I am new to the site and have had a similar experience . i moved from my flat and left a neighbour with the key . Basically I said to her that she could have anything in the flat as I was moving off the Island (Isle of Man) that evening . It turns out that another neighbour persuaded her to dump rubbish in my flat for the landlord to remove and as a consequence I recieved just £55 of my initial deposit of £650 !!!! I subsequently returned the cheque and explained that I had no intention of trashing the flat and that I felt the cost was unfair . I recieved no reply (August / september 09) and would like to seek further advice . Any help reclaiming this money would be very welcome .