Landlord refusing to give deposit back

[newbitz195]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting on here,have been looking around for a while though, and, have picked up some excellent advice, this post might seem to be a bit long winded, but please be patient and I will explain.

 

We moved into a property under an AST on the 24/10/2008, paid the deposit and one months rent in advance,this totalled £2150, the property was let unfurnished, through a letting agent,and we were told that we had to pay the rent direct to the landlord,and, that the deposit would also be protected under the relevent legislation.

 

We always paid the rent on time, kept the place spotlessly clean, so that when the time came to leave there would not be any problems, we gave notice on the 18/01/2010 to leave in the middle of feburary,this is when the problems started.

 

We spent 2 days cleaning the house from top to bottom, including shampooing the carpets, deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen,washing all paintwork etc,leaving( so we thought) the house ready to move into for the next tenants, after speaking to the letting agent about the deposit, they told us that it was being held by the landlord, I then phoned the landlord asking for the deposit to be returned.

 

To cut a long story short they are trying to charge us £850 for redecoration to the kitchen, £200 for oven cleaning, plus other charges for the cooker hood being covered in grease, when I questioned this they told me that it had just been redecorated just before we moved in,which was a blatant lie, the decor was ok, but nothing special,after this phone call I was beside myself with rage, especially after all the cleaning work we had done to the place .

 

After this phone call I decided to do a little digging, I found out that the deposit was registered with mydeposits,but, we were NEVER sent any notification, or certificate to sign,as is required, because of this I do not have a reference number for the deposit, so cannot find out when it was registered.

 

I also have to mention that at no time on moving in were we asked to sign any inventory.

 

If anyone can offer any advice regarding the above it would be much appreciated.

 

Very many thanks.

[Steve__M]

Ask for written list of charges (to try and prevent them from adding more and more things on when they know they're in for a fight).

 

Raise a dispute with mydeposits.

 

It is in your advantage that there is no inventory. Was any sort of report made when you moved out? Maybe collect together any receipts of cleaning materials you bought to use as evidence?

 

From other cases it appears that if mydeposits are happy to take on the dispute, the LLs failure to inform you of the deposit scheme as he should have done may not hold much weight.

[harleyrabbit*123]

If you call mydeposits or visit their website you can check the details of your registration.

[MrShed]

 

From other cases it appears that if mydeposits are happy to take on the dispute, the LLs failure to inform you of the deposit scheme as he should have done may not hold much weight.

 

Not disagreeing with you Steve, but what other cases?

 

The HA is relatively clear on this - if the initial conditions were not complied with, then surely a court would have to class this as a TDS non compliance issue?

 

In any event, I agree - you should raise a dispute with mydeposits, that is their whole purpose.

[newbitz195]

Thank you for all the helpful advice, I`ve put off contacting mydeposits until I have seen my solicitor.Will keep you all updated as and when anything happens.

[MrShed]

I dont understand why you would consult with a solicitor at this stage?

 

The deposit scheme is there for exactly that reason - to raise a deposit dispute.

 

It is, of course, your choice - but it seems like time (and presumably money) wasted at this stage?

[Steve__M]

Not disagreeing with you Steve, but what other cases?

 

The HA is relatively clear on this - if the initial conditions were not complied with, then surely a court would have to class this as a TDS non compliance issue?

 

In any event, I agree - you should raise a dispute with mydeposits, that is their whole purpose.

 

I remembered this wrong The prescribed info must be given but providing it after the deadline is not automatically a problem according to the Housing Act.

 

I suppose there may be an issue with proving that it was not provided though.