Landlord refusing to return full deposit

[Nonnie4455]

On 31st March my landlord issued me with a Notice to Quit plus the form AT6, stating that I had to leave the property on or before the 1st June as he wished the house to be returned to him (this was so that he could sell it) I had to search for another property and by the end of April had found one but had to pay a deposit and months rent in advance or I would have lost it. I moved out of my other property on 14th May and handed the keys back to the letting agents on the 15th May. Rent was due again on the 19th but I had complied with the landlords request as he had previously written to me asking if the selling agents could have access to the property to arrange the schedule. I had noticed a stain on one of the bedroom carpets so I bought a brand new carpet to replace it and had to pay someone to fit it for me.

I have today received a letter from the letting agent advising me that I could not receive the full deposit as I was due rental charges for the period 19th May till 1st June as I had moved out of the property without giving the statutory one month's notice. (The landlord inspected the property prior to the 28th May as he had faxed the letting agents with details of deductions from the deposit) Along with the previously mentioned rental charges I was also having £100 deducted for the removal and replacement of the brand new carpet that I had laid in the bedroom. With regard to the rental charges is he legally entitled to withhold them as I felt that I was given the notice to quit by him to leave ON OR BEFORE 1st June I had done as requested. He also entered the property before the 1st June knowing full well that it had been vacated. I also cannot understand why he would want to pull up a brand new carpet which cost in excess of £100 and in my opinion vastly improved the property especially as I have checked my inventory and the stain was on the carpet when we moved in. I am at my wits end as to what to do as I was expecting to get most of my deposit returned as I left the house in a cleaner condition than when I moved into it.. I spent 3 hours every evening after a full days work getting it to an extremely high standard. I also can't understand why they wanted a month's notice from me when they had issued the notice to quit. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I really don't know what to do. Many thanks:-x

[vjohn82]

Hi,

 

When did you receive the notice to quit? Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 states:

 

"To end a Shorthold tenancy the landlord must give at least two months' notice"

 

Housing Act 1988 (c. 50)

Edited June 5, 2009 by vjohn82
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[vjohn82]

Edited post: Saw you put 31st March for the notice to quit...

 

Can you put the letter you were served on here? You can scan it and use photobucket to do it. It will help me look at the terms stated with regard to notice periods etc.

[Nonnie4455]

Hi Vjohn82. My letter was dated 31st March 2009 and said that they must issue notice to quit for 1st June 2009. I was told to return the keys to the agents office on or before that day. It also said that once they received the keys they would carry out a final inventory check and providing all was well would return my deposit plus any interest accrued. Also enclosed with the letter was the actual Notice to Quit stating that I was required to remove myself from the property with effect from or before the FIRST day of June in the year 2009. Both in the letter and on the Notice the wording was ON or BEFORE which meant they clearly wanted the property returned to them as soon as possible. The landlord himself even contacted me to ask if the selling agents could access the property to prepare the schedule.. I told him that I was in the middle of packing but would move out as soon as I found somewhere. At no time did anyone advise me that I had to pay the rent up to the date of 1st June and when I contacted the office after returning the keys I advised them I had cancelled the standing order and was told that was fine.

[vjohn82]

Ok... next questions:

 

1) When do you usually pay your rent?

 

2) Do you pay it in arrears?

 

3) How much have they confirmed they are returning to you?

 

4) Is the difference between the amount being returned and the actual amount between the June 1st notice date and the date you moved out (15/05) reflected accurately in the amount they are returning to you?

[Nonnie4455]

1) 19th each month

2) monthly in advance

3) there are no arrears and all utility bills have been paid in full including council tax

4)they have issued me with a cheque for £111.49. My deposit was £450 but with interest accrued it was £477.77.

 

They deducted £207.28 for unpaid rental charges from 19th May - 1st June. A further £100 was deducted for laying a brand new carpet which replaced their old shabby stained one as they intend to remove it and buy a new one. I have an issue with that too as that does not constitute damages. They also deducted £25 for cutting the grass, which I did do on the 12th May prior to moving out but by the time they inspected the property the grass had grown again. The remaining £50 odd pounds was for marks on wall and installing a bt and sky cable so my son could have it in his bedroom. Apparently they are having to remove these cables also. I am not disputing those latter charges though just the rent, carpet and grass. I'm a bit annoyed as I can't understand why they would remove a brand new carpet to replace it with another one. The carpet cost me £70 (not an end of roll offcut either) and a further £25 to have it fitted. When we bought the carpet though it was valued at £100 but they were doing a discount on that particular day so we got it a bit cheaper.

[vjohn82]

1) 19th each month

2) monthly in advance

3) there are no arrears and all utility bills have been paid in full including council tax

4)they have issued me with a cheque for £111.49. My deposit was £450 but with interest accrued it was £477.77.

 

They deducted £207.28 for unpaid rental charges from 19th May - 1st June. A further £100 was deducted for laying a brand new carpet which replaced their old shabby stained one as they intend to remove it and buy a new one. I have an issue with that too as that does not constitute damages. They also deducted £25 for cutting the grass, which I did do on the 12th May prior to moving out but by the time they inspected the property the grass had grown again. The remaining £50 odd pounds was for marks on wall and installing a bt and sky cable so my son could have it in his bedroom. Apparently they are having to remove these cables also. I am not disputing those latter charges though just the rent, carpet and grass. I'm a bit annoyed as I can't understand why they would remove a brand new carpet to replace it with another one. The carpet cost me £70 (not an end of roll offcut either) and a further £25 to have it fitted. When we bought the carpet though it was valued at £100 but they were doing a discount on that particular day so we got it a bit cheaper.

