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Unfair deposit deductions


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I can tell you now that there is no point in counting on digital cameras.

 

Remember the old flatt battery syndrome?

 

01-01-2000 00:00

 

I could take a load of pics aroudn the world, flog em on ebay n say they're authentic minute old Millenium photo's of famous places lol

 

Believe me, being a qualified programmer? A digitised item wouldn't stand a chance with me if it was plugged into a computer and had a date to change on it >

 

Hi,

 

This is my first post so apologies if this idea isn't new to you all, but just in case...

I take digital photos when I move into rental accomodation. I was concerned about the validity of any use of these as possible evidence, so I uploaded them to picasaweb (an online web album hosted by Google). Was this a valid solution to giving a timestamp?

 

MooseOnAMac

 

P.S. The upload timestamp for each photo can be seen by clicking on the 'RSS' feed for your album in picasaweb.

Edited by MooseOnAMac
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  • 5 weeks later...
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We have had an amount deducted for the final inventory. We also paid for the initial inventory. Should we have to pay for both? Surely this is an Unfair Term under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as there is a significant imbalance against the consumer here, ie we have to pay the whole lot?

 

Your thoughts appreciated.

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  • 1 month later...
No, it's normal under a AST that the Landlord pays for the checking in and the tenant for the check out. Look under the section 'obligations of the Tenant' in the contract.

 

Sali,

 

I agree that its normal that the LL pays for the checking in and the tenant for the checking out... however we had to pay for both! A "Significant Imbalance to the detriment of the Consumer"? and thus unfair?

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It's not just unfair, if you have an AST and it states that you are only obliged to pay for the checking out, the LL has breached the terms of the contract and you have the right to reclaim that cost.

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It's not just unfair, if you have an AST and it states that you are only obliged to pay for the checking out, the LL has breached the terms of the contract and you have the right to reclaim that cost.

 

Unfortunately our contract states that we must pay for both. Hence why I am looking to challenge contractual term as an Unfair Term under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 where it states an Unfair Term as

 

"contrary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers"

 

Do you think this clause would fall under this description?

 

I believe that us paying for both is a significant imbalance to the detriment of us...

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Only a court will decide if it is unfair. However, you could try (if you haven't already) writing to your LL in the first instance. The thing is if you did lose in court, you'd have costs to pay too. I have been both a tenant and a LL and I have never asked or been asked (in my contract) to cover by check in and check out fees.

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Only a court will decide if it is unfair. However, you could try (if you haven't already) writing to your LL in the first instance. The thing is if you did lose in court, you'd have costs to pay too. I have been both a tenant and a LL and I have never asked or been asked (in my contract) to cover by check in and check out fees.

 

Thats fine, I realise. Its part of a larger TDS non-compliance suit and the fact we havent been able to dispute this amount... It shouldnt come into is as the claim is absolute, just want to have something in the back pocket in case the judge asks why we are disputing the amount.

 

Thanks for your help Sali.

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Hi

 

Just wanted a bit of advice we are moving out in a weeks time, our landlord has never given details that the deposit is held in a secure account nor is it mentioned in the contract (we moved in sep 07) he also has been away in new zealand since we gave notice and hasnt left anyone in charge of the properties even though he has an office and holiday home business no-one has been able to give us any information of where the deposit is.

Also he did not do an inventory nor provide one to us when we moved in and there is nothing in the contract about doing one when leaving can he withhold the deposit in anyway? There are several things that need repairing which i have contacted him about several times but he has never come to fix them, and they had new windows installed and the people who did them botched it and damaged walls etc which he came to see and i left him a three page letter as to what needed doing and what they had done.. which i found ripped up in my bin when i got home (very professional hey.)

 

Also I believe they have now returned from NZ this week but I have yet been able to contact them and they have not acknowledged our letter of notice, even though they were out of the country do thehy have to honour the date i sent it?

 

Any info to help would be great!

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  • 5 months later...

Thought Id chip in - read somewhere that the best way to the date of photographs is to have a copy of the days newspaper in the corner of the shot.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone,

 

I'm not quite sure if I'm posting in the right place but my problem is to do with unfair deposit deductions so I thought I should post here.

