Should I accept or continue to dispute?

[bubblegum02]

Hello,

I am currently in a dispute with my previous landlord.

I left their property a month ago, I accepted cleaning charges of 135 pounds as to be fair I did not get it done professionally and did it myself. This meant there were some areas that remained dusty (radiators, some window sills that I missed) nothing major but I figured if I accept the cleaning they might be satisfied.

Sadly not. They initially tried to claim nearly 600 pounds for redecorations to have all the walls painted. I was baffled by this as in the check in inventory every single wall was noted as being rubbed/marked/chipped in some way. On our check out inventory this has been updated to one wall in the bedroom, one wall in the front room and the entrance hall as 'heavily' marked.

I refused the initial nearly 600 pounds, they lowered it to 460, I went back on this. Now they have come back with 250 as they are saying the place was only redecorated 3 years ago and they would expect it to last 5 so are charging 40 percent. I still feel like this is a high amount considering the walls weren't in the best condition when we first moved in vs if they were immaculate and obviously freshly painted.

Part of me wants to accept just so I can get some of my money back, it's been dragging on for a while. But the other part of me still feels it is a high amount for walls that were in a rubbed/marked/chipped condition when we moved in.

Thoughts? If this went to dispute would they likely win?

They need to give you the undesputed part back. Have they got photos?

They have photos of the front room wall and the bedroom wall. In the check in photos and the check out photos the mark is in exactly the same place, it just looks more rubbed when we left. I genuinely have no idea why it has gotten worse/if it's sun damage/poor paint work or what.

They do not have any before pictures of the entrance hall.

I will ask about returning the rest of it whilst we are disputing the 250.

I expect the dispute service would tell them to whistle for it.

I would raise a dispute with whichever scheme holds your deposit. They can't charge you 40% of the redecoration costs if the inventory shows there was already significant wear and tear.

I would also be arguing the cleaning costs if it really was just dust behind radiators and a couple of window sills. £135 is about 10 hours of cleaning, it wouldn't take that long for just a few faults. They wouldn't have needed a full end of tenancy clean service if the rest of the property was already cleaned to a professional standard. BTW, they have to provide receipts in a dispute. Also, they are not allowed to insist that you use professional cleaners, just that it is cleaned to the same standard.

Just so you know, with DPS at least, if you choose to dispute the £250 formally, you'll get the remainder returned to you in the interim, so you have nothing to lose by disputing.

100% dispute - you'll likely get it all back

I had a dispute with the TDS, OP they were known to err on the side of the tenant not the landlord
Good luck with getting your money back

If they don’t have photos of the original hallway marks I don’t know how they can say you have caused them.

How long did you live in the property? If they say the walls were repainted three years ago but were already damaged when you moved in then someone else is responsible for at least some of the damage.

I’m a LL and it sounds as if I’ve got off lightly.
The last tenants in our rental did a flit owing us a months rent.
We had to repaint the whole house, recarpet the whole house and mend 2 doubglazed bedroom windows.
We accept that after 3 years , the property may need painting or at the end of the rental term.
Definitely go the the deposit scheme.

Should have said, these people were there for a year

The TDS were great at handling my dispute with my landlord. I had a similar issue where the landlord expected me to pay £1k to redecorate the hallway and landing. TDS awarded me £800 of the retained sum. I would have liked the additional £200 back too, but I didn't take photos after my own decorator had been to patch up picture holes, so that was a failing on my part. You live and you learn.

I was really helpful and open to viewing requests when the landlord was looking for new tenants. I was also very patient when she was procrastinating (and being cheap) about fixing the many broken things (boiler, tap, chimney flue etc). I left her house in a better condition than when I moved in... so I'm aggrieved that she was such a cheeky cow at the end!

I have countered with 150 and said I won't be going any higher than that due to the fact the walls were not in the best condition when we moved in. So I suppose if they don't accept that then it will be going to TDS presumably.

Thanks for responses!

You really should just go to the TDS.

Wear and tear includes marks on paint work. The fact that they already tried to charge you for 40% of the redecorating costs knowing that the walls were not pristine when you moved in suggests that they are intentionally trying to rip you off. Scuffs and light marks are fair wear and tear, scrapes, heavy marks and holes are tenant damage. If the mark is in the same place, it would suggest there is an issue with the paintwork (eg a stain coming through) or it is an area of high wear so would have happened anyway. If the check in inventory notes marks in the hall but there isn't a photo, the TDS will lean in your favour.

It also sounds like you were overcharged for cleaning.

I would not agree to pay a penny without going to the TDS. Why pay for something when you might no be liable? Unless things are a lot worse than your post suggests. Do you want to post before and after photos of the mark?

Firstly they need to release the undisputed funds. Secondly you probably shouldn't have offered the £150 but if they don't accept that then 100% go to TDS. The burden of proof is on them and it's unlikely they will get anywhere.

I'm a former letting agent. I've don't 100s of deposit returns.

They can not claim for betterment. Use the tenancy deposit scheme to handle this.

no, not missed anything out, the mark has gotten worse since we were there but it existed before we moved in. I never noticed it whilst we were there as it was where our bed was.

I've offered the 150 because they said there was some blue tac left behind on one wall and that are baby gate left a chip in the paint of a banister so I figured they would lean heavily on that and I just want my money back now.

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