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Original poster

Deposit protection scheme - how fair are they?

69 replies

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 27/07/2016 21:00

I'm probably over thinking this.
We recently vacated the rental house that we were living in for 18 months. It was a very nice house that was let while the owner was abroad. The rent was very high for the region so the deposit was also quite sizeable. When we moved in the house was in very good clean condition, not pristine but very good.
When we left we had the place professionally cleaned and replaced one of the doors as it had been damaged, there were some very minor scuff marks on the walls and some minor scratches on the metal fridge freezer doors also there was some dust as we had left the house when the carpenter fitted the door so although it was fitted perfectly he hadn't hoovered up the dust.

Anyway, we thought that the inspection was going to be held last Monday but we noticed that the owners had moved in over the weekend, when we went for the inspection we were told that it had happened on Saturday, supposedly before they moved back in. The EA had no idea of this change of plan either.

Now the owner is making a big deal about the scratches on the fridge freezer, dust and wall scuffs. My thought process is that the scuffs are normal wear and tear, the dust is, well, just dust and the fridge freezer is of a type that scratches very, very easily - there were some marks on it when we moved in and admittedly there are a few more but it would not actually be possible to use the thing without some wear and tear.

The owner is quite an influential local business man who we do not want to fall out with but I do not want to lose our deposit for what I do believe is fair wear and tear. I am prepared to argue our cause but I have been screwed in the past (pre DPS) by landlords over deposits so I am a bit sceptical.

Can I count on the DPS being fair?

OP posts:

NameChange30 · 29/07/2016 23:01

OP you can find out your deposit protection details here:
m.england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_schemes/deposit_protection_and_tenancy_deposit_schemes

OurBlanche · 30/07/2016 09:12

Yes, there are 3 protection schemes, all work in much the same way. The link Emma gave is the easiest way to find out where yours is. If it is not protected well... you have a whole new ball game!

You should have been given that information within 30 days of moving in
www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/information-landlords-must-give-tenants

You should also have had the How to Rent guidebook and an EPC

www.gov.uk/private-renting/your-rights-and-responsibilities

Did you get them? You could have fun, if not!

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 30/07/2016 10:00

It is under DPS! I was starting to think I had imagined it as I couldn't find the confirmation email, all I had to do was change the search question. I was getting a bit panicky as the DPS website was not recognising me but it was because I was out by £35 on the deposit amount.

The check in report is 65 pages long, the check out report is only 25 and has nowhere near the same detail.

I have had to stop DH communicating with the EA and LL as he keeps getting embroiled in debates over items that are not mentioned in one or both of the reports

Anyway I have requested the full amount back, let the process begin.

to everyone! Thanks for all your help

OP posts:

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 30/07/2016 10:21

Hmm, not sure if I did get that information, not by email anyway. I have filed all the paper stuff they gave me and its not there either. It was quite a stressful time when we moved in last year so I could definitively say that I never received it though as I tend to filter quite heavily when I'm stressed and i would not have considered those leaflets to be top of the list I had to read.

OP posts:

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 18/08/2016 10:38

I though I would update this.
It has finally gone to Arbitration. The LL is requesting £2031 from the deposit which is over 90%. I have offered £75 to cover the painting of the door and cleaning the hob.
Most of what he is claiming is not mentioned in the check out report or if it is in the check out report it is also in the check in report in the same condition. He wants a brand new fridge door (£1000) and a new glass panel for a side door that he didn't raise as damaged until a week after he had moved in.
I'm just venting really as his claim is so outrageous . I guess we may have to pay more than £75 but there is no way its going to come to £2031.

OP posts:

YelloDraw · 18/08/2016 12:17

That is outrageous!

Please let us know how the arbitration finds. Good luck to you!!!

SauvignonPlonker · 18/08/2016 14:26

Unless he has cast-iron proof ( ie date-stamped, embedded photos in a signed & dated inventory) at BOTH checkin & out, he has very little chance of the deductions.

The deposit schemes are of the view that it is the tenants money & the LL must provide evidence to demonstrate loss/damage.

Have a look at the deposits scheme's website; it will often give examples & a timescale of the process. It will probably take a few months to go through the actual process though.

BumbleNova · 18/08/2016 17:58

I feel your pain. we had a landlord try and claim more than our deposit once... we got nearly all our deposit back after going to arbitration. fingers crossed for you!

Needmoresleep · 18/08/2016 19:04

I am going through this as a landlord, so at least have Agency help.

Advice seems to be.

keep summary concise.
provide evidence of condition, costs, notice etc.
refer back to the contract if at all possible.

Mine should be fairly cast iron. He did a flit, did not pay his rent and gave no notice whatsoever. (From a LLs standpoint, the silver lining is that he has gone. After many years of never having problems I have another tenant who seems to consider paying rent as an optional activity - though curiously pays in cash when he pays - and where I may need to start eviction proceedings.) However Agency are saying that you can never be sure.

