Landlady causing issues over returning house deposit.

[modder]

Hi there, very rarely post on here but have used this wonderful forum for numerous advise issues. I now have a major problem with a landlady who is claiming we left her house in a poor state at the end of our tenancy and will not return our deposit.

When we moved into the property there were issues with the cleanliness of the house and we ended up spending 3 days cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms, and general living area. Aswell as desposing of a tv which had been left outside and generally making the house suitable for inhabitance. We kept good care of the property throughout the tenancy, sometimes the grass in the garden got a little too long but generally speaking it was a very nice place to live. As the property was unmanaged (the letting agency found us for the landlady then she took over the responsibility) we had a dvd inventory done by the agency and when it was time to leave the landlady came round with us and made the checks. The only issue she had was with the garden and suggested it needed some tidying of the boarders. I spent the afternoon (4 hours) turning the boarders and trimming the edging of the lawn whilst the landlady went to the letting agent and handed back the inventory and stated that everything was okay. She then came back and said that the job we had done on the garden was sufficient and she would finish off the last little bits with her sons. This was all on tuesday.

On thursday we received a call from the agency saying that the landlady had been in repeatedly to their office to complain about the state we had left the property in and that she had to get cleaners in to clean the carpets and flooring, a gardener to sort the garden, remove 12(!) bags of rubbish from the property and specialist cleaner to remove oil from the garage and drive (I had been restoring a VW beetle on the drive, taxed and insured per our tenancy agreement). She stated that she would take £195 for all the work undertaken and the agency is now not allowing us to get our deposit as they are saying that there are disputes over the issues. We went round to the office to discuss and they showed us the paperwork (which the landlady had added clauses to after we signed!) and tell us what was going on. We were under the impression that everything had been agreed and that having handed in the paperwork the landlady was not is a position to demand money and hold us the process of getting our money back (which we need for a house deposit to purchase a property).

Any advise would be greatly appreciated and please ask if there is anything unclear or more details required for a response. We are at our wits end and the stress of the move has been excentuated by the landlady's unreasonablness.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi,

I am very sorry to read about your problems with your former landlady.

However,in order to possibly assist you further please start by answering the following questions:

1.When did you move into the property?

2.When did you vacate the property?

3.Did you take any photos of the property prior to your departure?

The answers to the above questions should hopefully enable me to assist you further.

[modder]

thank you very much for the response. We moved into the property in November 2007 and had a 6 month contract. After the 6 months it convered to a rolling monthly contract but we had a verbal agreement to stay in the property for another 6 months. We were asked to leave due to the house sale and vacated the property about a week ago.

Unfortunately we do not have pictures of the property however the landlady pestered the estate agent enough for them to go round and look at the condition of the house. She then incorrectly used what they said against us; aparantly the carpets needed cleaning if she is to let it again but they also told her that the carpets were bad when we moved in. She is continuing to pursue us for the betterment of the property. Her amount has now gone down to about £85 after we responded to her initial breakdown of the charges, however she doesn't appear to have read our letter ass she is still convinced we stole a lamp from her which is not on the dvd inventory

She also asked us to respond to her recent email, sent saturday 2nd August at 12:20, before 16:00 that very day! She is stating that she can request the £50 cleaning deposit, that we paid on top of a month's rent deposit, from the agency and we just forward her the balance by cheque. Considering both myself and my girlfriend have been out this afternoon and I have only just sorted internet out in the new property I am disappointed we did not respond by the 4pm requested time but feel she is being very unreasonable. As it is getting towards the 10 day preiod when we have to either get our money back or go to dispute we are wondering whether we should take legal action and what the procedure is next. We are unsure whether the dispute will go to a tribunal or not and whether we get to state our case to an authoritative body?

Cheers for any advise you might be able to give or stories of people who have faced similar situations.

Nick

[MrShed]

That is unreasonable time scale....what is the 10 day time period you mention though? Was the deposit protected under a tenancy deposit scheme, and did you receive notification of this protection?

[modder]

Originally Posted by MrShed

That is unreasonable time scale....what is the 10 day time period you mention though? Was the deposit protected under a tenancy deposit scheme, and did you receive notification of this protection?

Thats what we thought, she seems to be trying to pressure us into responding quickly as she is going away on holiday next week (the agency told us this on friday) and they (the agency) have told her they will not let the property for her again until the dispute is resolved.

The deposit is protected under the TDS and we have notification of this. We have a 5 digit code and so does the agency which both need to be presented for us to get the deposit back. Even though she agreed to the agency that everything was fine and indicated to give back our deposit on the day we moved out they are having to with-hold releasing their code to the TDS as they are saying it is in dispute as she came back to them a couple of days after with a list of unreasonable requirements. We outlined on the dvd inventory where all her issues were answered but she is still questioning things (makes me wonder whether she actually read our letter fully and checked the inventory).