 

Moved out end of July after 1 year tenancy. Lanlord claimed £600 from deposit in cleaning etc. I said we would not accept this without invoices stating the actual charges incurred. After disputed costs they tried to charge for taking away rubbish (we actually saw the binmen taking away the rubbish the day we moved out) they 'as a gesture of goodwill' said they would take £80 off the costs they are claiming.

 

My partner went to the landlord's today and his assistant gave us copies of everything in the file as he wasn't there. The documents we have received include one invoice which details two costs (general cleaning and cleaning of sofa). The costs on this invoice plus the extra costs we have been quoted (interest on rent arrears etc) add up to £500. However the landlord is still claiming there is also an extra £75 cost attributed to painting.

 

What is strange is that in the documents we got was another 'invoice' on normal paper from a company called Alex and Co, 29 Heyford Avenue. There is no break down of costs on this invoice it just states:

 

cleaning

removal of rubbish

painting

 

total = £600

 

There is no name of anyone on the invoice, no telephone number, no details of how to pay. In addition after some investigating I found out that the property is one the landlord owns which was up for rent recently! When the landlord orginally told me what deductions he would make he said it was exactly £600 and then I said I wanted real invoices. These invoices clearly don't add up and it seems as if he created the first one when he decided what he wanted to charge me i.e. pulling the figures out of thin air, and then perhaps he planned to send me this 'invoice' as a receipt.

 

I do not think that this invoice is real.

 

My question is that if this invoice is fake, does that mean the landlord has acted fraudulently?

 

I have emailed him and told him I will not accept the painting charges without further proof. Do you think that if I can get the painting charges knocked off I should just leave it at that or should I pursue the matter further because of his suspicious actions?

 

The deposit is held in a scheme but I don't remember if it is custodial or insurance based.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

I was hoping someone would be able to help me with a dispute I'm currently having regarding deductions from our rental deposit. We vacated the property on the 2nd November (it is now the 17th November) and two days later on the 4th November, we were sent a Check Out Report and Security Deposit Acknowledgement detailing deductions that were to be made from the deposit. We were happy with these and were merely waiting for an issue with the electricity bill to be sorted (by the landlord may I add) before we could provide all our final bills and collect our deposits. However yesterday (16th November) we recieved an email from the letting agent to say that they would now be making further reductions to our rent of an extra £300 as the roof was now leaking and they had reason to believe that was due to damage made by us. Can they do this??? Surely they cannot bill us for damage that may well have been caused by the new tenants since they are only serving this notice 2 weeks after we vacated and also (the main point i think) after they had already provided the check out report with the full list of deductions?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

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One way to photograph evidence, is too use polaroid camera, writing the time and date on each photograph, sign and have witness sign.

Or as the above is laborious, i prefer to camcord the whole place whilst the BBC 24 hr news channel is on and even flick onto teletext which has date and time on, beginning, middle and end of film:)

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Our landlord is witholding the bond and the last months receipt, I recorded the property on my phones camcorder the day we moved in, and the day we leave today ill do the same, we spent all week cleaning and tidying, also painted the kitchen which had no wallpaper on when we moved in. With regards to her holding last months receipt I also have her on a 20 min footage of her ranting and raving at my wife, and saying she is giving us nothing including the reciept.

 

Thing is she was a friend, and that broke down over a pool match in her pub, and then she threw us out on that basis NOTHING relating to the house.

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In our previous place (there for over 2 years) we did our best to keep it in good order. In the weeks before we moved I scoured the kitchen & oven (no-one was allowed to use the latter for the last 2 weeks!!), I washed all te windows, tops of doors, radiators - you name it. My husband thought I was nuts. We vacuumed, washed floors, scrubbed lavatories & the shower cubicle. Took photographs. I admit my daughter had put up some posters with bluetac & we'd covered the marks with the much loved ubiquitous Magnolia paint. All rubbish was put in the wheelie bin or taken to the local dump.

 

The agents didn't contact us - only when we'd 'phoned them twice did they respond - back-dating a letter to suggest they'd written to us within the timescale to say they did not accept our deposit being returned.

 

They objected to cobwebs being in the house - they also claimed the carpets were 'dirty', as was the bathroom and say the walls need complete re-decorating - thus they want to claim the whole deposit.

 

We asked our neighbour (who's the local handyman & has the job of redecorating the place) & he said he thought it was fine.

