Problem with landlord....

[aj2703]

Hi.

 

I moved out of my flat on the 28th May. The flat is managed by a local estate agents. When i moved in i managed to get the deposit paid by the council under the rent deposit scheme.

 

Now when i moved out i knew there would be a "check out" inspection done by the estate agents on the condition of the property. This is done so the property is left in the same condition as it was when i first moved in. The inspection was done on the 29/05/11 and i was sent an invoice for £125 dated 07/06/11. Fair enough as i knew there would be a few things that needed attention, however some of the things i thought would need doing wern't listed on the inspection, so i put this down to them putting it under wear and tear etc...

 

I have now had a phone call today from the agent saying that since the inspection they done and signed off, the landlord has gone round and done his own inspection and wants extra work doing and as a result he isn't happy to release the rest of the funds back to the council until this is done The deposit was £500.

 

My argument is that i should not have to pay as he sould have inspected the property before the agents did and then raised his concerns on the day they did the checkout. Can he go round the property after the estate agents have done the checkout and invoiced me for works they have deemed need doing and say he wants stuff doing too. I thought that the whole point of him instructing the agents was to give them the power to handle the whole process.

[Ed999]

My comments apply only if the premises are entirely within England and Wales, and only if you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you - and your spouse/partner/children, if any - had exclusive use of a seperate dwelling, which was not shared with another tenant nor with the landlord), and only if you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted.

 

This posting is supplemental to the information in this forum's "sticky" threads and is NOT to be read in isolation.

 

 

Can he go round the property after the estate agents have done the checkout and invoiced me for works they have deemed need doing and say he wants stuff doing too. I thought that the whole point of him instructing the agents was to give them the power to handle the whole process.

 

 

Basically, the landlord can please himself. Nothing is settled until the deposit is actually repaid.

 

 

Alternative Dispute Resolution

 

If it is a shorthold tenancy, where there is a dispute concerning disrepair at the end of the tenancy the following matters apply.

 

If the deposit paid by the tenant is currently still protected within an authorised TDS Scheme, the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) - who administer all TDS Schemes - offer an alternative procedure for resolving disputes, to save you having to go to court.

 

They have issued a guide, explaining the disputes procedure they provide:

 

http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/a-guide-to-tenancy-deposits-disputes-and-damages.pdf

 

Where a deposit is protected by being placed in the TDS scheme, if a dispute arises at the end of the tenancy (e.g. over alleged disrepair) the parties can choose to resolve it by this procedure instead of going to court (but must begin the procedure within a time limit).

 

Both the landlord and the tenant must agree to use the DPS disputes procedure. It cannot be initiated by only one of them. But it can be MUCH cheaper than a court case.

 

 

The same procedure applies in ANY dispute concerning a tenancy deposit protected in a TDS scheme, regardless of the type of scheme involved (i.e. whether it is a custodial scheme or an insurance scheme), and regardless of which of the three authorised bodies is administering the scheme.

 

 

Further information: Deposit Protection Service (DPS) website

 

 

Disrepair

 

Only the court can decide the outcome of each individual item of alleged disrepair. All we here can do is summarise some matters which you might usefully invite the court to take into account.

 

 

Deductions for Dilapidations at end of tenancy

 

The deposit paid at the beginning of the tenancy belongs to the tenant, and the burden is on the landlord to prove any deduction from it is justified. The tenant is not asked to prove anything.

 

If the landlord alleges damage, he must prove it. If there is no check-in inventory, the landlord really doesn't have a leg to stand on; so the tenant is in a stronger position where there is no check-in inventory.

 

 

Read the FAQ about what deductions the landlord can lawfully make from the deposit -

 

- Unfair deposit deductions

 

That FAQ explains the concept of 'betterment', and why the landlord is not allowed to make any deduction for betterment.

 

 

Also read this document - Fair Wear and Tear

 

It explains some aspects of the law regarding fair wear and tear, applying the principle that a tenant is NOT liable to pay for the cost of remedying ordinary wear and tear.

