/2022 13:49

Apologies if you've answered this already but PPs have asked you if your deposit is lodged in the Deposit Protection Scheme?
If it is, then you deal with them direct. Your evidence is useful.
If it isn't, the Landlord will be fined and you will as PPs have said receive a large amount of compensation, particularly if the amount of your deposit is a percentage of your v high rent.

welshladywhois40 · 02/06/2022 14:04

Was the progressional clean in the contract? My last couple of rentals in London included this as a clause in the contract and you left receipts to prove this.

calmlakes · 02/06/2022 14:04

Don't make it personal OP.
It is a business transaction.
I have been both a landlord and a tenant, I know it can seem personal but it isn't.

The deposit protection scheme is heavily weighted in favor of tenants, she won't get what she is asking for. Just sit back and let the dispute resolution work, it will work in your favor.

If for any reason she has been stupid enough not to register your deposit in a a DPS then you will do even better out of this.

Follow the advice on here about the DPS and just ignore the landlord.

DialsMavis · 02/06/2022 14:13

We had this with a disgusting but very expensive house in London, we moved in and it was filthy, lots broken, she was a nightmare landlady. She tried to take our deposit and said we were dirty, I was so upset and angry.

We did get most of the deposit back but were charged for some things which were unfair. Some damaged carpet that I reported when we first moved in, but had done it by phone rather than email so couldn't prove it and some items on the inventory that were the previous tenants junk which we were verbally told to throw away when we asked for them to be removed.

Good luck and try not to take the lies to heartbroken, she is just an arsehole.

AchatAVendre · 02/06/2022 14:15

We were paying 4,500 per month and she is now asking much higher

Please can you answer the questions about whether your deposit is protected or not? If it is protected, since you have photos and an inventory taken at the start of the lease, all you need to do is to let the deposit protection scheme sort it out. Send them a copy of the photos and inventory that you have. Deposit protection schemes are quite restricted in what they award landlords and take off a lot for wear and tear so you won't really have much to worry about. Shelter will just tell you the same thing.

Unfortunately, all this will delay your deposit return but thats just how long it takes the deposit protection schemes to look into things.

Can you also clarify whether this was a single family let or a house in multiple occupation? Its a very high rent, even for London, which makes me wonder whether it was an HMO where you shared with other people.

MochaHoldTheMilkAndCoffee · 02/06/2022 14:35

Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 12:35

It was a year lease with six month break clause which the landlord used. She tried to force her way into the house and I reported her to the police. She harassed us and refused to do repairs.

i have tried calling foxtons and all are closed until Monday now.

In which your agreement will be an AST and the landlord needs to have provided you with the following:

Prescribed Information (this contains all the information regarding your deposit, who it is with and how to contact to request your deposit back) this may have been included at the back of your AST or as a separate document but either way she MUST have given it to you.
How to rent guide which is basically a printed out leaflet.
A gas certificate (if you have has at the property)

The first item is the most important, if she hasn't given you this and she hasn't obtained proof of giving it to you then she's no hope in hell of retaining any of your deposit.

I would suggest firstly as many other have suggested to read your AST carefully and see which deposit scheme your deposit is registered with, using their website you can contact them and request the deposit is returned to you. She'll then have a set amount of time to return the money or raise a dispute.
It will then be up to her to proof that you caused damage.

AchatAVendre · 02/06/2022 14:42

I would also be careful about being identifying OP. There can't be that many leases in the UK for £4500 where Foxtons are the letting agents which are currently being disputed with the landlord on exit. In the light of whats being going on in the news of late, you have been potentially quite defamatory to the landlord.

ThreeLittleDots · 02/06/2022 15:08

If you didn't receive from her (or Foxtons) a document detailing how your deposit is being held in an approved scheme, then I very much doubt this was done, so she is acting illegally.

We were in a similar situation. We put a formally worded letter through the landlord's door which said that we refute any damages, that if our deposit wasn't returned in full within 48 hours then we would be taking her to court, and that as she had acted illegally in not using a deposit protection scheme, the judge would order her to pay us 3 x the deposit amount.

We then went out for dinner and returned home to find the deposit in full, in cash, returned through our letterbox!

Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:03

AchatAVendre · 02/06/2022 14:42

I would also be careful about being identifying OP. There can't be that many leases in the UK for £4500 where Foxtons are the letting agents which are currently being disputed with the landlord on exit. In the light of whats being going on in the news of late, you have been potentially quite defamatory to the landlord.

If the landlord identified herself I doubt she would want to draw attention to this thread.

OP posts:
PlattyJoobz · 02/06/2022 18:10

OP - do you have anything about your deposit being protected? People have asked over and over and yet you seem to want to ignore this question.