 

Not only that, but when we arrived there was a very strong smell of dog and the windows were filthy - as well as the dog hairs everywhere!

 

We've decided to go to Court since I'm strongly of the opinion that we're talking reasonable wear & tear over a 2 1/4 year period - and anyway, don't these people understand how quickly cobwebs are made?

 

 

Mind you, in our new place we have no certificates re gas, electricity, oil, or a ECT - the electricity & gas are jerryrigged, he's spent our deposit, lies everytime we see him (we found out we were paying off his electricity bill with the pre-paid meter system) we've got rats, there's paint falling off the bedroom ceiling due to damp (it spreads every day) as well as mold, we have broken windows, sewage spilling out of a blocked drain & seeping into the foundations, rubbish eveywhere - including rusted metal & 30 propane tanks - paper peeling off walls, trailing wires & nails sticking 1cm out of the floor (these things either didn't exist when we viewed the property or we were told they'd be rectified). We don't even have a proper bathroom!

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Hi,

 

We've had to leave a place due to bad damp problems ( supposedly rain coming in through a cracked wall, and rising damp all along the one long main external wall ( living room, kitchen, utility room and possibly bathroom ).

 

It'd been reported repeatedly 12 months, we were told it was new problem, and that there was no history, and that'd it be fixed ASAP. ( As much has now been classified as rising damp, I can't help but think some of this was less than the truth. )

 

However the landlord was initially very slow at getting anything done (in fairness, partly hampered by an obstructive neighbour, but it still took something like 8 months before he started pressuring the neighbour, and several months later when an insurance surveyor came around and decided much of it was rising damp and not from the leak..

 

Floor boards are rotten, at least one floor joist is completely rotten through. There are "rising damp" type salt marks, peeling paint, and rust on the walls.

 

We lost some bedding and foodstuffs to mould, and have had had to deal with the damp on a daily basis, and eventually been forced to move because of it.

We negotiated a one month "refund" for compensation for the above.

It's hard to put a figure on what it's meant to us, but bleh, so far so good.

 

However, now the landlord is wanting to deduct £200 from the deposit due to :-

1) Mould on curtains (saying it was due to condensation due to us not opening windows). Clearly we opened windows in the summer to keep cool, but are we also supposed to open the windows when it's cold enough to get condensation on the glass? and/or to let out the 24/7 dampness from the leak/rising damp?

2) broken extractor fan. I know 2/3 are working, I was never sure if the other one worked or not, or if it had a humidity switch, or if I just didn't know how to turn it on. Anywhich way, we never used it. It's not marked as working in the check-in inventory (and at checkout I know the (same) inventory clerk wasn't sure how to turn it on either).

3) Ring mark on the fire place. There is one ring mark labeled on the stone fireplace in the check-in inventory. I'm not sure if it's the same one or not, I'm currently assuming it is, but if not then how can a value be put on it?

 

I've currently rejected the deductions to him on the grounds expressed above, but I'd very much appreciate any other perspectives and arguments as I'm pretty sure he's just doing this to try to get his own back as I think he really hasn't faced up to the seriousness of the condition of his property, and largely thinks I've just been a trouble maker, hence I think he might well try to push harder.

 

Thanks.

Edited by BarnieP
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  • 1 month later...
In our previous place (there for over 2 years) we did our best to keep it in good order. In the weeks before we moved I scoured the kitchen & oven (no-one was allowed to use the latter for the last 2 weeks!!), I washed all te windows, tops of doors, radiators - you name it. My husband thought I was nuts. We vacuumed, washed floors, scrubbed lavatories & the shower cubicle. Took photographs. I admit my daughter had put up some posters with bluetac & we'd covered the marks with the much loved ubiquitous Magnolia paint. All rubbish was put in the wheelie bin or taken to the local dump.

 

The agents didn't contact us - only when we'd 'phoned them twice did they respond - back-dating a letter to suggest they'd written to us within the timescale to say they did not accept our deposit being returned.

 

They objected to cobwebs being in the house - they also claimed the carpets were 'dirty', as was the bathroom and say the walls need complete re-decorating - thus they want to claim the whole deposit.

 

We asked our neighbour (who's the local handyman & has the job of redecorating the place) & he said he thought it was fine.

