Reasons given were: 1. Grossly inflated charges for the work supposedly carried out. 2. No receipts of work submitted by landlord. (repairs to doors, tightening of handles) 3. No mention of condition of item(s) in initial inventory. (table that was french polished, stereo claim) 4. No opportunity given to tenant to "put-right" despite tenants offer. 5. No multiple quotes sought for work supposedly undertaken. 6. Some items claimed for fell under maintenance, tenant not liable (e.g light transformer) Basically, I got my money back because of the inventory. They put a huge emphasis on the inventory mentioning not only the item(s) in the house, but also quite specifically their condition. The sad thing is we left the guys flat in great condition - he even came around before we left and was happy with it. The whole thing felt very premeditated on his part. Anyways, hooray for the Dispute Service !

** SUCCESS ** Well folks, the Dispute Service took from 6th May until today to process my claim, so be prepared for a long wait if you ever go this route. It's amazing how people expect you to find these deposits when you move flat, if the last one is held in dispute ! Anyways, everything started to look up, when a person from the Dispute Service emailled me asking for my bank details. So they gave me an inkling that something out of the £3000 deposit was coming back to me. In the end, I was paid the full amount ! I had expected to pay for a few things, since I admitted that they were my fault and I was liable (cracked wall mirror when moving), but perhaps due to the vexatious nature of the landlords attempts to grasp my money, they paid the whole lot to me ! The estate agents involved were less than helpful. I would rather walk through a marsh than deal with them again, but then again who ever has anything nice to say about a letting agent ? I am pleased to report that The Dispute Service system appears to work. --blackmogu.

Things have taken a turn for the worse !! It has been 21 days since my tenancy ended. So far, the landlord has done the following work without showing any quotations or receipts :- 1. Professional clean (£230+VAT) 2. Handy man to tighten drawer handles (£168+VAT, materials £10+VAT) 3. Cracked balcony tile (£50 compensation requested) 4. TV Cabinet - French polishing to remove discoloration (£180+VAT) and the king of them all, the HIFI system !! - they think there is a piece missing, although all is there according to the inventory. They want to charge me to hire a professional A/V person to connect it up so it is working. The landlord says it cost him £2000 (it is a crappy old thing from the 90's with a standalone seperate CD player !!), and he is witholding my entire deposit of £3000 because of this. Now my main points here are :- 1. The working condition of the stereo was never stated nor checked in the check-in. In fact we used our own equipment for the entire 2 years of tenancy ! We could never get it to work (though everything turns on and powers up). Please can someone assist on how I should present my arguments to the letting agent / landlord ?? This is grossly unfair. BTW, the landlord and letting agent are doing nothing until next month when the landlord comes back from holiday (doubtless using my deposit money !). Please Help !!

1. I did have an inventory done when I moved in, but the problem is that is not complete - it references an old inventory for many items / conditions. e.g: 32. Table (As per old inventory). 2. The letting agents never sent me a copy of the check-in inventory so that I could check it's accuracy when my tenancy started. When I asked for it, they said that "We will find evidence that we sent it to you via email, that is enough." Now, I know that I never got emailled anything !! Is this level of evidence truly enough ? 3. They don't have a signed copy of the inventory report - is this significant ? The check-in report that they have shown me clearly has an area for Landlord and Tenant signatures, but both are empty. 4. Deposit is protected - I have a DPS number. 5. All the bits that they are claiming for are noted in the check-out inventory. My problem is that they were present in the check-in to varying degrees. 6. It has been over 14 days since I moved out, and I am still waiting for anything (no invoices/quotes as yet!) except ping-pong emails from the letting agent and myself arguing over this missing signed inventory and betterment etc. On a side note, the landlord wants me to pay for someone to come in and wire up his stereo/tv/sky equipment that was in the flat before. Now, when I moved in, the working condition of this equipment was not checked. It never worked, and I just put it in the cupboard for 2 years and used my tv/stereo equipment. Can he require me to wire up his stuff that was never working before, and they have admitted that it is not checked ? What the letting agent says is that "It is accepted that all electrical items are assumed working by the TDS". Surely this cannot be the case ?? Also, on the TV table, there are a few light scratches and discoloration. He wants me to pay for a french polisher to fix it - is this an acceptable level of repair ? The table is nothing special, and is more than 6 years old. Thanks for all your assistance !

