Letting agency blaming us for additional costs, won’t pay back deposit!!

[JaneTwine661]

Hi all, before I begin i’d Like to apologise for 2 things:

1. My English isn’t as good, and I am also asking my son for help with certain translation.
2. The long post

My son has already raised a deposit dispute as the agency hasn’t spoken to us for two months now about the deposit.

Finally they reply today:
agency is saying that we will not receive our deposit as they had to do a few things, including professional cleaners.

I am extremely confused because we scrubbed and cleaned the apartment (including the balcony) for two days straight!! Me and my son made sure there was nothing on the floor, both rooms were in excellent condition, windows cleaned, anything off balcony, bathrooms cleaned etc. My sons girlfriend was there too and she could promise there was no dust or anything to be found..

Another thing they said is that they had to fix the window, which we had been trying to get them to fix since about a week into us living there..? They’re trying to say we caused this when we were begging one of their employees to fix it, but it was dismissed and forgotten..

A few scratches on the wall too, which I will admit was my fault for not painting it, however when we moved in we had to paint the walls twice because they were in such a dirty initial state. Seriously don’t think we should be liable for the paint wearing thin (I used a cheap one) when the state they were initially in was so much worse.

Let me just say that when we first moved to this property, it was a shit show (excuse my language). Walls are dirty, floors even worse, stuff wasn’t working and so on. Took them around 5 months to do anything only because we got the council involved. The agency has been a nightmare in terms of helping. There was only one helpful girl, who no longer works there. It takes them months to reply.

Anyways, since we already have a despite (the landlord has 3 more days to respond to the scheme) I’m scared that we won’t get our deposit back, especially because we have no evidence / proof. The scheme advised me not to reply to the agency, as the scheme will need a reply from the actual landlord anyway in terms of proof such as receipts.

Is it worth stressing about? Or should I just wait the three days to see what the landlord says??

Which country are you in?

England. Sorry should have clarified.

Do you have proof about the window? Pictures of how it was left and how you received it?

Emails to the letting agent and pictures with a date on your phone can be enough for the deposit scheme to take your side. I won a similar case where the letting agent claimed the garden was a mess, when we took it there was half a burnt out aviary filled with bin bags hiding the broken fence all of which they claimed would be gone before we moved in and never happened.. we cleared it, cut back trees, repaired the washing airer, replanted the beds and relayed turf but apparently it was worse than the burnt out mess. They’d also waited 6months to put this claim in so obviously the grass would’ve grown etc.

The letting agent has to prove the condition of the property. They must have a photographic inventory when you moved in. Signed by you. They must also have a photographic inventory from when you moved out. This will prove the condition of the walls. If they do not have this they cannot make a deduction from the deposit.

If you have emails asking for the window to be fixed send these to the deposit scheme. Include the letting agents response.

Do not communicate directly with the lettings agency.

The tenancy despots scheme will make a decision based on the evidence given. The landlord may not even fight your appeal.

Hi there. Wait till landlord responds if he has 3 more days. Good things are with the scheme to resolve. He needs to prove that you did wrong. It would be good if you took any pictures after you cleaned all etc but he should have proper inventories to confirm state before and after you left. After he responds you will have a chance to reply as well after he presents his evidence. I wouldn't worry now or contact him, just wait for his response. Agencies can't charge lots of things now and are looking to get back. For instance for just contract extension I paid whooping 120 quid, crazy. Good luck.

You should've had an inventory and check in carried out when you moved in, and a check out when you moved out of the property. You would've signed the paperwork to say you agree with what is written, and made any amendments. This is considered 'proof.'

You should always email lettings agencies with maintenance requests, as well as phoning them. This also proves when the damage occured to the window. So if you've managed to do that, that'll help a lot. They also need to prove the damage to the window was by misuse and not due to age/deterioration.

You'll also want to ask for the invoice from the cleaners to prove they went to the property, what they cleaned and when. I will say, when you move in and out you usually have the carpets cleaned (if there are any) they will sting you for it, if it's not done and you can't prove you paid for a contractor or rental of a carpet cleaner.

Hopefully you'll get the right result for the circumstances. Try not to worry too much about the cost etc.

Did you sign an inventory when you moved in? Unless the landlord/agency can prove that the flat was in a better condition when you moved in than now (clean, in good repair), you are bound to get your deposit back. I wouldn't worry if I were you, just make sure you raise a dispute via the deposit protection scheme if the landlord decides to withhold part of the deposit.

I won't echo all the previous posts about inventories. However I will say that all 3 deposit systems will always favour the tenant. It is up to the landlord to prove you did the damage to the property by way of providing before and after pictures. If they fail to do this, they won't be successful.

I say this as a landlord, my one and only claim against a deposit failed because despite providing clear after and before pictures of the state of my property, they still ruled in the tenants favour because I hadn't sent close up photographs of every carpet. Lesson learned

Did you take pics when you left? It would certainly help but realistically I very much doubt they'll get anywhere with this.

Hi all, thank you for your helpful comments.

We never signed an ‘inventory’ at the start or at the end of the agreement. At the end, my son just met with one of the staff from the agency, they requested the keys and that was it... He said nobody asked him to sign anything and not once was an ‘inventory’ mentioned.

About the pictures, yeah I just realised I should have taken plenty. I honestly didn’t expect my agency to pull this on us, after we tried our best to be the perfect tenants.

The landlord has one more day and there still hasn’t been any reply from him, so I’ll wait for the deposit scheme to update me, as some of you suggested.

Thank you all.

So update: landlord has extended his date by 6 days and has till Christmas Day.

I have found pictures taken a day before we were completely gone, taken by my son, which shows the house being absolutely clean. There is just no date on this which worries me.

doesn't matter. It is for the landlord to prove any deposit deductions, as the deposit is your money. With no inventory, he has no chance. And he knows this, and is trying it on because he thinks as a non-native English speaker you might be clueless.

you aren't. Just keep disputing - deposit schemes favour the tenant (as they should). Don't sit and wait, keep pestering the scheme.