 

Not only that, but when we arrived there was a very strong smell of dog and the windows were filthy - as well as the dog hairs everywhere!

 

We've decided to go to Court since I'm strongly of the opinion that we're talking reasonable wear & tear over a 2 1/4 year period - and anyway, don't these people understand how quickly cobwebs are made?

 

Mind you, in our new place we have no certificates re gas, electricity, oil, or a ECT - the electricity & gas are jerryrigged, he's spent our deposit, lies everytime we see him (we found out we were paying off his electricity bill with the pre-paid meter system) we've got rats, there's paint falling off the bedroom ceiling due to damp (it spreads every day) as well as mold, we have broken windows, sewage spilling out of a blocked drain & seeping into the foundations, rubbish eveywhere - including rusted metal & 30 propane tanks - paper peeling off walls, trailing wires & nails sticking 1cm out of the floor (these things either didn't exist when we viewed the property or we were told they'd be rectified). We don't even have a proper bathroom!

 

Hi MerryMaid,

 

Firstly I think you did extremely well with the cleaning if it's as you say.

 

I think they are trying it on and would ask that they visit again with you present to explain it all. Do not give them a lot of time. Most landlords or agents put a 24hr notice in the contract to visit, if it's now occupied you may have a chance to get a visit there with the new tenants present. This will allow you ask a question infront of the new tenants. A lie will make them uneasy about their situation too.

 

You will be able to dispute any redecoration needed, only DAMAGE is your esponibilty, not wear and tear. If they say you cannot go there with them as it's occupied try visiting anyway without notice and explain you need some pictures of the place to send to the letting agent/landlord. Explain you forgot to take them. Don't be pushy or they might not let you see inside. Most people are willing to help. Even if they do not allow you in bring the paint colour into the conversation, they will most probably not know what colour it was if it has been painted. They'll probably remark on the condition of how it was when they viewed.

 

Good luck with your court case. Sorry to hear of your problems in the new place. I would report those problems to relevent authourites, especially about the gas certificate and wiring. And take some photos even if they are only digital, it does help.

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For BarrieP,

 

Rotting floorboards take longer than 12 months to happen. Wood is actually long lasting. As for the curtains they have been exposed to the damp but I would put the blame on the landlord not sorting out the problem. It was obviously known about for a long time and the main problem was identified as rising damp. That is entirely the landlords responsibility to fix and any problems arising from it. Ask the landlord for a copy of the surveyors notes. State that if you need to take this to the county court you will apply for this information, at which point the landlord will have to comply. It's bad landlords that are trying to rip people off for maintenance that is their responsibility. Also approch whoever did the repairs and state why you need the information. At some point I believe the landlord will see sense at the risk of costing money to defend with holding your £200.

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Thanks, I sent them a strong letter, threatening court action if they continued with the nonsense, and they backed down and paid up.

 

The surveyor was from their insurance, so in part he was trying to deflect problems away from things they'd have to pay up for... blaming things on condensation. Not untrue in itself, but of course the condensation was created, or at least significantly worsened, due to the other damp problems.

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  • 5 months later...

Hi

 

I was a tenant in a property and the agent deducted the deposit £800.00 because I have put locks on (4)individual doors - she claims now it has become multi-tenancy and the owner cannot get a re-mortgage. The lady said she has to change all the doors and claims the chimney was not cleaned in kitchen and there was mould in the bathroom. There was no damage apart from normal usage. She now threatens if the bill to repair is more than the deposit paid I will have to pay the extra.

 

Could some one help?

 

I put locks because the stairs was always full of drug users. I have told the agent about this but they havent done anything for it.

 

Please help

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I am confused. Are you saying that the Agent now considers the house multiple occupancy because you have put locks on four of the doors? That would be complete nonsense and I would challenge the Agent in writing to provide proof of this. You'll find that they are just trying scare tactics.

 

Is this a single house or flat with one AST? Where are the stairs located where the drug dealers hang out?

 

I own, you should not have fitted locks on the doors without permission and I consider that the LL/Agent would have the right to claim for four new doors, but they would have to be pretty special doors to exceed an average deposit. Why not get some quotes (like for like) before you leave incase there is a dispute later on and you can provide this as evidence.

 

Just remember, everything in writing, recorded delivery if possible.

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