I am not sure I should pay this much to letting agent or pay them at all. where can I go to ask for help?

[MrsHou]

we moved out from a flat. and my husband accidentally pay one more month rent to them. We tried to ask the agent to pay us back. they say "no, you can't have your money back and you should pay more to us, because there is a spill on the carpet, so you have to pay us 2000 pounds for changing the carpet for entire flat (42 square meters), and the curtain hang down between the cabinet and wall has mole on. you have to pay for it. (they have picture of a dirty curtain) and they said the entire wall near the curtain has mole on as well. but I don't remember there is mole on there as well and they don't have photo proof of it. and the edge of the sink has mole and water leaking from there. they want us to pay for it as well.

Do I really need to pay for all these? with whatever price they ask? Also, I know the landlady's cousin is responsible for redecorate the whole flat. and I asked him who pay for the the redecorate? he said the landlady paid for it. then I asked him to ask the landlady if the agent had pay her back (she already done the redecoration) or going to pay her. If not, I shouldn't pay for the agent, right?

is there any authority or regulation I can ask about my right? I want to take responsible of what I should but don't want to be rip off.

the landlady don't want to tell me if the letting agent is going to actually pay for the redecoration or not. she doesn't want to get involved.

Shelter are very helpful - definitely seek their advice. Good luck!

Who pays for the redecoration after you leave is not your problem. If they want to charge you for the carpet or curtain, they should deduct it from the security deposit, and you can challenge it. Is the deposit protected?

If the letting agent refuse to return the extra month request their complaint procedure policy to raise a formal complaint, and if they don't respond to your satisfaction you can raise a complaint withe the ombudsman: www.tpos.co.uk/

Did your landlord register the deposit in a proper scheme and give you details of the scheme? They can claim any damages through the scheme, but in my experience unless they can prove you are to blame, eg by comparing inventory or photos at move in and move out, then they won't have a leg to stand on and you should get most or all the money back

Don't give in to them, demand all requests for deductions are dealt with through the scheme, and demand the extra money back

Also, how long were you living there? A certain amount of wear and tear is expected, and they can't withhold the deposit for that.

our deposit is protected. but we are not dealing with landlord. landlord leave everything to the letting agent.So, the agent want to keep all the deposit. we had live at there for 3 to 4 years.

I will talk with shelter and citizen advice. I hope to be able to get some deposit back. thanks for trying to help everyone :)

The deductions they want to make on the deposit and the extra rent payment are separate issues. Did you pay the deposit to the landlord or the agent?

Sorry I meant did you pay the extra month to the landlord or the agent?

we paid to the agent. yes, I will try to get the full amount of extra rent back and find out if we can get any deposit back at all.

and the agent want to charge our full deposit. I think the money will goes to the agent's pocket as well. the agent is not really going to pay for the carpet either. the landlord pay for the carpet with her own money. I know it because the landlord's cousin say so. but I can't get the prove from landlord that's true. because she doesn't want to get involve.

The damage you have listed is seen as fair wear and tear. You should be getting all of your deposit and all of the extra rent back.
The agents are trying to bully you.
Definitely talk to shelter

As someone has already said, it's two completely separate issues. For the extra month's rent you paid by mistake, could you go to the small claims court? It's a fairly easy and cheap process, and just telling the agent you;ll do this, may be enough to make them refund you.

Your deposit should have been protected by one of the government's schemes. You should have received information about which scheme is holding the money within 30 days of you moving into the flat.

If you have this information, contact the scheme- the agent can't just decide to not return it to you!

If the agent didn't lodge your deposit with a scheme and/or give you all the relevant info, then they are can be fined huge amounts!

that's how I feel as well. the edge around the kitchen sink had turn black. because after I use it for a while the seal had come off then water get in the gap to make it turn black. I didn't do anything abnormal to ruin it.

I had humidifier near the curtain. over 3 years, the curtain get mole on.

I don't know how I leave tough stain on the carpet though. but the carpet doesn't have any burn or broken.

I know our deposit is protected. so I should be able to find out which scheme this agent is with.

The details of who is paying for the carpet are irrelevant. What is relevant is the state of the property when you moved in (documented in the check in inventory), when you moved out (documented in the check out inventory) and normal wear and tear based on the length of the tenancy. They can get quotes if they want in order to substantiate their position, but who is going to make the actual payment to the carpet people is not important.

Tell them that you are going to dispute the deductions with the protection scheme, present your evidence, and ask them to provide theirs. And in parallel ask them to provide you with a legal basis why their have not reimbursed the extra month. If they say it is because of the carpet, damage or similar raise it with the ombudsman.