Rent Deposits . . . Advice Please

[karljj1]

My partner and I moved into our previous address in June 2006. At the time, I was heavily pregnant. When we moved in, due to my state, and the fact that it was the first time we had rented, we didnt receive an inventory from the estate agents, or know that we should have had one. On the day we moved in, there were stains on the carpet, (black, possibly ink or oil), we had hired a carpet cleaner and they wouldnt come off. There were light bulbs missing and the garden was very unkept.

 

We moved out beginning March 2007, and when we checked out the estate agent looked round the house and said he had no problems with us having our deposit back (£475), and that we would receive it within 28 days.

 

After about 40 days we got a cheque for £290, with the remaining £185 being deducted due to:

 

- lightbulbs missing

- the garden being unkept

- stains on the carpet

- us not paying the rent by direct debit.

 

I have written them a letter explaining this, but have so far not received a reply. Would I havee a legto stand on if i took them to court?

[ladybird17]

only in that you should have had inventory and you didn't get one. Did you put all these defects in writing to the agent or the landlord when you moved in?

[karljj1]

Ummm.... No we never mentioned it at the time, as we were trying to get settled before the baby came. My Mother In Law and Sister in law helped us move, and have said they are prepared to write a letter which will back up our claims regarding the state of the house, as we didnt think to take photos.

 

We had repairs which needed doing and it took them 6 weeks to sort that out, and before we left there was a leak under the sink which they hadnt fixed when we moved out despite us reporting it several times.

[blazing-badger]

A couple of questions:

 

Was an inventory taken when you left the property?

Has the amount deducted from your deposit been broken down in any way, eg so much for the garden, so much for the lightbulbs etc?

Was the rent paid up-to-date when you left?

 

The law says that the deposit must be returned to you unless your landlord can prove that he needs it to rememdy any breaches of the tenancy agreement by you. That's very difficult if there were no inventories taken at all.

 

In the first instance I would send him a letter along the lines of this excellent one:- http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/landlords-tenants/74170-unfair-deposit-deductions.html

 

Good luck!

 

B-B

[karljj1]

No inventorys were taken when we left the property, all the agent did was go into the house, took the keys off us, looked round, said it was fine and gave us a checkout form which just says our forwarding address, and that we returned 2 sets of keys.

 

The rent was paid on time every month with no arrears. I paid by different methods tho, cash, thru internet banking, cheque, but i made sure that the time taken for them to clear was ample for them to have the money by the due date.

 

No breakdown was given, just the reasons why they felt the need to take the money, which i mentioned above.

[blazing-badger]

Send the letter which I have linked to above to your landlord by recorded delivery. It doesn't sound like he has much of a leg to stand on - the onus is on him to prove that he is entitled to the deposit. Give him 14 days to pay up, and then if necessary follow it up with an LBA.

[demon_x_slash]

No entry inventory - no deductions. Simple as that. In order to retain any of your deposit, the landlord needs to provide proof that the damage was caused during your tenancy. Even with proof, s/he has to supply invoices and receipts justifying any deductions. There's a lot of good advice in the Landlords/Tenants forum.

[ladybird17]

I think really, the fact that you never had an inventory - as I said in my first post - is enough. I just wanted to establish whether any correspondence had been entered into at any time either by you to further support your case - or by them denying or confirming. If none of this has taken place then as demon says, no inventory tough luck on them!

[meagain]

- lightbulbs missing

 

Petty and unreasonable.

 

- the garden being unkept

 

Landlord may have a case for this, inventory or not, but would need to itemise reasonable costs in putting it right (some landlords consider this to be £25/hour - they would be wrong).

 

- stains on the carpet

 

Again, there may be a case, but reasonable costs only. Whether or not calling out a specialist carpet cleaner is reasonable is up for debate, depending on the severity of the staining.

 

- us not paying the rent by direct debit.

 

Not a chance. If that were my landlord, the "softly, softly" would be out of the window, and I'd be unloading both barrels at her.

 

The landlord has good reason to make two of the deductions, though the amount is certainly excessive. Since if it were to go to court, your cases is simply that the landlord has your money, all you would need is the receipt for the deposit. The landlord would need to prove not only that there has been damage but that you caused it - which would require the inventory (if before and after photographs are pulled out, you can always deny the "before" state).

[karljj1]

BIG thanks for all the advice, i sent a letter to the estate agents and gave them 21 days to respond, they have til Monday 13th May. I am going to citizens advice tom, i will show them all the paperwork i have got from the estate agents, also all the info on this page . . . will keep you posted!

[MrShed]

No inventory, no deductions, as demon said - even things like the garden. Without an inventory, he cannot prove the garden was NOT unkempt at the beginning of the tenancy.

 

As a side note, the allowable rate of labour chargeable by a landlord(IF he performs the work himself) is judged to be £9.50 p/hour.

[Cannibal Robot]

As above. No inventory, no claim against you. The LL/Agt needs to show proof that the damage was due to you which means they have to show proof that it was fine at the time you moved in with a SIGNED and DATED inventory, signed by the tenants.

 

The law stands in your favour. Without an inventory the LL simply cannot prove that you are responsible for the damage.

 

As a Letting Agency Manager there is no way a tenant would move into any of my managed properties without signing an agreement first, after they and I (or one of my colleagues) together had gone around the property and agreed the inventory. A move in inspection is essential, even more so now that we have the DPS in place.

 

Non managed landlords are expected to do their own inventories or face the consequences down the line.

 

Stick to your guns becaus ethe landlord and their acting agent don't have a leg to stand on.

 

It sounds to me like the agent was incompetent and is trying to cover their faillings.

 

Good luck..

[rl123]

thanks everyone for there help, i will let you all know the outcome. have a felling it will be a long fight but i am not going to let him get away with it.