 

1) You say monthly in advance; do you mean from the 19th to the 19th or do you mean you pay on the 19th for that particular month? (i.e. 1st May to 31st May rental period paid for on the 19th May)

 

2) Silly question considering the state of the previous carpet but did you get permission for removing and then replacing it?

 

3) On the inventory checklist for leaving does it make any remarks regarding the condition of the house/garden etc and do you have a copy of that inventory?

 

Generally the landlord will have to show how you are responsible for the damage and not you prove the other way around. So there is a route for potentially getting the deposit back but we just need to draw out the answers for the questions I am asking if that's ok?

 

With potential court claims like this it's best to stick to the basic facts and not get too emotional with it as the landlord will have to prove a number of things.

[Nonnie4455]

1) Yes rental was from 19th to 19th (they are claiming unpaid rent from the 19th May till 1st June in this instance. However the notice to quit said before the 1st June so I thought I was helping him out with the sale of house moving out when I did.

2) No didn't get permission but we had noticed the bad stain and thought it was our fault. After changing the carpet I found the inventory that same evening and felt stupid as we had basically not needed to do it. However I felt happy that I did because the carpet made the property so much nicer so I think he is making a silly issue by charging me £100

3) Yes the inventory stated that during the term of my tenancy I was responsible for the upkeep of the garden. I did cut the grass prior to moving out despite the fact that there had been heavy rainfall for a couple of days. He didn't inspect it till a couple of weeks later when it had grown again. Also the inventory stated that due wear and tear would be taken into consideration. I cleaned the house from top to bottom, filled in all holes when I took some pictures down and repainted the bathroom as steam from the shower had caused the paint over the bath to blister and it looked really horrible. This also improved the appearance of the property. He made no mention of the fact that I had changed the toilet seats in the upstairs bathroom and downstairs toilet and I never sought permission to do that either. So why was I not charged for those also? I could really use the extra deposit back as I originally borrowed money from my son so I could pay the deposit on my new house so he is the one potentially out of pocket because of this. He is a student and doesn't have a lot of cash

[vjohn82]

 

1) Yes rental was from 19th to 19th (they are claiming unpaid rent from the 19th May till 1st June in this instance. However the notice to quit said before the 1st June so I thought I was helping him out with the sale of house moving out when I did.

2) No didn't get permission but we had noticed the bad stain and thought it was our fault. After changing the carpet I found the inventory that same evening and felt stupid as we had basically not needed to do it. However I felt happy that I did because the carpet made the property so much nicer so I think he is making a silly issue by charging me £100

3) Yes the inventory stated that during the term of my tenancy I was responsible for the upkeep of the garden. I did cut the grass prior to moving out despite the fact that there had been heavy rainfall for a couple of days. He didn't inspect it till a couple of weeks later when it had grown again. Also the inventory stated that due wear and tear would be taken into consideration. I cleaned the house from top to bottom, filled in all holes when I took some pictures down and repainted the bathroom as steam from the shower had caused the paint over the bath to blister and it looked really horrible. This also improved the appearance of the property. He made no mention of the fact that I had changed the toilet seats in the upstairs bathroom and downstairs toilet and I never sought permission to do that either. So why was I not charged for those also? I could really use the extra deposit back as I originally borrowed money from my son so I could pay the deposit on my new house so he is the one potentially out of pocket because of this. He is a student and doesn't have a lot of cash

 

1) Ok so technically as you moved out on the 15th they I believe they owe you 4 days of your rent back

 

2) Usually best to get permission but you could argue wear and tear on the carpet if you wished (especially if it was in poor condition). On the first inventory when you moved in it said there was a stain... on the one when you moved out did it have any remarks about the condition of the carpet?

 

Probably best to ask you the date of the last inventory too... because the grass cutting would be a moot point if you moved out only days after an inspection and they are claiming for the rest of the month.

 

If you have a scanner it would be helpful if you could post the documents up for me to look over. If not I am a volunteer adviser for the residents associations in my local council and you could refer all of your paperwork to me where I can put together a letter for you.

 

There's no charges whatsoever as we are in charitable status and we exclusively help out local residents with housing issues (both private and council rented) so you could come under that if you wanted. We won the Queens award in 2007 too and cases like this make us eligible for more if we win them

 

Up to you... scanning and posting is usually best as others might be able to offer you advice but at least you have some options.

[Nonnie4455]

Hi yes I moved out on the 14th, keys returned on 15th and rent due again on 19th. I moved out probably two weeks before the inspection as the fax he sent detailing all the damages etc was dated 28th May.

The first inventory was sent to me on moving into the property on 19th Jan 2007. There was no mention of the stain on that one so I pointed it out to them. On the second inventory which was sent to me along with notice to quit the stain was mentioned (I didn't notice when I first received notice to quit as I was too shocked at the possibility of being homeless) I only briefly read through it the night before I handed the keys back and that was when we realised we didn't have to change carpet after all. Unfortunately I don't have access to a scanner at the moment (probably still in a box somewhere and I'd have to locate the software to install it on this laptop) I'll try and locate it over the weekend and get back to you then if that is okay. Many thanks for your help so far

[vjohn82]

No problem... sorry for the delay but been busy at work this evening.

 

Try to get the docs scanned if you can!

[Nonnie4455]

Hi wasn't able to find the software for the scanner this weekend sorry. Is there any other way I could get the docs to you (ie if you private message me an address I could post them) Just for your info I live in Scotland so not sure if where you're from the laws for tenancy would be the same. Let me know anyway as I really appreciate your help