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?

Is this a joke?!

You are a dreadful landlord who has illegally held onto a deposit. Your wipe down of surfaces and a hoover between tenants is shoddy to say the least.
Now you are trying to justify keeping a deposit over your assumption that some residue might be a bit of pot. You are totally unreasonable as is your ridiculous response to your discovery. If they were regular smokers, the house would have an aroma. I'm betting it doesn't and this performance has another motive.

The idea of supporting/funding their lifestyle makes me very uncomfortable

Wtf. 😂😂😂😂 it's THEIR money! Yabvu

If this is real then i can't believe you sit in judgement of your tenants smoking weed when you have acted illegally with their deposit , and then blaming your husband when you are as guilty.
It would serve you right if they drop you in it regarding their deposit.

You are insane and the police won’t care at all if someone was smoking weed in their rented property. Also you probably should prepare yourself for this type of thing happening FAR more frequently now you have evicted your tenants and turned into an air b and b.

This is hilarious. Wait til it's used as a pop up brothel when it's an air b n b! Good luck!

Maybe they're smoking it to deal with the stress of such unstable housing.

This is hilarious. Someone freaking about weed residue (which isn't a thing) about to start airbnb-ing their place where weed will be the least of what will go on!

You’re an AH

I'd put money on this one going puffff 💨 any time now.......
It used to be that MN wouldn't delete threads upon OP request but they do these days. If the OP feels put out at all MN seems to delete threads now.

This has got to be a wind up?
I actually laughed at the turning into an air bnb, prepare yourself for some far bigger disasters than a tiny bit of weed residue.
It's disgusting that you don't carry out a professional clean between tenancies, a wipe down and hoover is not sufficient at all and is actually gross.

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).
This on top of the illegal deposit. Fucking horrible.

If seeing a bit of weed dust reduces you to tears may I suggest having a joint to calm yourself down?

You need to grow up.

Are you so well versed in the varieties of weed that you can tell them apart from a sprinkle of oregano? What did you actually find?

You are going to have a very hard time managing an Airbnb. Especially if you think you can get away for long with just hoovering and wiping the surfaces in between stays

Er you kind of have broken then law by not protecting the deposit. Morally, you're also both greedy unpleasant money grabbers. Vile

What a thief. And so shameless you’re posting it on Mumsnet.

No OP, you cannot use dry Italian herb mix on the countertop, to cry drugs and steal your former tenants deposit.

You are really showing yourself in a bad light to be honest.

Putting people out of their home in a housing and financial crisis (I'm assuming you are in the UK) and giving them all the cost of saving for a new deposit and actually moving, after they have always been perfectly good tenants, just so you can make more money?

Sure, call the police, tell them they MAY have used weed, that you didn't put their deposit in the right scheme and you want to keep their money. Let's see what the police say, I can tell you that any officers I was ever on shift with will not have given a shit about the potential of a bit of residue of personal weed. Especially when you are clearly intent on stitching them up. Police are very good at sniffing out dodgy motives. It could even have been left by a friend helping the tenants move out.

What happens while you rent your property out is the legal responsibility of your tenants, not you. There are no ramifications for you.

Why does your property need bleaching and sterilising? Because you suddenly think your previously perfectly fine tenants are suddenly unclean?

Give your head a wobble and have some compassion.

Think you will need to suck it up given you have not fulfilled statutory obligations of a ll . Your ex tenants could counterclaim. Surely it needs a clean after a let anyway, more so once you air bnb it. If this really bothers you even with no proof, I suspect short term letting will prove very stressful.

You absolutely cannot withhold their deposit on the basis of a lifestyle judgement! Also, are you even sure it’s weed? The stuff people smoke just now stinks to high heaven and permeates everything, the place would be howling with it. I sometimes get wafts of it from people in the street sitting in my closed car -it is so strong it comes in the vents. You would have no legal responsibility if they were using or even selling from your rental. Frankly if you are worried about drug use in your property an abnb will really ramp up your anxiety levels.

😂

As a landlord you should be doing a deep clean between tenancies anyway -and paying for it out of the rent.

As for the ethics of throwing someone out of their home to rent it out as a holiday let, well words fail me.

YABVU.

I can tell you as well the police will not care a jot about someone smoking weed in their own home. Unless there is a massive growth going on in the roof, you would be wasting your time.

You know something like 1 in 5 UK adults use marijuana, right? The pearl clutching is something else! Bleached and sterilised?! 😂

I'm a landlord and no WAY would I be so cavalier with my tenants money that I wouldn't protect their deposit. I hope they sue you (which they're absolutely entitled to do).

In tears. 😂😂😂

Gotta be taking the piss.