So you followed you contract, gave proper notices, and have evidence in the check out report. So nothing more than 7 years reasonable wear and tear. I would not even try to offer a compromise. Your LL has dug in. The deposit people will fgo through each line by line, so add anything you can. And clearly refute his. Good luck.

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 18/08/2016 22:31

Thanks, I have checked both reports really carefully, it doesn't help that the check out is about a third as detailed as the check in report but has a lot of photos in it that were not photographed in the check in report.
The LL had a meeting with the EA six days after they moved in and took lots of photos of things they were not happy with ( we have a lot of dated emails about this) non of which is mentioned on the check out report.
The whole thing is a farce, with the EA trying to tell us we are unreasonable and the house was a state, but they did frequent home checks while we were there and never mentioned anything that was wrong.
It's now just a case of gathering the evidence and sending it off.

Do I send screen shots of emails or just forward them do you think? Should I write a detailed report highlighting my case or just send the evidence and leave it to them?

OP posts:

Needmoresleep · 18/08/2016 23:11

Who did the check out. Was it a proper independent and insured inventory firm. In which case the LL cannot go in after. Who arranged it?

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 19/08/2016 06:55

I assume it was a proper firm, I think the LL arranged it, we weren't told when it happened and the EA didn't seem to know either. It had been arranged for the 25th but was brought forward two days and we weren't told so weren't there at check out.

OP posts:

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 30/09/2016 13:14

Just a quick update. Thanks to all your support and advice we have received 95% of our original deposit back! In the end he was claiming 90% of it for all sorts of spurious items.
I am busy doing a victory dance as I type

The DPS is indeed very fair though I suspect my ex LL does not agree right now

OP posts:

smileyhappypeople · 30/09/2016 13:25

You are very lucky! We had an awful time with dps and they sided completely with the landlord despite that we had only lived in the house for 6 months due to the fact it was awful!!
The ll kept giving us different lists of stuff he was claiming, he too went to the property after we had moved out.
Filled us with no confidence in dps to the point that when we move out of the house we are in now as we too are buying we have no intentions of paying the last months rent, then they can keep the full deposit! Which is really sad and totally unfair on our present landlord and not something we want to do but there is no way we are going to get stung again!

Original poster

Thewolfsjustapuppy · 30/09/2016 13:31

Smiley that is awful! I have no idea why they found in our favour and I don't think I can get to see any of the evidence that LL presented but I do know that our check in and check out reports were pretty much in our favour anyway.

OP posts:

specialsubject · 30/09/2016 14:08

The deposit scheme i use put it this way :

Landlord raise any deductions
Onus then on tenant to dispute
Onus then on landlord to prove.

Fair enough as is tenant's money, and in op's case would have been most surprised at any other result.

I will be grateful if the house is still standing when my current tenant is removed, but that's another story. I doubt the deposit will touch the expected damage.

YelloDraw · 30/09/2016 14:51

YAY!!! I knew you would be victorious :-)

YelloDraw · 30/09/2016 14:53

we have no intentions of paying the last months rent, then they can keep the full deposit

That is a pretty dickish thing to do

smileyhappypeople · 04/10/2016 16:45

Yea it is yellodraw but unfortunately all the landlord has to do is produce receipts for things he is claiming for and the dps rules in their favour! They do not have to prove they have used them in the house.
In the 6 months we lived there we had to contact the agent every week because of various things wrong with the house (including the electrics being unsafe and the bathroom unusable).
The tenants that lived there before us had basically trashed the place... When we went to view it they filled us full of 'don't worry we are sorting this and sorting that before you move in'.
The day we moved in we wanted to leave... Had we have had somewhere else to go and had I not been 8 months pregnant there is no way we would have stayed!
The pictures they used to 'inspect' the house when we moved out were pictures they had took before the previous tenants moved in so they didn't even match the house apart from the basic decor and they were pictures of the whole rooms so didn't show the details!
Just a small example of how much they ripped us off was they claimed for curtain poles for the living room. In all fairness we had took them down and used our own and we forgot to put them back up when we moved (they were in the garage on the property). The curtain poles were those cheap £3 plastic ikea ones but they claimed they couldn't find them so had to replace...£80 replacements they claimed! We went to the property to pick up post at a later date and they hadn't even put them up so no doubt they were probably up in their own house! Another thing they claimed was that we had taken part of the fire alarms. They were wired into the mains so pretty good ones... We had asked the agent where the other bits to them were they didn't know so we got the fire brigade to come and fit normal battery ones.... Why on earth would anyone disconnect and throw away mains wired fire alarms to replace them with battery ones!
I should add that this was a privately rented house in a nice area that we paid high rent for not one of these horrible places you see on the tv!

So yes it's a dicky thing to do and yes it's not nice that our current landlord will suffer but there is absolutely no way I am going to lose another £700 so that the landlord can redecorate his own house or cash in from our deposit!

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