Renting: 'Checking out fees' (£88). Do we have to pay?

[faraday]

We are vacating our rental property of 5 years, We received a letter from the check-in/check-out agents telling us when they'd come and do the check-out inspection which states, amongst other things,

'A checkout fee of £88.12 inc of VAT will be deducted from your security deposit'

Now, SHOULD the agency have a record of our agreeing to pay (via a signature) this? It's not mentioned in the contract but nor, for that matter, is the 'referencing fee' etc which we would have paid at the start. The contract does of course mention the size of the deposit and the monthly rent.

Should I write to them asking them to photocopy the place where we signed agreeing to this?

You may say 'It's standard' BUT you may read my other recent post re the professional carpet cleaning requirement they also put in their check-out notification that is NOT supported in the tenancy agreement so it's not as if the company are above 'pulling a swifty'!

Tell them to bugger off. That's a deductible expense by the landlord. They are shafting you. Good luck!

Do as you have suggested, ask them for confirmation that you have agreed wih it. My understanding is that they are not allowed to deduct anything from deposit except for costs of repairing damage. I am not sure how it work as you have been there so long but deposits now have to go into a special scheme to prevent things like this, look up Tenanct Deposit Scheme, it may give you some information on allowable deductions.

Write back to them (recorded) and say that you are happy for them to inspect the property, but that a 'check out' fee has nothing to do with the security deposit, is an illegal charge, and should they deduct it, you will take action etc...

Sounds ludicrous to me. Try ARLA, which is the landlord's association, or the CAB website.

Anyone know where I can find the official advice that they can't deduct 'admin expenses' from the deposit?

I also read on this letter that 'THIS is the time and date we will inspect the property. Return the form to say you will be there or leave the key with us'- no 'can YOU make this time/day? Call us to make another appointment if not'!! I certainly intend being there!

So I have called them to say no I can't make that (damned if I'm taking A/L for that! AND I can offer them 2 1/2 other days per week that ARE convenient!). Apparently someone is calling me back with another appointment, but I am feeling the whole tone of this exchange is rather 'WE hold all the cards, YOU comply' on the part of YourMove!

I do have to bear in mind, though that this tenancy started before the new rules came in so I may not be as protected as a new tenant might be.

Hi,no advice,but you could try and contact Shelter?Some good advice there shelter.org.uk

Nothing can be deducted unless the contract says that it can be. The normal and natural place for this to be written down would be in the tenancy agreement, but there might be other bits of paper you signed at the start.

There isn't anything else in the law saying whether a check-out fee can be or can't be deducted, it depends totally on whether or not you agreed to it as a condition of the tenancy.

Yes, I will ask the agency concerned to send/give me a copy of where exactly we signed to say we would pay this £88!

If they can't produce it, I won't be paying it. Simple as.

For the record, I have just rented another place, different agency. We had to pay £180 per adult (I think!) 'referencing fee'. It took the agent precisely 10 minutes, tapping away on his computer to say 'yes, that's all OK'- to the extent I queried him, asking CAN we therefore hand in our notice on our present renter? ARE we in the clear? 'Oh yes!' says he. So much for giving the names, phone numbers, addresses and emails of 2 personal referees.... It's partly this and the fact it IS a renter's market (at last) that makes me more bolshy and more willing to fight my corner than we were 5 years ago; that and the fact that WE were landlords til a month ago, albeit abroad, and we never treated our tenants with the contempt private tenants have been treated here. Admittedly the foreign law concerned would not have allowed us to stick cursory conditions and charges on our tenants!

Thanks everyone who contributed to this OP!