 

 

Also, the landlord can't ask the tenant to pay (i.e. out of the deposit) for the cost of repairs which the law requires the landlord to do. What those repairs are is explained in this FAQ -

 

- Disrepairs in privately rented accommodation

 

 

There is a vast amount of additional information about the tenant's legal rights in cases of disrepair on the website of the housing charity, Shelter -

 

- Repairs and Bad Conditions

[aj2703]

The main crux of it seems to be that there is a scuff mark along a wall from a settee and also a splash mark next to the sink on a painted wall. Both of these would have been visiable when the estate agent did the checkout.

 

Dosen't the fact the estatge agent never put this on the first invoice count for anything?. After all they must have deemed that fair wear and tear and as they are managing the property are they not best placed to say this.

 

How can you be invoiced for repair works to be done only to be invoiced again for additional works the landlord says should be done. After all the contract was signed with the agents.

 

i just think it's wrong they can say ok this is what needs doing and send me the checkout invoice only to then turn around and ask for more weeks later?.

[Ed999]

Please don't shoot the messenger!

 

I am only summarising the legal rights of the parties, I am not responsible for creating these laws.

 

 

I can only reiterate my previous comment: nothing is settled until the deposit is actually repaid.

 

If you wish to dispute the landlord's allegations, you have the right to do so through either the Deposit Protection Service or the County Court.

 

You are entirely at liberty to try out your arguments on the DPS officer or on the Judge.

 

 

In my opinion, the fact that the letting agent invoiced you for the cost of certain items of disrepair does not prevent either the agent or the landlord from going on to invoice you for additional items later.

 

The law requires there to be an accord and satisfaction in order to make a full and final settlement of a dispute. There does not appear to me to be any, or any sufficient, accord and satisfaction in this case.

 

For such a settlement to be legally binding, in my opinion you would have to pay the first invoice on the express basis that the payment was made in full and final settlement of all claims arising out of the tenancy, and the landlord would have to accept it on that basis, before the second invoice was raised.

 

Here, you made no such payment. Nor were you likely to do so, since you were never intending to issue a cheque to the landlord or his agent, as you were hoping they would deduct the amount from the rent deposit. Thus you sent no cheque, and no covering letter expressing your intent that the payment would be in full and final settlement.

 

And, in fairness to you, you appear to have had only a short time-window in which to do so, if the second invoice was raised fairly soon after the first. But it makes no difference, in law, how long the time gap between them was.

Edited June 14, 2011 by Ed999

[aj2703]

LOL sorry didn't mean to come across as rude.

 

I just thought the whole idea of having agents to do these check outs was so they would be done fairly and this type of situation does not arrise.

[Snorkerz]

How long had you lived in the property, and what did the initial check-in inventory/condition report say about the wall in question?

Do you know if your deposit is protected by a government approved scheme? (it probably is)

[Ed999]

My comments apply only if the premises are entirely within England and Wales, and only if you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you - and your spouse/partner/children, if any - had exclusive use of a seperate dwelling, which was not shared with another tenant nor with the landlord), and only if you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted.

 

This posting is supplemental to the information in this forum's "sticky" threads and is NOT to be read in isolation.

 

 

Disrepair

 

I think I should point out that a minor scuff mark might amount merely to fair wear and tear - depending, of course, on its size or extent.

 

 

Authorised providers

 

A deposit can be protected in a TDS scheme run by any of the three authorised providers. You can check on-line with each of them, to find out who holds the deposit:

 

https://www.depositprotection.com/is-my-deposit-protected.aspx

 

http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/is-my-deposit-registered.html

 

http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/tenants/get-started/check-your-deposit

 

If you weren't given the information as to who holds it, by the landlord, at the start of the tenancy, then you might now have a valid claim for compensation, so you might sue the landlord for failing to provide the prescribed information.

 

 

Alternative Dispute Resolution

 

If it is a shorthold tenancy, where there is a dispute concerning disrepair at the end of the tenancy the following matters apply.

 

If the deposit paid by the tenant is currently still protected within an authorised TDS Scheme, the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) - who administer all TDS Schemes - offer an alternative procedure for resolving disputes, to save you having to go to court.

 

Both the landlord and the tenant must agree to use the DPS disputes procedure. It cannot be initiated by only one of them.

 

Further information: Deposit Protection Service (DPS) website