PragmaticWench · 02/06/2022 18:18

Was the inventory at the start and end carried out by an independent company? You say 'as I did when I moved out' does that mean the only exit inventory was done by you on your own, or with someone from the inventory company?

If the moving-in inventory and the exit-inventory aren't done correctly then the landlord won't be able to evidence their claim of damage to the property.

Mummyoflittledragon · 02/06/2022 18:24

It is smart that you took pictures on entry and exit.

Did the moving in inventory accurately reflect the state of the property? And if not, did you contact the ll to dispute when you first moved in?

Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:28

PlattyJoobz · 02/06/2022 18:10

OP - do you have anything about your deposit being protected? People have asked over and over and yet you seem to want to ignore this question.

Sorry I’m not meaning to ignore it. I haven’t checked because I have crippling anxiety and cannot look at paperwork. I am confident it would be protected because The estate agents are a massive company and would probably check this. Although there were other mandatory checks that had not been done for us.

OP posts:
Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:30

Mummyoflittledragon · 02/06/2022 18:24

It is smart that you took pictures on entry and exit.

Did the moving in inventory accurately reflect the state of the property? And if not, did you contact the ll to dispute when you first moved in?

I did not go through it because of my anxiety but I did make a list and the landlord acknowledged lots of issues that she said would be fixed by a builder. That didn’t happen though. She knew I took photos when I moved in. She said there was no need because she was aware of the damages left by previous tenants.

OP posts:
DrDetriment · 02/06/2022 18:31

OP it would be really helpful if you just answered the question- were you given the details of the official deposit scheme or not?

DrDetriment · 02/06/2022 18:32

Sorry just seen that you don't know.

Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:32

PragmaticWench · 02/06/2022 18:18

Was the inventory at the start and end carried out by an independent company? You say 'as I did when I moved out' does that mean the only exit inventory was done by you on your own, or with someone from the inventory company?

If the moving-in inventory and the exit-inventory aren't done correctly then the landlord won't be able to evidence their claim of damage to the property.

I think it’s an independent company that did it before we moved in and after we moved out. But the damages she has listed were definitely not there when we left. The place was spotless and nothing damaged. It was in a much cleaner and improved condition than 6 months prior

OP posts:
Bizzlemizzle · 02/06/2022 18:34

My ex landlord tried getting me for all sorts of rubbish (2k over my deposit).
I didn't contact her or my letting agents.

I submitted photos (time stamped) and everything else I have to dispute her claims to the Deposit protection scheme we was under. She had to submit her evidence (she didn't have any so didnt) and I got my deposit back.

While it was stressful, it was a simple process....you need to find out where your deposit actually is.

Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:36

I cannot access my account online to check the deposit scheme. I will call foxtons on Monday but I am assuming they will have protection as required. However the landlord is not being honest and is trying to get me to pay for works she needs to do to the property. That’s why it’s fraudulent. She did it with the last tenant too.

OP posts:
ThreeLittleDots · 02/06/2022 18:36

I haven’t checked because I have crippling anxiety and cannot look at paperwork

Kindly, you're asking for help on here but you need to help yourself by facing up to the paperwork. Otherwise we're all just guessing. It's massively disrespectful to expect a magic answer here without making any effort yourself.

Magicandspiders · 02/06/2022 18:37

They can't enforce professional cleaning anymore.

Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:37

Bizzlemizzle · 02/06/2022 18:34

My ex landlord tried getting me for all sorts of rubbish (2k over my deposit).
I didn't contact her or my letting agents.

I submitted photos (time stamped) and everything else I have to dispute her claims to the Deposit protection scheme we was under. She had to submit her evidence (she didn't have any so didnt) and I got my deposit back.

While it was stressful, it was a simple process....you need to find out where your deposit actually is.

Thank you. I believe she must have damaged the property since we left though. I did a final check and took photos and video and it was perfect apart from the problems already there.

OP posts:
Original poster
Loginmystery · 02/06/2022 18:39

ThreeLittleDots · 02/06/2022 18:36

I haven’t checked because I have crippling anxiety and cannot look at paperwork

Kindly, you're asking for help on here but you need to help yourself by facing up to the paperwork. Otherwise we're all just guessing. It's massively disrespectful to expect a magic answer here without making any effort yourself.

Yes I’ve tried. I cannot access my account to check paperwork. I can only call them on Monday. I think the deposit is protected because it’s a big agency

OP posts:
MadeForThis · 02/06/2022 18:41

The deposit has to be protected within 30 days if the tenancy starting and the tenant needs to be provided with the details of the company. If they have failed to do this she is liable for 3 x the deposit.