[modder]

she has apparantly now informed her solicitors of the situation and is awaiting our next move. Do you think this is a scare tactic to try and bully us?

[MrShed]

Yep - no need for solicitors, and they probably know nothing about the situation anyway. Take it to dispute resolution with the TDS.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all!

I would just like to add:

1.The landlady does not have any leg to stand on regarding the lamp that was not in the inventory.If she did,what is to stop her from claiming for a 25 carat piece of jewellery - absolute load of tosh!

2.As Mr.Shed states this matter should go to the TDS and you will have a fairly quick means of resloving this matter without going to court.

3.Regarding lawyers,this is just bully tactics - simply ignore.

I hope you find this information useful.

If you have any questions,just ask.

[modder]

Thanks guys for the great responses, we thought that she was just trying bully tactics and force us into submission. We have read the TDS info and have just filed for full repayment of the deposit, the ball is now in her court to file a dispute. We are a little unclear however on the next step as there are so many different options. We are unsure whether she is aware of the correct procedure and therefore may not file the paperwork correctly to take the matter to dispute; if this does not happen then will we have to get our own solicitor? Cost will be an issue to us as even though we are in ok jobs we are far from 'flush' and there reaches a point where the solicitor costs would amount to more than paying her off!

If she does not fill in the correct paperwork then do you know if it goes to arbitration anyway? we are struggling slightly to understand the small print and legal jargon

Thanks for all the help so far.

Nick

[MrShed]

You will at no stage during this require a solicitor - this is an arbitration process only. Even if it went to small claims(no reason why it should) you do not require a solicitor. If she does not file her dispute properly, then you get the deposit returned - simple as IMO.

[Nightmare4banks]

modder,

I would just like to add:

1.You do not need a solicitor as Mr.Shed has already stated no matter what happens.


2.Forget your ex-landlady's deadlines! Who in the hell does she think she is?

At the end of the day,should this matter go in as a dispute you will both be treated on an equal footing.


Now,I have 2 questions for you:

1.Without me having to read all what you have posted - How much does the landlady exactly want to claim against you together with the breakdown if there is more than one deduction?

2.How much was your deposit?


The answers to the above questions should hopefully enable me to assist you further.

[modder]

Originally Posted by MrShed

You will at no stage during this require a solicitor - this is an arbitration process only. Even if it went to small claims(no reason why it should) you do not require a solicitor. If she does not file her dispute properly, then you get the deposit returned - simple as IMO.

Thank you for clarifying this, this is what we thought but weren't certain. We have filled in the information for the TDS and even sent the landlady informing her that we have done this and that she needs to follow the official channels (we weren't sure about whether to or not but didn't want to come across as vindictive as her).

[modder]

Originally Posted by Nightmare4banks

modder,

I would just like to add:

1.You do not need a solicitor as Mr.Shed has already stated no matter what happens.


2.Forget your ex-landlady's deadlines! Who in the hell does she think she is?

At the end of the day,should this matter go in as a dispute you will both be treated on an equal footing.


Now,I have 2 questions for you:

1.Without me having to read all what you have posted - How much does the landlady exactly want to claim against you together with the breakdown if there is more than one deduction?

2.How much was your deposit?


The answers to the above questions should hopefully enable me to assist you further.

Thank you for this. Not sure what the relevance of the amount is and I have actually stated it in the first posting.

There have however been developments after we requested receipts for the work she had done; the cleanign of the property apparantly cost £65, the lamp was £10 and cleaning products for the drive and garden are £10.77. The deposit was £475 plus a £50 cleaning deposit.

It is now becoming a matter or principle and not a case of the cash. We know we are in the right about all of the matters and feel she is trying her luck to pressure us. As the money is ours we are not going to roll over and let her take what is not rightfully hers. If we had caused any damage to the property that warranted any amount of our deposit being retained by the landlady then we would be the first to admit to it.

[MrShed]

What is the £50 "cleaning deposit"??

[modder]

Originally Posted by MrShed

What is the £50 "cleaning deposit"??

It was a payment on top of the 1 month deposit which was required by our estate agent. We weren't sure what it was for exactly but were assured that it would be returned to us if the property was left in the the state we received it, as per the inventory. We are going to check on monday, but from the TDS paperwork it states that the full amount held under the TDS is £525 so we are sure that she can not get to this money without going through a dispute tribunal.

[MrShed]

OK fair enough - so basically a £525 deposit, just wanted to clarify.