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 “legal ramifications” do you think you’re likely to face? By the sounds of it you have very little regard for the law anyway because you haven’t even fulfilled the very basic legal obligation to register your tenant’s deposit in a scheme. So rather than being so incredibly self riotous about someone else’s decision to (maybe) smoke some weed, why don’t you instead make sure you’re not completely ignorant of your own obligations before taking on the huge responsibility of being someone’s landlord.

the comment about supporting their lifestyle is the most ridiculous thing about this, it’s not your money that you’re kindly granting them back, it’s THEIR money that you have ILLEGALLY held unregistered.

I think this is the most obnoxious post I’ve seen on MN yet.

You're a terrible person. You're more concerned about suspected weed use than you are about kicking people out their home a month before Christmas just so you can make more money! and you want to keep the deposit that you illegally didn't protect because you disapprove of their suspected lifestyle? You honestly think you have the moral high ground but you're just awful.

Not sure if you read any of my posts but please don't do it. I lived next to one for nearly a year and it was hell on earth. Groups of 20 year old coming up here to party every weekend, up doing coke all weekend and screaming in the street at 4am. I was able to get it shut down by the council thankfully and now there are long term tenants in. Not all of the guests were bad but enough of them were.

Abused? By someone smoking weed?

Even if they have, it’s a few joints not a full on grow, bleach the full property?

ramifications - what are you expecting to happen? Literally nothing will happen

Give them their deposit back, stop with the judgment and harden up ready for your air b&b trauma

FFS OP, it could just as likely be tea leaves or fried herbs!

Calm down and give their deposit back, you're being ridiculous.

Ramifications? Such as? Are you going to report yourselves to the police for having "weed residue" in your house? Do you think this means your house was used as a crack den? 🙄 You should be more concerned about the ramifications for the young couple you made homeless so that you can coin it in on Air BnB but that would require common sense and a conscience and you appear to lack both those things. Give them their deposit back and think of that poor couple who were good tenants while you're washing human sh1t off your Air BnB guests' sheets eh?

I think you need to calm down. It's your rental property, not your home. If the property is not damaged in any way then they get their deposit back. If they have been smoking weed in the house and it smells because of it that's one thing, but if not then it's not really any of your business.

All you do is a wipe down and a hoover between tenancies 🙄

A full end of tenancy clean is the minimum that should be done. Whether that is paid for by the outgoing tenants or the landlord can vary but just doing a “wipe down” is ridiculous

@LivFG Obvious troll is obvious, do try harder next time Dear.

Well this is some of the most neurotic shite I’ve ever read.

I know just what you need to fix this problem OP, a fucking joint.

You rent out the home so whatever your tenants do in the home is down to them. I am not sure why it bothers you so much when you are not even living in the property. If they have left the property in a reasonable state then there is no justification for keeping their deposit. Just forget about it and move on.

Landlord here.
I hope the tenants read this and sue you for x3 of the deposit less what you returned.
you are lucky they left. I bet you never had gas safe certs, electrical checks, right to rent checks or gave them the How to Rent leaflet.
Amatures 🤣
People like you give landlords a bad name.
Thank you for leaving and going into the Air bnb business 🤣

You should add the drug dealer radar bit to the Airbnb listing

This has got to be a wind up/troll

I don’t agree that by renting it becomes their home

@LivFG sell all your rental properties immediately and NEVER be a landlord again. People like you give landlords a bad name. I bet you think you can just unlock the door and waltz in whenever you want as well don’t you?

Of course it’s their home! And the law supports that, but you clearly haven’t done any research at all into letting properties out.

I really hope you’ve learnt something from this ridiculous thread and get rid of your properties forthwith.

Give them their money back you scrooge looking for any excuse not to.

"But officer, I know I embezzled company funds, but I put it all back!"

"I know I was speeding at the camera, but then I drove past it more slowly the second time so no harm done!"

"Yes I stabbed him but I took the knife back out so it doesn't really count!"

That's what you sound like OP. 🤣 You broke the law and are a bad person. Hope your tenants see this tread and take you to court.

no one is agreeing with you try to steal their money. there are no ramifications, give them their money back and clean your own bloody property

I don’t agree that by renting it becomes their home.

I think you're confusing 'home' with 'property'.

By renting it doesn't make it their property, but it does it make it their home, and they get rights as part of that.

Or do you think people who rent are homeless?

You’ll have a rude awakening when you come to clean between Airbnb guests. Full deep clean between guests per the Airbnb guidelines is the terms and conditions of hosting an airbnbs. Airbnb hosting is not for everyone.

Why does the whole place now need to be bleached and sterilised?

What do you mean by 'abused'?

What legal ramifications do you think could possibly apply and how and by who?

This is insane 🤣

I came here for this post after seeing it on Facebook. Hilarious.

You definitely didn't get round to giving your tenants legal notice. Even if you gave them a Section 21 notice on form 6A, it would have been thrown out by a court because the deposit wasn't protected. And I bet you didn't give them a gas safety certificate and a How to Rent booklet, or carry out a right to rent check. Even if the stuff by the sink wasn't mixed herbs you've broken more laws than the tenants did. You were very lucky that they left without a fuss. If they hadn't you'd have been stuck with them for many months, until you decided to inform yourselves about tenancy law, return their deposit, give them legal notice, and take them to court for a possession order. And you'd have had to cancel your AirBnB bookings.
What else didn't you get round to doing? Declaring the rent to HMRC? Checking with your mortgage provider that you were allowed to rent the house out?

I wish I could be a fly on the wall when your AirBnB guests find your list of threats rules.

This thread belongs in 'Classics' with the Mexican house thief.

Oh give over! A bit of sticky residue has caused '24 hours of hell'. Flipping heck, being a landlady/landlord clearly isnt the job for you 🙄

Oh don't be so silly! Get real! People use weed! So what? It's not illegal to use the stuff.