Help with getting back tenancy deposit from dishonest landlord

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Hello

I'm after some advice for getting our deposit back from our landlord. We were there for a year and the property is an average 4 bed house.

We moved out a month ago and left the property in the same condition we found it in, bar a few small scuffs to walls and crack induction hob glass top (don't ask, we put a pan on the hob and it cracked!).

We offered £200 towards the induction hob when it happened (2 months ago) but he wanted £1200, so we agreed to resolve the matter when we moved out.

The deposit is £4,000 and he has refused to return any of it. It's held in an insured tenancy protection scheme and we are raising a dispute which he agrees is the best way forward.

Couple of issues I'm worried about. You have to ask for the deposit back and wait 10 days before raising the dispute. We requested our deposit over email, but didn't send a formal letter and explicitly set out all of the things below, like stating our address etc. Do we need to send a letter like the one below? Also the request for the deposit to be retuned was just sent by me and not DH who is on the tenancy agreement (come to think of it, it's just his name on there).

What must a letter to request return of tenancy deposit contain?
A letter to request return of tenancy deposit must contain:

• The name and address of the tenant sending the letter;
• The name and address of the landlord or letting agent;
• The details of the property;
• The date on which the tenant vacated the property;
• The deposit amount; and
• Tenant's preferred method of payment.

Secondly, the landlord did the inventory report himself. We asked for a third party one (verbally, via the agent so no record), but he insisted he use his one which he's written on a Word doc listing all rooms, items etc. Almost everything said 'Like New' or 'Very Good Condition' next to it. We had big time constraints moving in and so I did a cursory look round and sent him a note saying there were actually quite a few marks on the walls and a broken fridge door, but other than that, I signed and agreed his inventory report. He didn't supply and photos and we foolishly only took a few.

He's now claiming all sorts of damage - like a ceiling replacement because of a rainwater leak. There was some water damage to the ceiling (flat roof) when we moved in, but there's no reference to it in the inventory report, and so the landlord wants to charge us for the repairs because we failed to report a leak. (There wasn't any leaking while we lived there).

He's also charged out for his own time at £200 per day for labour to repair everything etc.

So my big questions are, do we need to send the formal letter to request the deposit and, do we have a leg to stand on because we signed his inventory report (He's now produced a raft of photos taken before we moved in as 'evidence' but no photos of the ceilings and he didn't attach these photos to the inventory report).

Anyone?

I am currently going through this hellish process through the tenancy deposit scheme. You must email the landlord to request the deposit. After this the scheme will refuse to take on your case until you've done loads of back and forth with your landlord trying to settle it yourself. It's an absolute nightmare.

To be honest you I’m not sure you would/should get it all back- you signed the inventory on move in and agree there are scuffs and a cracked hob. That does require replacing say £500 and then the labour involved, and also repainting over scuffs. If you have signed the inventories at both move in and move out I’m not sure you have any recourse at this point. You might be able to settle with him eg say you don’t feel 4K is an accurate valuation and that you would be prepared to pay 1500 or pursue this further and see what they say.. good luck! x

Is the amount of deposit the landlord took legal?

www.tenancydepositscheme.com/learn-more/help-centre/guides/depositcap/

Do NOT make him an offer as per the previous poster - leave it to the tenancy deposit people to sort out. Scuffing of paintwork is counted as normal wear and tear, which a landlord must expect if people are living in his property.

If he cannot prove the leak was there before you moved in as you can't prove it didn't happen on your watch and went unreported, you'll probably have to split the difference, but again, the deposit people will decide. As for his daily rate, they'll look very poorly on that and knock him down. I say this as a landlord who was previously a tenant and underwent deposit arbitration of the type you're entering into, thanks to a greedy letting agent and her handyman husband who tried to charge a similar amount for his time!

Finally - next time, make sure you take loads of photos when you move in!

This was a few years ago but we took it all to the dps with pictures from when we’d moved out and they sorted it we got our £1600 back minus cooker knobs which was my fault

I think this is a steep learning curve for you.

Go through the process to get the deposit back/dispute landlords claims on the deposit, as set out by whichever deposit service you're using.

Let them figure it out - send them all the evidence you have, thats really all you can do.