Hi all, I ended my 2 year tenancy with a letting agent about 3 weeks ago, and eventually they got around to giving me a list of things that "the landlord is very unhappy about". I will add that I had an inventory done when I checked out, and the inventory notes "Flat is in good condition" as a summary. They are trying to claim for :- a) 2 tea stains to the carpet (should be removed once a professional clean is done at my expense). b) stand alone toilet roll holder is loose ( handyman to attend). There are two in the apartment. One was noted as loose in my original check-in. It is a 2 second job to tighten yourself, and I think that it should be fair wear-and-tear. c) globed lamp missing - this is not even mentioned in my check-in inventory, but is mentioned in an older inventory document they are trying to claim is valid, that was done a year ago prior to me moving in ! d) bathroom light not working - the light actually works, it's the dimmer module in the ceiling behind the plasterboard that has ceased to work. Can they say it's my responsibility to fix this ? Surely it's wear and tear and betterment if I replace this item. There are 6 dimmer lights in the bathroom, only this one has a problem. e) 1 cracked tile on balcony - this was actually missed in the inventory when I moved in. When I asked for a signed copy of the inventory from the letting agent, they replied:- "that they don't have a copy of the inventory that I signed when I moved in.The TDS consider the third party professional report as an unbiased picture of the condition of the flat at move in." It is in my tenancy agreement that a copy of the inventory should have been given to me within 7 days of moving in, which they admitted they have not done, citing that the old inventory left behind by the previous tenant is good enough ! f) loose handles in the kitchen drawers - this was picked up on one of the drawers in the inventory when I moved in. Frankly it's a 2 second job with a screwdriver to fix them - they are simple handles. Can they charge a whopping fee for a handyman to do this ?? They want me to pay to french polish a TV cabinet that had damage on it when we moved in. It's not even mentioned in my inventory. Finally, they want me to pay to rewire the landlords audio equipment, which wasn't tested in the initial inventory, and wasn't specified as working or not. The equipment works, but I didn't wire it up when I left, as I just used my own equipment. Can they oblige me to pay someone to wire this up ?? PLEASE HELP ! I cannot afford to lose my deposit (over £3000 !). I'd very much appreciate any help anyone can give as to what I ought to do.

Since the account with Morteee was in dispute and they haven't complied with the data requests, I believe i've read on other threads that companies cannot pass on accounts in dispute to other third parties. It would be an easy way to get the new harassment agency to stop in their tracks. I'm sure some other more clued up person might be able to comment with more authority. --blackmogu.

To answer your question as to why :- I am self employed, and had already lost 2 days work in dealing with this case. When I went to the Magistrates Court and explained that the car wasn't mine etc., they explained another hearing would have to be arranged. I wasn't prepared to lose any more money over the matter. Secondly, I knew who had forged my signature (I used to share a flat with him). I wasn't prepared to deal with the grief to myself and my family that I knew would come if I 'grassed him up'. It's not an ideal world, and I had little faith in the police being proactive in dealing with my situation then. It was a whole lot easier just to swallow the fine.

I'm at a bit of a loss with how to proceed with this letter that I received today from Marstons. The history behind it is that I had a Magistrates Court fine for a car without tax that wasn't even my car ! (someone else registered it in my name and forged my signature). I accepted the fine for £448.34, and set up a standing order from my account to pay monthly amounts of £50. The payments finished April this year, and I never heard anything about it until this letter today, that claimed the amount outstanding is £323.34 !! So I phoned up Marstons, and explained that the court fine was paid off, to no avail. I checked my bank account for proof, and saw that every payment for £50 was taken out, but the final payment of £48.34 wasn't, why I don't know since I set up the standing order correctly. So in effect, I still owe £48.34, which is fine, i'm happy to pay what I ought to. Marstons seem to have added a compliance fee of £75, and an Attendance fee of £200 !!!! Can they demand this of me ?? I have never had a visit, call or letter or any communication until today, via a letter. I would like to know the best way to approach this - I cannot afford almost 3/4 of the original fine for "fees" again !! If I was just contacted by someone, i'd have paid the outstanding £48.34 which was the last and only payment missed BTW !