Hi
I've just moved out from a rented property, which had a deposit protected by the govt scheme. During the tenancy, we had quarterly inspections and no issues were ever raised.
Once we'd left though, the estate agent has contacted us telling us that they want to replace the (very old - poss 20yrs) carpets in the whole property at our expense from the deposit.
They do need replaced, but just through wear and tear/old age; we didn't do any damage in the couple of years we were there. We responded by e-mail to this effect. Still no deposit and it's been a few weeks.

Two questions please;
1. Is there any action I can take to make them repay me?
2. If it was a joint tenancy, can they send a cheque to just one of us?

Thanks.

Looks like you're within your rights to raise a dispute with the deposit protection agency over this:
http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/a-guide...

If the tenant is unhappy with the amount the landlord wishes to deduct from the deposit or the
landlord/agent refuses to engage in the deposit return process, the tenant is entitled to raise
their dispute with the relevant tenancy deposit protection scheme. They will need to check
which scheme protects their deposit.


With regards to charging you the full price to replace a 20 year old carpet, have a read of this:
http://www.propertyhawk.co.uk/index.php?page=magaz...

Personally, I would say that a 20 years is as as long (longer!!) as you'd expect a carpet to last in a rented property and so would dispute any deduction made from my deposit against it.

It will be much harder to argue your case without having the inventory. You should always make sure you cover your own arse by having one and checking through/amending yourself...

I can only agree with what has been said above and that is to register a dispute.

Good luck with it.

Also be harder for the landlord to demonstrate the condition of the carpets before and after the tenancy. Normal wear and tear is not deductible from the deposit.

Another vote for registering a dispute..

Thanks for all the advice.

Update - the estate agents have now e-mailed me telling me they are keeping all the deposit (£1300ish) for completely ficitious reasons (for example £85 for 'disposing of rubbish' when the bins were emptied the day we handed the keys back and in fact I've paid the garden refuse charge for the year ahead).

They are also 'reserving the right to add administration charges as they see fit at £35 per hour' which doesn't seem entirely legit to me.

I'm going to open a TDS dispute - but is there anywhere you can recommend for advice/legal info?

Thanks.

We recently moved out of a flat and the service provided by https://www.depositprotection.com/ was utterly and completely useless.

A system where you only get to speak to morons on the phone, a system that emails you about some things and not others, and blatant lies when they get it wrong (telling us they had emailed about deadlines when they had not).

Our landlord did not know what she was doing (that applied to every aspect of our 18 month tenancy) yet still managed to make off with £400 of our money on spurious grounds. Be careful!

Citizens advice ASAP it isn't unusual for landlords to try it on and get you to pay for cleaning etc... It is unusual for them to try and keep the full deposit. Without an inventory it is your word against them. You can go to court, threaten to go to court or offer to pay a small fee for cleaning no more than 100 I would say. The estate agent sounds like a crook check your tenancy agreement for their charges they should charge the landlord not you. Your agreement is with the landlord the landlord has an agreement with the estate agent.

This.

This is the point of having the deposit protection system in place.

Actually, this information should have been provided to you at the start of the tenancy.

Failing that, you have the small claims court. Remember, this is unlikely to be the estate agent's fault. They are just an agent of the landlord.

The estate agent won't make any money out of this, but they are indebted to fulfil the landlords wishes - which is why they don't want to be embroiled with a dispute.

File a dispute, and see what happens. Replacing 20 year old carpet without evidence or an inventory to prove damage is not going to stand the landlord in good stead. Failing that, you have the small claims procedure at court.

Instructing the estate agent to tell you that your deposit is being kept is easy for the landlord to do, but when the reality that they will have to spend a day coming to court, see you face to face and see a Judge eye to eye, it becomes more difficult to be underhand.

Went through pretty much exactly the same thing...

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

Without an inventory, they have no proof of the condition of anything when you moved in. Get it logged asap and good luck to you. I got the full amount back.