Disputing losing full deposit on rental flat

[GoldilocksAndTheThreePears]

I recently had to move due to my failing health- I was in my last flat for 3 years, when I moved in I was fit and well and earning around £40k in an active job. So it's an expensive flat and the deposit was £1600.

Over the last couple of years I've become disabled, completely unable to work, finally savings ran out so I've moved 300 miles near my family to a much cheaper place. Very very lucky to find a landlord willing to take someone on disability and HB.

Today I got the check out report from my last place and they are refusing to return any deposit. I'm absolutely flummoxed as I left it in good state, or I thought I did. I paid £240 for a full clean, as the lease stipulated. The list of 'Damage and Unreasonable Wear and Tear' is huge but so minor, I'm so lost here. A bin left in the wrong room (the cleaning company moved this, I know it was in the spare room). 2 table mats left under the recycle bin- as the flats don't get their recycling taken, you take it to a bin yourself, I haven't moved that since I moved in.

A dusty mirror, a mark on a door that needs urgent attention, a shower head left behind (this was in the bin, and something the cleaning company should have taken out). They've listed that the smoke alarm doesn't work but after a year there they sent someone in to check and that person said it was broken, I had a brand new battery in it anyway. they fitted a new one next to it but didn't remove it. A discoloured mark on the floor right in front of the front door that I've never noticed. The front door handle slightly loose although I've never noticed it in any way loose.

It's a long list of minor stuff but apparently adds up to £1600 worth of 'damage'. I'm absolutely gutted, I moved over 300 miles away and am now seriously ill because of it. I'm freaking out. I can't just pop over and do anything, physically or financially no way.

Has anyone fought losing a deposit like this? Anyone have any advice at all? I borrowed money to be able to move and was counting on this deposit to pay back. I'm just beside myself, any advice would be truly appreciated. I'm completely alone, no one to talk this over with, just sitting here in floods of tears.

If the check out fee isn't in your tenancy agreement then you don't pay it. Ask them to direct you to the part of your tenancy agreement that states you're required to pay it. My last landlord tried this as well and when I said there was nothing in my tenancy agreement they dropped it with no further comment.

And absolutely ask for a breakdown of the £105. It may be perfectly reasonable but they can't just tell you a random amount without telling you what it's for.

Great news that you're definitely getting most of the money back though! (Shows what chancers they were being though 😑). If there is an ongoing dispute over the remaining about btw then only the amount in dispute should be held, the rest should be returned to you.

I replied to them asking for a breakdown of the £105 fee and they came back with this-

£20 for 'discolouration of floor' which is from water damage before I moved in
£30 for 'Modaerate water damage patch to the top
surface of the boxed section behind the WC'. Basically I noticed a small leak in the cistern and reported it, they sent someone to fix it, I tried my best to clean all damage from the leak, well the wood was a little marked with water and some mould as its directly behind the loo so i didn't notice. I guess I have to eat that one, literally nothing else I could have done to make it back to how it was when I moved in.
£50 for more floor discolouration right next to the other, again from before I moved in but I can't prove it.
£5 for a smoke alarm? Basically the one there didn't work, they installed a new one next to it but didn't remove the original. So it's now there stuck on my ceiling with a brand new battery in it so I guess I'm paying for it to be removed?

I'm not sure if I can dispute any of this now, I can't prove any of it.

The fee I guess I have to just accept as my second lease states I may have to pay check out charges just not the amount. Just a kick in the face after so many fees there.

So very glad I'm now with an agent who charged a grand total of £50 for references (I'm disabled so living on disability and housing benefits, sadly, and needed a guarantor so understandable fee) and not a single other fee. The person who used to have this flat was here for 9 years with no lease update fees and no rent raises and now lives in a more accessible flat owned by the same person.

This is so dumb, one week saying 100% of my deposit will be kept and just because I questioned and disputed this it's changed this much. They know I'm moving due to physical and mental issues, wonder if they'd try this with someone who just was moving for work or something.

it isn't for you to prove anything, it doesn't work that way. It is your money and the LANDLORD has to prove DAMAGES if they want to deduct anything.

tell the agent you are raising a dispute for all deductions. Raise one. You should get the undisputed portion back quickly.

oh, and if the agent is a member of any of the 'regulatory' schemes (ARLA etc) complain to them too. This is all wrong and they know it.

Go to the TDS website and start the process of launching a dispute- I did when my landlady tried to take all of my deposit and through TDS I got all of my money back. She was also claiming for very minor things that actually were already like that when I rented in the first place, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!

And with that breakdown they've given you they need to justify what the money will actually be used for- i.e. Provide quotes from the company that's going to "fix" the problem. Our LL tried to take £500 out of our deposit for "cleaning" but I was able to find a local company who would do it for £40 so that was part of my dispute, and as I said TDS decided LL had been unreasonable so returned the whole lot to me. Good luck!

Do. Not. Pay. That. Money.

They cannot simply make up random amounts for stuff. They have to actually have quotes for work they are going to do to fix it, and then provide invoices to show they have done it.
Go back to them saying you dispute all charges. Say that you didn't sign an agreement that you would pay a check out fee. You do not accept that you are responsible for the discolouration. Then go to the DPS and raise the deposit.
Do not let the robbing bastards get away with it.

Fight this op. Even if there were checkout charges, they would be entirely separate to your deposit. They are trying it on big time.

Definitely fight it. They have to prove you caused it. And they're meant to provide fire alarms, how the fuck can they charge you for removing one because they put a new one up!!! I'm fuming on your behalf

Definitely dispute all of those. You're not responsible for the water damage. You have emails regarding the smoke alarm not working. Can they prove the floor wasn't in that state before?

Please take it to dispute resolution, this happens so often, they rely on people not fighting it.
It's normally a very fair process, no betterment allowed.

Urgh, this sucks!

OP, even if some of the damage did occur while you were there, LLs are supposed to make allowance for reasonable wear and tear, acknowledging that in the normal course of events a house that has been lived in for three years will naturally have knocks and marks.

Dispute these spurious charges!

Thanks again all for reading and replying, glad it's not just me being a little hmm about random amounts for random things. I'm going to write another email tomorrow and ask for details on the actual work done, like work orders or receipts for work done. As far as I know someone was moving in 2 days after I left so they've been in there over a week now.

Unfortunately I don't have emails about the alarm. They did everything on the phone so no record. It was in my first 6 months there which was so long ago I can't remember dates or even what was said.

I think because I lived there alone they feel they can charge for everything, like how much wear and tear can one person do etc. I wonder if they'd have all these issues if I had lived there with kids. I don't know. It never felt homeish, they did 6 monthly inspections and took multiple photos in each room so I felt odd there. I do miss the flat itself though it was so quiet and nice, in a cul de sac so no noise. New one mega noisy but seems to be much better with the estate agent!

Re the water damage if it was there when you moved in, it should have either been documented on the check in report provided to you to sign, and if it wasn't you should have pointed it out before the finalised version was dual signed...... was it? That's your proof it was there when you moved in.

Don't waste time emailing the agent or trying to prove anything! Repeat - you do not have to prove anything. All you need to do is raise a dispute with the deposit protection. Have you done that?