Landlord wants to take half our deposit

[dandeliondaisy]

I am hoping for some advice from anyone who has knowledge of the rental/inventory/deposit system. My husband and I rented a house for 2 years with our two children. We have just bought our first house (yay) and have therefore moved out of the rental. We have received an email from the landlord of the house we have just vacated saying we owe him over £1000 to repair the house! We are a quiet family who work hard and enjoy time together at weekends, no wild parties or any activities which would cause any damage to his house whatsoever. It was unfurnished so he had no items we could have damaged. We have the inventory check out form which says a bush was over grown, one light bulb was missing, the outside of the windows weren't professionally cleaned (true) and some doors had some marks on them. We had it professionally cleaned and to us, seemed in excellent clean condition upon our exit. The house itself was in disrepair when we moved in with spotlights falling out the ceiling, leaks from the bathroom down the stairs, a washing machine with buttons falling off and a damp issue in one of the bedrooms causing the wallpaper to peel off. We feel really stressed about this as we do not have 1.5 thousand pounds and more-so, feel this is a ludicrous amount of money for an unfair situation which is mostly wear and tear. Before moving out we offered to repaint a few walls where there were marks, but he gave us the wrong shade of paint and is now charging us to rectify this despite telling us the paint to use! Anyway, I'm hoping someone has some idea on what we can do. Sadly, he is a private landlord and therefore the agent who gets him the tenants is impartial therefore we can't seek them for advice but as I understand it, if we wish to challenge him then we need photographic evidence, of which we now cannot obtain. Thanks to anyone who responds.

If your LL thinks he's entitled to retain some of your deposit he should be going through the approved deposit scheme. Has he done this? Did he secure your deposit and inform you how this had been done?

Did you LL have your deposit in a deposit safety scheme? If not, he has no legal recourse.

Here:

Does he have your deposit in a deposit protection scheme? Is he trying to keep this or demanding that you transfer him even more money?
If he is trying to keep your money via the scheme, you challenge it via the scheme. The onus is on him to provide photographic evidence of prior condition and the damage you have allegedly caused.
Do you have inventory form from when you moved in with notes of the pre existing problems? Presumably you have a receipt from the cleaning company as evidence? Presumably you have something in writing from him about the painting you mention?

Don't panic. He almost certainly cannot keep that level of money.

Did you take photos before you vacated and do you have photos of its condition when you arrived? These aren't vital but would be helpful.

The landlord is not entitled to "betterment" ie making a profit out of unreasonable deposit deductions.

Marks on the wall are fair wear and tear.
Getting the windows cleaned and the hedge trimmed couldn't possibly be more than £300.

The deposit has to be held by a neutral deposit protection scheme who will arbitrate and will not release your deposit without your agreement. If he hasn't put the deposit in a protection scheme he owes you 3x the amount of the deposit, by law.

Sorry yes - although a private landlord, he used the agents to tie up the deposit in a secure way, in a dps. So he cannot just take it per se. But I feel we are at an unfair advantage as having to argue the points is hard without evidence that we don't have. Thanks for your replies

Did you take photos when you moved in and when you moved out. It is the number 1 thing I always tell anyone moving into a rental property.

You do have evidence, he gave you the paint. And the checkout inventory was better than the check in !

We have the receipt from the cleaning company and the inventory says the property has been left clean and in good order. It is itemised and says there is a mark on the door, and some light switches aren't clean. We have an email trail of the leaking bath, damp issues, broken washing machine etc so hopefully that is helpful

You don't have to argue anything. Request your deposit back in full from the DPS. The landlord can then dispute it if he wishes. But to do so he will need evidence of the condition when you moved in and evidence of it now. The onus is on the landlord to prove any damage.

Unless he has evidence (usually an inventory and photos) from before and after then he has no case and the DPS will return the money.

Go and see the Citizen's Advice Bureau - they were very vocal on the Tenancy Deposit Scheme when it was introduce and will help you fight for what is owed to you. Sometimes just a letter from them is enough to gee up a rogue landlord.

Thanks all. Very helpful information. Really appreciate the comments. We are going to write a letter and contact citizens advice bureau. We've had so many rentals and never a penny taken from deposits so it was a shock this evening.

Have you contacted the deposit scheme yet?
Sounds as if you have some evidence if needed and he is being ridiculous,trying to claim for dirty light switches!

Hi @rainingsnoring so I can contact the DPS directly to dispute and to ask for the deposit to be released with my evidence to counter his suggested deductions? Thank you

I feel it would be reasonable to ask him how he makes that over 1k worth of damage. The most expensive item would be the tree trimming and that wouldn't be more than a couple of hundred pounds (if it's a big tree). Post him a light bulb and tell him to take the rest up with the DPS! CF.

If it's a big tree then that would be the LL's responsibility anyway, as would any tall shrubs/hedges.

I don't think they have a leg to stand on OP and suspect you won't owe a penny/will have your deposit returned in full. They also can't insist windows/property are professionally cleaned. Were those windows gleaming when you moved in? If so then I hope they have photographic evidence!

We rented a house for 3 years. Like you, it was not in good condition at the start really. The estate agent ‘lost’ the original inventory which showed this.

Our deposit with DPS was £800. The landlord said we had caused £2200 worth of damage, but he would settle for the full deposit. The only ‘damage’ we had actually ‘caused’ was a toilet roll holder that fell off the wall because the landlord hadn’t attached it properly. They have to allow for wear and tear.

I sent a detailed document to DPS, with an argument against each of his specific claims. I sent evidence if I had any. There were some items - eg, a cracked tile under some matting - which I simply said was not the case as it hadn’t been on the inventory and we had never seen it.

DPS were really good, and tended to support our points not the landlord. He was only allowed to keep £55 for the toilet roll holder.

Hope this is helpful.

Is it not the case with DPS you log in and request your deposit back. The LL will then either agree or detail what’s wrong. You can then go back with your evidence.

Yes. The landlord should submit the request to retain the deposit via DPS. Then you will be notified and can object. You’ll state your side, he’ll state his and the neutral 3rd party will mediate. That’s what the DPS is for. They will hold the funds until this is resolved, and make the decision independently. It prevents landlords behaving like this!

Yes, you need to raise an objection. You should have been given the details of where your deposit is held, and you can raise s case.

You will have to provide s much evidence as you can. So will your landlord. He cannot just claim, he also had to provide evidence.

I doubt you will lose any of your deposit, but it will take some time for you to get it back so the sooner you raise the case the better.

OP, just advise the landlord that you disagree and will be going via DPS. Don't engage with him any further.

As long as you have the checkout report (which might have pictures anyway?) you will likely be ok without your own pictures.

Don't stress, it doesn't sound like you are a chancer and the dps are pretty reasonable in my experience.

Yes OP. You simply log in and claim the full deposit from DPS. The landlord has to evidence any intended deductions, which you can dispute with your own evidence. No need for letters or CAB.

Yes .
He won’t have a chance of keeping your deposit . (Going on what you say )

At this point you do not need to do that. If the landlord has not returned the deposit within 10 days of the lease ending then you can contact the relevant scheme directly and request the return of the deposit in full. It is then up to the landlord to dispute it. If they raise a dispute ad request deductions then you will be informed by the scheme and have an opportunity to dispute his claims.

Our landlord did this. We didn't know at the time but he is a professional footballer. I know it shouldn't make a difference but he kept our deposit even though the wife said I'd done a great job cleaning. She said she wouldn't need to get the professional cleaners in that they usually do and i'd saved her money. We were only there a year and definitely didn't ruin or break anything.