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?

Unfortunately a lot of the things you are saying ought to be obvious to the OP aren't always obvious to professional lettings agencies either.

Once upon a time I moved into a rented flat that my friend had just vacated. I was staying with my friend prior to the end of her tenancy and helped her clean the flat before she moved out. I was hoping to be able to just stay in there but the agency said they needed a ten day turnaround between tenants. So on (say) 30th September, I moved out along with my friend, having helped clean the apartment, and spent the next 10 days sleeping on an airbed in her unfurnished spare room in her new place. On 10th October I moved back into the rented flat. My friend had had about £60 deducted from her deposit for an additional professional clean. I saw no evidence that a professional clean had been done as the apartment appeared to be in an identical condition to what it had been in 10 days previously when we vacated it. We thought the 10 day turnaround must be for some sort of decoration or maintenance but there was no new paint or any other evidence of anything like that having been done.

When I finally moved out two years later the letting agent tried to deduct money from my deposit for 12 hours' professional cleaning which apparently included things such as needing to remove an unused toilet roll from the bathroom cabinet and some wire coat hangers from the wardrobe. I tore them a new one and threatened to take them to court if they didn't refund my entire deposit in the next 24 hours.

If this real I quote this poster

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 😅

I'm not at all anti-landlord and usually don't understand the hate on here.

But my word your post is beyond the pale.

You're chucking them out as your husband thinks you will make more money on Airbnb, but you don't think you will?

You're nuts! Airbnb is a nightmare to run and clean. And considering you two don't seem to be very switched on regarding laws and processes, you will fall at the first hurdle.

I hope your tenants take you to the cleaners.

Not sure what 'weed residue' is, but if you found little bits of dried ground up green/brown stuff in a kitchen, could it be herbs? Did you smell it? Would you actually know what weed smells like?

I don't think you have any legs to stand on here and are getting worked up for nothing.

Return the money. Pray they just take it. There is no such thing as renting out a property on an informal basis.

If you're getting this upset about the possibility of weed you will not be able to cope with AirbnB.

Agreeing with all of the above posters.

In addition. I have 2 close friends who let their own houses out on air b n b for weekends.

Even just after 1 weekend of people staying in their houses, they pay a cleaner to come and clean the house from top to bottom. It's just an expense they accept as part of the process of making money. That's how air b n b works. You won't get good reviews If you don't do this as the property will be unclean and no one will want to rent it anyway.

The idea that you would only normally wipe surfaces etc after a proper longer term rental is awful!

WTF is weed residue?

They either left weed or they didnt.

This can't be real

I'm sure others must have said this, but YABVU for kicking people out of their homes just so that you can rinse a bit more money out of people. You clearly have no concept of what life is like being a tenant at the complete mercy of unscrupulous greedy landlords! And you're so friggin ignorant to how disgusting this is that you're on here bragging about it.

That's disgusting. I used to do end of tenancy house cleaning and a perfunctory wipe of the surfaces would've seen me out of a job quick-smart. What about the oven? The bathroom? The cupboards? A thorough steam clean of the carpets? That's not even the tip of the iceberg!

Never mind your property being "abused" (🙄), it sounds like you short-change your tenants by having them move into a thoroughly grubby house!

It's doubtful that op will be back.

A pearl clutching, unscrupulous landlord. I feel sorry for her tenants and hope they do get 3x the deposit beck

You're actually a terrible, clueless landlord if you didn't even know the ramifications of not protecting their deposit. OOPSIE 🤭😂

sticky residue and some herbs on top? 99% more likely to be from cooking than from some weed.

The house needs a deep clean because surely that needs to be done between all tennents. Some mess from cooking does not mean it needs extra.

You sound very delicate if this has got you in such a state.

in my elderly sheltered lifestyle I thought you were suggesting they weeded the garden before they moved out and left remnants of weeds in the kitchen 😆

I think you’re overreacting. If you found the glass recycling bin full of wine bottles and beer cans would that also have met with your disapproval? Just be glad they didn’t trash the house and move on.

YABU. Nice try though OP. You’ll just have to find the money from elsewhere to buy all the new soft furnishings you need for your AirBnB. People like you are why landlords get a bad name.

Local laws vary but in England for example cannabis is legal on prescription. It's quite straightforward to get a prescription for it if you go private. Let's assume it is "weed residue" that doesn't prove they were breaking the law.

Literal criminal landlords weeping over something they invented in their own heads 🤣
Do update us when you find what Air B&B guests leave behind. Also, if you’re already weeping over your own imagination, how will you cope having to do multiple deep cleans a week?
@LivFG

Surely this is a joke. How do you even know it's weed? Do you drink alcohol? it's not worse than that, you are being utterly ridiculous. And you know you will have all sorts staying in your Airbnb, you better get used to it.

Are you crying and shaking OP?

Honestly, you'd think they'd been using the gaff as a meth lab or crack den!

Also clean properly between tenants regardless of weed gunk. New tenants deserve a properly cleaned property.

I'm not sure whether it is sensible to reply as everything I say seems to be twisted against me. This whole situation was completely unexpected, and yes it has upset me. I absolutely hate thinking about what was going on in the property and there is no way I'd ever have allowed this behaviour. I do feel very let down by it all and was incredibly upset yesterday (I still am). I was at the property until midnight cleaning, so contrary to what some may think, I do take cleaning between tenants seriously.

I referred to having to thoroughly sterilise the property because I do not want any other tenants entering and finding an illegal substance!! I certainly don't want them to think that DH or I are the ones who left it - or that we condone illegal behaviours.

As I have now said twice, the deposit will be refunded and I will be doing it today. I still don't think it's right that tenants can engage in illegal activities (for which they could be imprisoned!) and apparently do so without consequence. I wonder how many people here would be happy in a similar situation? But of course it's easy to criticise me.

I agree that the airBnB plan is questionable. I have had words with DH about it again today and have told him numerous times before that I have doubts. I was persuaded by the potentially higher returns, as well as better provisions for any damage or abuse but tbh I expect it will be a nightmare and I'll be the one left to deal with it.

are the deposits from the other properties protected? all have up to date gas/ electric certs, etc?

You did not fulfil your legal obligation to register the deposit.
Therefore, no - you are not a good landlord.

Bloody hell! Talk about being a drama queen. No you can't keep their deposit because you found a wee bit of weed residue beside a sink. Get a grip of yourself and give them back their money.

Nothing at all has been twisted, you’ve just made a complete fool of yourself and shown yourself to be a criminally crap landlord. Hope that clarifies. ☺️

I'm betting that the OP and her husband end up losing money hand over fist because either they have Airbnb guests who damage the property or the Airbnb guests are fine but give the property poor ratings because the OP and her husband are too cheap to clean it properly between bookings and it ends up sitting empty half the time.

They'll long for the days they were getting regular income every month from reasonable tenants who paid their rent and didn't cause trouble.