Landlady trying to keep £250 from letting deposit!

[cpayne351]

So for 3 and a half years we rented a 2 bedroom new build flat. I those 3 and a half years we have taken amazing care of it and the landlady has been round several times and always remarked that shes glad we are taking such good care of the place. 2 weeks before we moved out she invited her over to point out EVERY tiny mark however small and offered to repaint absolutely anything she wanted and she turned us down saying everything looks fine - sadly we didn't get this in writing. We have always had pleasant exchanges so I was shocked when I moved out to hear she wanted to keep £250 for "labor charges"! She is basically saying that shes charging me for 25 hours of her time to do little more cleaning than dusting the place and repainting just tiny marks (even though I repainted twice in the time we were there, its all white so not like she has had to correct any wild colours). The letting agent is basically telling me her claim is pretty crazy as our check out report only stated things like "dust under radiator", "minor cobweb in window" and the best one.... "clear finger mark on light switch". It also only stated minor scuffs and didn't suggest anywhere in the conclusion that anything needed repainting.

When does a landlords labor charge become unreasonable? The next tenant moved in 3 and a half weeks later so even if I did dust all these tiny bits here and there, all this dust would re-appear!?

Also if she told me not to repaint and then repainted is that really my fault - plus after 3 and a half years its obviously not going to look like the new build we moved into. She is even charging me for the cleaning bits to dust and the gloss to repaint the skirting boards.

I have asked a cleaner to quote for the work and they have said it would of taken no more than 1 hour, I have this in writing to submit as evidence that her 25 hours is unreasonable. Our landlady is probably going to drag this through the free dispute service so wondering does anyone have any ideas on what other evidence or things i could say to win back this extra £250 from her?

Ask her which Tenancy Deposit Scheme your money is in as you would like to dispute her claim. Legally she has to keep the deposit in a TDS, and they are set to do that if there is no any disagreement they can look into it and make a judgement. That won't cost you a penny. If she says that the money isn't in a TDS, then tell her that she is breaking the law and that you will take her to a small claims court to get a judgement. If you need any other advice I can really recommend the Shelter helpline - they're not just for homelessness, they're really good on this stuff.

Sorry for the horrendous auto corrects in there! Hope it makes sense!

Dispute this all the way. She is taking the piss. She won't win.

Thanks everyone, its really caused a lot of personal upset. My deposit is protected so I have already got back £630 but the last £300 (which it was originally) is still being disputed. I have sent a independant quote from a cleaner over to the 3rd party letting agent but just wondering if anyone else can think of anyone else who would be a credible voucher on this matter. Citizens advice have agreed I am right here but will not put anything into writing. I just know I will be unlucky and she will be awarded more money than is fair!

You shouldn't have to send anything to the 3rd party letting agent - you should be able to deal direct with the deposit scheme yourself. I cannot imagine how she would possibly win this with the claim she is making, so you probably just need to wait.

We are dealing with the letting agent as the landlady has a managed service with them, so she doesn't have to communicate with me at all. A smart move since I would of called her and gone APE as soon as I saw she wanted back £250. The letting agent is trying to arrange an agreement between tenant and landlady before we take this to a dispute, but I guarantee the landlady is not backing down and is now just trying to get everything she can and run!

The Deposit schemes tend to find favour in the tenants case usually unless it is something major, so I would just go down that route. Landlords have to allow for the cost of "normal" wear and tear and painting between tenants, so I don't see how she has a case really.

Don't worry about the agent, they are just doing their job and trying to solve it amicably, but you can tell them that you want to take it to dispute if you don't agree.

When you go through dispute with the deposit scheme the default start point is that you get your money back, and the onus is on her to prove you have cost her money (ie. that the cleaning took 25 hours).

The check out report would be the most important evidence to send, along with any check in you still have from the start of the tenancy. You only have to leave the flat in as good a state as you got it, so if there was dust / marks when you moved in they can't complain about the few bits mentioned when you left. Make sure you deal directly with the deposit scheme, and keep copies of everything you send just in case. The letting agency will want to keep her business for when she needs to find new tenants, might not be helpful to you.

Reasonable wear and tear is also permitted, so if she would normally re-paint every 5 years and you were only in 3.5 she could only claim at most 30% of the painting cost for it needing doing 1.5 years early. But if you can argue that it didn't 'need' painting and she choose to paint early, the cost is hers. Again it's up to her to prove it needed painting so if it's not on the check out report, and you didn't leave any big marks she might have photoed, you should be fine.

The Deposit scheme can not release the money to anyone unless either you both agree, or they have processed a dispute case. Just keep repeating to the letting agent that you do not agree and want the deposit scheme to settle the dispute and eventually they will have to agree.

Don't agree to any compromise they offer, they know the deposit scheme will side with you, so will try to stop it going to them.

Its up to her to paint in between lettings, It comes under fair wear and tear, Dont back down, Dispute it.
I had a landlady like this when I used to rent, I got every penny back.

raise dispute pronto.

dispute will say landlady is talking out of arse and all money will be refunded.

done. Not luck. Landlady has to prove why she should get your money, she won't.

Can she charge me for cleaning products to clean the property once I have left? I am awaiting reciepts but the check out report only noted dust, light finger marks on light switches, a few cobwebs and apparently 1 cupboard needed a light wipe but nothing photographed to show this? If she wanted to for example, re-bleach every surface in the flat - should I have to pay for that bleach?

I am going to dispute, thank you all for giving me the confidence to take this further - it is such a shame good people can rent and look after someones property for so long and be stung by such 2 faced greedy landlords on their way out.

I will be printing off all the correspondence from this case, knocking on the door and giving it to the new tenant to warn her of the spiteful cow she is renting from!

no. just raise a dispute.

if you are renting again please read the how to rent guide.

Bit late to this but definitely dispute. The checkout report is definitely in your favor. If you have a check in report that's even better. Also send the communication you have with the letting agency in writing to them as that proves the landlady is talking out of her arse.

I've been through the dispute system twice and both times won. The landlords/agents were claiming all sorts of made up rubbish that they couldn't prove. I'm so glad this deposit protection scheme is now in place. With the dispute system it's so much better.