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?

What on earth are you talking about? What ramifications can there be from what you “think” might be a bit of weed residue on the kitchen side??

Unless someone has made a formal complaint to the police about the tenants or they were running a weed farm & dealing in it from your flat, then there are ZERO ramifications from there being a bit of dust left on the kitchen side (which as a PP pointed out could equally just be spilled herbs). How on earth are you such an expert in weed that you can recognise it from a smidgen left on the side anyway???

And quite frankly you should be paying for a thorough clean from top to bottom between tenancies anyway, including using bleach to clean.

If the place reeks of smoke and there was a no smoking clause in their tenancy, then you could use some of the deposit to pay for someone to come and clean carpets / soft furnishing / upholstery - but again that doesn’t entitle you to just keep their entire deposit.

You can’t just steal their entire deposit because your feelings are hurt over something you can’t even prove they did.

Just sounds like you’re looking for an excuse to steal their deposit quite frankly.

I wish the government would do more to crack down on rogue landlords & deposit theft without due cause.

Just wait until your Airbnb is used to film a porn video or to throw a massive party. There will be more disgusting things to clean up then.

@LivFG many people have asked and I don’t you have answered - but how do you know it was weed residue?

No one will even have any inclination they have smoked weed in there, have they been growing it in the loft ?
Just have a good hoover( get a carpet cleaning person in if carpets are grubby, they're not expensive)
Then wipe all surfaces with flash, kitchen, kitchen cupboards, skirting boards, door frames, window sills and windows. Bleach the bathroom. It will be fine, take a day tops.

Lord above you are something else OP 😂😂.

You, the actual criminal, are getting all het up about something you don't even know is weed after booting your tenants out so you can maximize profits doing airbnb and you're still trying to take the moral high ground whilst imagining up drug raids and 'ramifications'.

Good luck enforcing your airbnb rules. Boy are you going to need it.

Oh boy are you in for a shock doing Airbnb. I am really looking forward to those threads 😂

Op must be a real expert on drugs as she recognises the residue a mile off.

I’m no expert on drug use, but people don’t typically roll a joint over the kitchen sink do they? It sounds much more likely to be a bit of mess left over from clearing out the kitchen cupboards.

@LivFG "For all I know, they’ve been taking illegal drug deliveries and the address will now be on the radar of drug dealers. How do I know the property won’t be raided by the police or be the target of vandals?"

Anyone else imagining a a cheery delivery man a la Tesco rocking up to the front door with pallets of drugs? One pallet for As, one for Bs, and frozen goods.

I'm sorry what? They've lost their home so you can earn more money and now you want to penalise them for a bit of weed! You should be deep cleaning at the end of tenancy anyway, drugs or not. You're ridiculous.

Christ op wait until you realise that some people hire Air BnBs to host sex parties! Marigolds at the ready (just be thankful you don't have a sex pond hot tub)

🍿

This has been a hilarious read. Having the property “on the radar of drug dealers” lmao. OP the way you see the world in your head is very different to how it really is. You are the significant law breaker by not putting their deposit in the scheme - they could claim thousands from you just on that basis and I hope they do. Good luck with the stag parties on Airbnb 🤣🤣

If you are on a wind-up - oh, you’re good!
Do you have a bet with someone that you could write a mad MN post to get it in the papers?
Entitled - check!
Victim complex - check!
Greedy profiteering - check!
24 hours of hell - check!
And now ramping it up to drug dealers targeting the property because you think weed residue was on the sink?
Give yourself a nip.

What’s actually disgraceful is taking a tenant’s deposit, not legally handling it in a deposit protection scheme, kicking them out because you’re greedy and then clutching your pearls because they might (no actual proof!) have smoked weed. Dreadful behaviour and you should be ashamed.

But you have broken the law! You said you let the property on an informal basis and didn't put the deposit in a deposit scheme. Both things are breaking the law. There's no such thing as letting a property on a informal basis. You need to give your tenant a tenancy agreement that you hitch sign and give you both rights and responsibilities. It's illegal not to have done so. It's so hypocritical you taking the moral high ground with some weed when you've committed a worse criminal act!

This is one of the best threads I’ve read. Amazing.

Imagine being sick with worry that you THINK you found illegal substances in the flat you illegally rent out. Because renting a flat and not putting the deposit in a protection scheme is illegal. Just because you’re now going to refund it, doesn’t make it any less illegal. You’ve 100% done something illegal but are sick with stress over something they MAYBE did.

Amazing, I love it. I hope your tenants realise their deposit wasn’t in a protected scheme and claim back 3x the amount, which is their legal entitlement. Then I hope they spend their gains on loads of weed!

I am really intrigued as to what you think the ‘ramifications’ of your previous tenant potentially having had some weed in the property are?!?! Or why you would need to do more cleaning if it’s already cleaned to a high standard. What difference does weed ‘residue’ (whatever the hell that is) in one place mean you need to re clean the entire house?? I am soooo baffled by this post 😂

Finest example of utter batshittery I've seen in a while. Excellent pearl clutching @LivFG really - bravo!

Doing Air bnb you are going to have way worse drugs being done in your house so good luck with that.

Can I suggest that the OP find their tenants "dealers" and gets some weed herself to chill the fuck out.
Am I the only one who thinks no one does their end of tenancy clean before moving out but forgets to clean up some weed residue on the side if the sink?
I hate any drugs but honestly this is ridiculous

I refuse to believe that this is a serious post 😂

You’re being ridiculous. What ramifications exactly could you possibly face?
Asking tenants to move out just to make more money on Airbnb is just greedy. Houses should be lived in all the time. You need to give the deposit back in full if you haven’t protected it or they can claim for much more. Rooky mistake ??

Airbnb sex party + roving drug dealers = drug-fuelled sex orgy.

Imagine the residue

You sound mental. It’s a non issue

Sounds like the only criminal here is...you!