You shot yourselves in the foot by not arguing the condition of various things and backing it up with dated photographs when you took the property on, and again when you left.

I bet you won't do that next time!

I don't think you realise how much induction hobs cost. Ours was well over a thousand in 2014 so £1200 to replace one isn't that bad.

Standard Neff induction hob costs £1549 per link!

https://www.neff-home.com/uk/productlist/hobs/induction-hobs/T66YYY4C0

I cracked the glass on my induction hub and it only cost £200 to replace it, was easy to fit myself too. You dont have to replace the whole unit just the glass top. He sounds like a nasty CF, Id dispute all of it, its up to the tribunal to decide not him. Get your own prices for everything he references.

I don’t know the answers to your questions but we found the dispute process very fair so I don’t think they will grant money for a leaking ceiling etc. you can submit the email after the inventory as evidence.

Definitely submit everything you have, including any photos with timestamps from the move in. You signing the inventory without the edits being made makes it difficult, but I know in these situations it can be pressured. The deposit scheme will ask for evidence from him of his costs and as others have said they won't allow artificially inflated costs. Go through the arbitration process and at least make him account for the money he wants. And the evidence that works best will show you what to do for next time...

What makes you think you shouldn’t pay the full cost of replacing the hob?

The onus is on the ll to prove that you didn't return the property in the condition it was let (minus fair wear and tear) if he didn't take photos on the check in inventory he's going to have a rough time proving anything. Just raise dispute and see what happens.

Because legally, she is only responsible for a fraction of the cost based on the number of years she has lived there. A brand new hob is not worth the same as a second hand hob.

My LL had a whole host of reasons as to why he should be able to keep my deposit. Just one example was a stain on the carpet,,… it was there when we moved in 14 years before.

I prepared a whole defense to go into TDS and in the end it was simple!

I didn’t pay anything except for a cracked tile in my bathroom which I did actually do so felt right in replacing it.

Mine cost £299 about 2 months ago

Thanks everyone. The dispute process is very time consuming - what would count as a time stamped photograph? I took some of the damage when we moved in but don't know adjudicator would tell when they were taken.

My landlord also hasn't given me a full breakdown - we have itemised lists for about £2,500 and the rest he says he's claiming as well but hasn't said what for!

Please join landlords and tenants UK on Facebook. They're brilliant

Also, it's illegal for landlords to charge for their time

Well he's a cheeky bugger. I say this as a landlord. He's trying to cover the void getting new tenants and costs I suspect.

My son in Leeds did touch up the paint work, do a deep clean. Also took photos when he moved in .

You'll need to pay for a cracked hob, get your own quote.

Theres metadata contained in digital photographs that have the time and date, so if you took it on your phone don't worry.

He's trying to pull a fast one. Contact the TDS yourself and/or shelter who provide good guidance.

The deposit scheme and it's dispute function is weighted in favour of the tenant. The LL has to provide detailed evidence before and after to back up any deductions. It seems he doesn't have a detailed photo/video inventory so that will weaken his case.

Another issue is him attempting to bill his time. This is not permitted by the deposit scheme or HMRC.
Get a sensible quote for the damaged hob and be prepared to offer that.
Good luck

So true. Our tenants asked for their deposit back. Apart from the 3k solicitors bill to evict theme. It cost nearly 4k to rid the house of bed bugs and fleas, a process that requires spraying the house three times over nine weeks.

Add that then we had to replace all the wired in smoke alarms, the extractor fans in bathroom and kitchen because the tenant didn't like the noise. Rip up all the carpets and replace. Decorate from top to bottom. Remove from the back garden fridges, freezers, cookers, etc they had thrown out.

Clean out the outhouse full to the ceiling with discarded detritus.

Pay for two skips. I wouldn't let husband in the house until he stripped his clothes off. They went straight in the wash. He went straight into the shower.

The only thing we didn't find was a corpse

Full eviction process from start to finish £1000 approx with Landlord Action. They are superb. You will need all your landlord bits of paper to hand.

Is that an induction or just a ceramic hob? If induction I would love a link to it because my son is looking to replace the hob in his flat and if someone is selling induction at that price I know he would definitely be interested.