Advice on what to do about the huge bill the lettings agency has given us after check out inspection

[TammisTwap]

Has anyone successfully disputed their bill after moving out of a rented property? Or unsuccessfully? If anyone has any advice I'd be grateful..

We moved out of a rented house in November after renting it for 2 years 7 months for £1295 pcm.
Today we got an email with the details of the checkout inspection.

The management agency wants a total of £2125, so they are keeping our deposit of £1295 and want an additional £830. The bulk of it is for "a full clean of the property" for £340, and "redecorating due to excessive wear and tear" £1170.

Apparently the garden/yard needs £100 spent on it.. it's no more than 4 square metres and the grass was cut and hedges trimmed before we moved. I just don't see what needs doing in it - one photo shows a close up of a weed the size of my palm.

We are appalled at the amount, and the notes the woman took, saying that the house was left in a bad condition and was dirty throughout.
The report says there was "debris" on the floor of every room, and every surface. We cleaned it perfectly well, well enough to move into (although I did miss the inside of kitchen drawers) and I can't believe that a cleaner (if paid approximately £10 per hour) could spend the best part of a working week there. None of the cleaning or decorating has been done, it's just estimates.

We took photographs - of each room as a whole, the agency also took photos - close ups of scuffs to the walls etc. I could post them if it would be any use?

There are some things we accept we are liable for, one of the children smashed a lamp that was purchased at the same time the property was 10 years ago (it's an ex show home) but we are being charged £75 for the broken shade.
Yes there are scuffs to the walls, I don't know if they count as fair wear and tear or not..

When we were in the property, the back door stopped opening one day, maintainance repaired it but we were billed over £1000, when we refused to pay (as we didn't do anything other than use it as a door) the agency woman who does our inspections said she would take us to court over it.. she never did, but I believe this hugely inappropriate bill is her attempt to recoup some of the cost of the door - although it is not mentioned on the list of things we are being charged for.

We have said we don't agree with the inspection results, and have been told to email them.. but I don't know where to start... or if there is even any point... we do have photos of the state the place was in when we moved in, which was grubby, with tat under beds etc. Not a big deal but my point is that it was never immaculate to begin with.

Is there any point in laboriously noting down our objections ? Or will they just keep the lot anyway? What about the extra £830 ? What happens if we don't pay it? Would we go to court?
I genuinely believe we only owe for a few things that were accidentally damaged by the 3 children; a hole in the plasterboard which happened when it was opened too hard, and the broken lampshade.
I am worried the agency are trying to cash in on us. We bought a new house so we don't urgently need the deposit in order to put it down on the next rental, but we'd obviously like some back if possible

17 days? LOL.

Talk to the DPS, ignore the agents (unless you want to remind them of their duty to provide landlord contact details and that if your deposit isn't in a scheme they owe you 3x the amount). Agents like these give responsible agents like me a worse name.

Of course you should challenge everything. Write to the deposit protection scheme along with the photos you took when you moved in. The only thing you should concede is the broken lamp shade but Google for a similar one and don't agree to £75 unless it's obviously really worth that much. (The amount you pay should be less 3 years' depreciation anyway - they are not entitled to new-for-old so £75 is only reasonable if a new identical one can't be got for less than £100)

Absolutely take this to the TDS (or whichever deposit scheme). They have to be reasonable, and must take into account the age of the item as so many people have said, and only charge for its current value (eg. 10 year old lamp, lamp is expected to last 20 years, they could only charge you half the price of it)

I've been on both sides of this, and the TDS was fair in both situations.

I will say, that if you make some kind of fair compromise offer, the chances are that the TDS will go with it, so be very sure about anything you offer. Do you have the original check in report with the photos and description of the condition of everything?

If they don't then they don't have a leg to stand on anyway, as they can't prove what things were like when you moved in.

I have gone through this process twice and successfully challenged unfair costs both times. The deposit is considered to be your money and the onus is on the landlord to prove that he is entitled to take it. The adjudicator will look at factual evidence only. There is no point in giving opinions. Back everything with photos, receipts or other appropriate evidence which back up your case. The decision is final and takes a month or so after evidence is submitted. I found browsing the forums on landlordzone helpful

Pisa No it wasn't lol at all. A Belgian landlord expects his property back without any sign of wear and tear, and never mind if you are the second set of tenants!! It was a big house and garden and we left it spotless, but the inventory bod still tried to get us for some grass peeking up through the slabs on the patio. The gardener had sprayed everything two days previously and said it would be a week to die off, but the bod still wanted to charge us again ( and use the same gardener). We got out with €1k, but they look to find fault. The comment from the inventory bod was that he wouldn't be making his fortune on that house as it was pristine.

The landlords then came back after they'd signed off on taking over the house, and tried to touch us for another €750 for external damage, which was clearly shown on our in- muster as being there already and caused by the previous tenants. No wonder the landlord looks embarrassed every time we bump into him when food shopping!!!