Landloard Witholding my Deposit

[crazyadi]

Hi peeps small problem, long explanation im afraid...

 

I took up a 6 month tenancy on the 25th June 2009 and paid a deposit and month rent in advance.

 

On the 24th january the agents rang me and said the landlord wished to sell the house and i was to be given 2 months notice.

 

I 'moved out' on the 23 march and had the exit inspection following this i recieved a letter stating they were witholding the deposit due to

 

1 a small leak under the kitchen sink

2 washing powder left in the washing machine drawer

3 porch flooring dirty

4 damp marks on the lounge walls and kitchen walls

5 toilet roll holder damaged

6 oven and hob just need a wipe over as well as one kitchen unit.

 

now i didnt know there was a leak under the kitchen sink,

and as far as the damp patches on the wall are concerned i reported a problem with damp in the october, just 4 months after moving in, and infact there was at times not just damp marks but bloody mushrooms growing in the kitchen to the point i barely lived in the house for the last 2 months anyway, and my dog i moved out before xmas, as despite me reporting the problem 3 times and it being inspected twice they never came to sort it out.

 

the toilet roll holder yup i damaged and replaced it with a different one.

as for the cleaning issues yes i forgot to check the washing machine draw and didnt mop behind the porch door when i left. the oven i NEVER used and the hob was mr muscled so they are lying.

 

the rest of the house was cleaner than when i moved in, i had the carpets cleaned, his curatins were taken down when i moved in and put back up on the 23/3. the garden i spent a couple of hundred quid getting nice while i was there.

 

i queried the damp and the leak with the agents and they said not to worry about it it was put in the report simply because thats what they found on the inspection.

 

Today i recieved a further letter from the agents saying they are witholding the deposit due to the leak causing damage to the kitchen cupboard and to the flooring and as I failed to report the leak then it is my responsibility!

 

Ok i didnt know there was a leak, i never had to mop puddles up off the floor, never had to dry pans or anything that i took out of the unit below the sink so it was either a very very very small leak or it was pretty dam new. oh and its a tiled floor so how a small leak can damage a tiled floor ill never know!! the problem is i see where this is going they are going to try to suggest the water has found its way under the floor and up the walls of the kitchen and caused the damp which penetrates through the wall into the lounge.

 

the deposit was registered with TDS (dispute services) but i dont have my tenant number as i never received the information regarding this from the agents.

 

Incidently on the tenancy agreement where it says term it specifies 6 months and directly underneath says "the period mentioned here will form the basis of any subsequent periodic tanancy"

 

the above leaves me with a couple of questions..

 

What can i do to get my deposit back?

 

can i be held responsible for damage caused by the leak even though the leak hadnt come to my attention? They say i should have reported it but i cant report something i know nothing about!!!

 

as i had not recieved the information regarding my deposit do i have a comeback on this?

 

as i was in the 7th month of my tenancy did the landlord act correctly giving me notice or does the statement regarding the periodic tenancy mean i was in another 6 month AST?

 

any help apprecited!!

 

crazy

Edited April 4, 2010 by crazyadi

[Steve__M]

You need to raise a claim to dispute the responsibility for the leak.

 

Technically, as they have not issued you with the "Prescribed Information" about your deposit, you could make a claim for 3x the deposit. But I think all they have to do is issue you with the info and they're safe.

 

I don't know what that clause about periodic tenancy is supposed to mean as a periodic tenancy with monthly rent usually means LL has to give 2 rental months' notice and tenant can give one month's notice. The fact that you have moved out makes this point moot though, I think.

[crazyadi]

thanks mate.

 

i onl;y mentioned the tenancy because i wasnt sure how it works but you have cleared that up.

 

will phone the tds and see whats what!

 

thanks again

[crazyadi]

as far as this leak goes is there something i could quote that says i can onlt be held responsible for reporting a repair if i am aware it needs doing?

[Steve__M]

I think it's just common sense. If the leak were leaving puddles on the floor then you'd probably be responsible for reporting it. If it is hidden at the back of a cupboard, then maybe not.

 

I think you can also draw attention to the fact that they failed to respond when you *did* report another problem. They can hardly argue that they ignored your reports of mushrooms growing on the wall but would have dealt with a minor bit of damp in a kitchen cupboard like a shot!

 

Have agents given any indication of the costs of the damage?

[crazyadi]

no they havent said yet how much they are looking at! spoke to them today and told them i was not happy about the situation but they were uninterested in what i had to say! :-/

[NewSAHD]

Hi, sorry to read of the problems experienced. Could you confirm the amount of your deposit?

[crazyadi]

hi m8 it was £625.

[NewSAHD]

Cheers. Seems we're back to Steve_M's point which was "Have agents given any indication of the costs of the damage?"

 

I am not that familiar with the mechanics of recovering your deposit, but, to my mind, the items you have listed don't amount to a deduction of the entire deposit - and some items should not have been deducted in the first place.

 

Which you knew already, of course, but thanks for your reply. There are stickies on CAG with templates to use too, so it seems time to recover some (or all?) of the money that is rightfully due back to you. There are some posters here who will doubtless help out too.

 

Best of luck too, just sorry that so far have had little to add here!

[crazyadi]

thanks for your input NewSAHD!

 

yeah will have to wait to see what they want to take first wont i?

[NewSAHD]

thanks for your input NewSAHD!

 

yeah will have to wait to see what they want to take first wont i?

 

Not sure if you have to wait and see though, not really .

 

From the good advice of Steve_M already and doubtless from others to follow in due course perhaps it's time to put the Agent on the spot now and ask them, in writing, to justify why they have retained your deposit in full - in such a way so as to set them up when you raise your claim.

 

As you know others are better experienced with the mechanics of raising claims though, so hope OK to leave this with others to guide you on.

 

Good luck all the same.

[crazyadi]

ok i sent an email to them 7 days ago stating that i did not agree with their course of action and asking for the regturn of my deposit, if they did not do so or state in detail exactly why they were holding onto the entire deposit i would start action to recover the money. They have not been in touch so what do i say/do next?

[crazyadi]

bump

[crazyadi]

ok sp TDS Dispute is open! the landlord wants to keep all of the deposit made up of £63 for cleaning, remember it was just three things that needed a wipe over :-/

 

the remainder for damage to the property consisting of the toilet roll holder and the balance for damage caused by the leak which he is claiming had been dripping onto the floor, has made its way across the floor and then penetrated the wall resulting in the damp and mould growth.

 

have made some enquiries with damp surveyors and have been told that it is highly unlikely that this would occur in the time frame that we are talking about! Also phoned some landlord insurance providers who state if this had occured it would have been claimable on the insurance. If it was claimable does that preclude the landlord from making a deduction even if he didnt claim from the insurance?

 

last point as he has now said that a leak he found in march, is responsible for damp i reported in october does that fact that he didnt do anything about my reporting the damp and consequently could have then lead to the discovery of the leak put him on thin ice. after all if he had actually come round then he couldnt have charged me for the repair restoration any?