To keep their deposit!!

[LivFG]

DH and I have a couple of properties we rent out. We have been renting to a young couple who always seemed like good tenants. We gave them notice a couple of months ago as we are going to start renting on AirBnB instead as DH thinks we will get more money (don't get me started).

Anyway, they moved out on Saturday and everything seemed fine. Today I went to get everything cleaned and I found (what I think to be) weed residue next to the sink. I'm Furious. I feel completely violated and uncomfortable being inside the property. I'm sick with worry that they have been using illegal drugs in my home and what the legal ramifications could be!!

Obviously we have their deposit. I was planning to refund it this week. After my discovery today, I now feel incredibly reluctant to make any sort of refund. The idea of supporting/funding their lifestyle makes me very uncomfortable. And they never would have been given permission to abuse my property in this way.

DH seems to think none of this is a problem and seems to completely miss the point - it isn't about cleaning it up - it's about the abuse of our trust.

AIBU?

That’s not a valid reason to keep deposit.
The deposit protection scheme is there for a reason and if they haven’t damaged the property or been behind on rent you can’t keep it because you’re offended.

You are being very unreasonable.

Don't be ridiculous. You're not supporting or funding their lifestyle, it's THEIR money!
You don't even know what the substance you found is and are assuming it's illegal drugs. I have no idea what 'weed residue' would even be.

You are being very unreasonable. Luckily the deposit protection scheme is there to stop stuff like that happening. You'd need the tenants permission to access the deposit money. You're likely to get much worse tenants one day.

You think there's weed residue and are willing to keep their deposit on a hunch?

Only proven quantifiable losses can be deducted - you can’t withhold because you think they left some weed on the premises.

Also, if you think this is bad wait till you get involved with Air bnb!!

https://www.creditladder.co.uk/blog/what-can-be-deducted-from-a-tenancy-deposit hth

Anti-social behaviour

A landlord can end a tenancy if there is clear evidence of anti-social behaviour such as excessive noise, partying or illegal activities such as drug dealing. But tenants cannot be ‘fined’ for this via deductions from their security deposit.

Did you protect their deposit in a scheme?

If not, they can actually claim compensation from you, up to 3x the amount.

I would just give them their deposit and move on.

I'm very anti-weed, personally, but you'd be unreasonable to try to keep the deposit for this reason. As a pp has pointed out, you don't even know if it is weed, for one thing.

Totally unreasonable. They don’t need your judgement. If the property ok, return the deposit.

It's not even definitely weed. Could be a perfectly legitimate culinary herb for all you know. Even if it is weed you can't retain deposit when you haven't incurred any cost. If they left the kitchen in need of a clean you can pay for a cleaner to cleam it but can only retain your actual costs so no profit to you. Yabvu to train deposit for "breach of trust" - that's not a thing.

YABVU. And no, you can’t keep their deposit for this. That would be illegal.

You are also aware that by putting it on Air BnB you are much more likely to have guests abusing your property, yes? They’re only there for a short time, they won’t give a shit.

We rented to them on more of an informal basis. DH didn't get round to putting it in the scheme (I told him it needed to be done).

What about the fact we'll now need to get it cleaned from top to bottom? Surely this is something the deposit should protect??

You should be cleaning from top to bottom anyway, disgusting if you don't!

Your DH "didn't get round" to putting it in a scheme? How many months did he not get round to it for? He must be so busy!

You sound like bad landlords, so just give them their deposit back and clean for the next tenants!

Why do you need to clean the house from top to bottom if you said it was left ok? I really think being a landlord is the wrong career for you.

They could sue if you don't return it anyway, whether it's in a scheme or not

You acted illegally. They can now claim up to 3 times the deposit because you didn’t protect it, and they have up to 6 years to do this.

You’re fucked 😅

What shitty people you are. I do hope the air b and b guests have parties, do lots of drugs and make your life intolerable with complaints from neighbours. The private rental market is shit because of landlords like yourselves not the tenants.

1. I use marijuana and I have no idea was "weed residue" is 🤣
2. If that upsets you, wait til you Airbnb. I worked as an Airbnb cleaner last year for extra Christmas money, and it was a nightmare. Think body fluids. Everywhere.

You need to honor the contract you made with your tenants, that's the law. Making judgements about them and stealing from them is not the law.

Typically do a normal clean between tenancies - wipe of surfaces, hoover, that sort of thing. Now the whole place will need to be bleached and sterilised. But that I can deal with. It's the fact my property has been abused like this and the ramifications we could now presumably face!!

This is a joke, right?
You think there is weed residue and you want to keep the deposit - that you didn’t do what YOU need to do with?!? And you’re upset you need to clean from top to bottom which you should be doing anyway, as a landlord?
If this is true and this is the way you and your husband think and operate, you shouldn’t be landlords.

Where is your intended Air B&B? I want to make sure I never stay there.

You should be doing a deep clean between each tenancy. You are completely out of order and have absolutely no right to withhold their deposit.

I would hate to rent an air bnb from you.

A wipe and a hoover isn't really enough between tenancies. The cleaning costs when they move out are on you. You seem to want an excuse to keep their money. They can rightly sue you if you.

You face legal ramifications from not protecting their deposit. You’re cowboys.