leaving flat and witholding last months rent..

[princeperch]

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Matters wernt helped by the fact the flat wasnt cleaned before I went in, so I'll be damned if I'm cleaning it!

Before any Landlords comment - check my occupation, I'm all too aware of the risks in this approach, but the landlord will still have his months rent due and the cash for all the money I owe the letting agent, plus a hundred quid to play with, so I think it's more than fair - it's just protection from getting fked over for the rest of the deposit...

[will_]

princeperch said:

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Matters wernt helped by the fact the flat wasnt cleaned before I went in, so I'll be damned if I'm cleaning it!

Before any Landlords comment - check my occupation, I'm all too aware of the risks in this approach, but the landlord will still have his months rent due and the cash for all the money I owe the letting agent, plus a hundred quid to play with, so I think it's more than fair - it's just protection from getting fked over for the rest of the deposit...

What's the protection for him being screwed by you? The deposit. Do the right thing by the contract, as I doubt the Law Society would look highly on you if he complained to them.

Edited by will_ on Wednesday 24th September 10:55

[ali_kat]

I wouldn't.

Get a firm of professional cleaners in.

Get a receipt.

Take photos after.

Give to letting agent.

= Deposit back

[andy400]

Opening yourself up to legal action as you'll be in breach of contract. As a landlord, I wouldn't hesitate to chase you in the courts if necessary.

Mind you, I'd have probably treated you better in the first place, so the situation wouldn't arise.

[bigandclever]

Not sure what your job has to do with it.

In all honesty, it would depend on whether I had half an hour free to do something through the Small Claims Court for pissing me about breaking the contract. But then I'm a nice landlord, so you could trust me

[Skipppy]

When did you move in?

My deposit is held by a third party in line with the law.

[crusty]

having been stiffed by letting agents, I would definitly keep your last months rent

[dan101smith]

Did you complain that it wasn't clean when you went in? Do you have any evidence of this? If not, then you'll have to lump it and still leave it clean.

Not worth it IMO, just honour the contract and leave with everyone on good terms.

[princeperch]

will_ said:

princeperch said:

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Matters wernt helped by the fact the flat wasnt cleaned before I went in, so I'll be damned if I'm cleaning it!

Before any Landlords comment - check my occupation, I'm all too aware of the risks in this approach, but the landlord will still have his months rent due and the cash for all the money I owe the letting agent, plus a hundred quid to play with, so I think it's more than fair - it's just protection from getting fked over for the rest of the deposit...

What's the protection for him being screwed by you? The deposit. Do the right thing by the contract, as I doubt the Law Society would look highly on you if he complained to them.

Edited by will_ on Wednesday 24th September 10:55

I'm only obliged to give the flat back in the state I received it in, so he was in breach of his obligations under the lease when I moved.

I want to be fair with him pay him what I oww, but I also don't want to get shafted. I have a feeling many Landlords look upon the deposit (even though its protected) as a golden goose to make "legitimate" deductions against when the tenants gone - even if the place is in very good nick...

[wolves_wanderer]

crusty said:

having been stiffed by letting agents, I would definitly keep your last months rent

So would I unfortunately.

[okgo]

I wish I had, she rang me and asked why I hadn't paid it (knowing she was a tt) and I sent the cash across, and even paid for the cleaning of my room, they still stiffed me a hundred quid, for removal of belongings (a pillow they presumed was mine).

aholes.

[scruffy]

Have you talked to your Landlord or Agent (sorry for the capital L!!)?

Talking is easy...

Talking sorts stuff out.

Don't sit there grumbling,

Ask them...

Jeez, ...kids!

sorry for the tone, give it a go - go on do it now... pretend there's no history, no ill feeling, just talk positively about what will happen, what you expect and so on...

[Welshbeef]

One question do you have it in writing that the flat would be professionally cleaned upon your entry to the flat?

I would have demanded this & then gone round the flat/house with the landlord taking digital pics of every room, and if it wasnt clean to the std expected I would want the cleaners in again and me put up in a B&B/hotel until the cleaning is completed.

Then you have a base to clean it back to.

If in the contract there is nothing about the flat being clean upon your arrival & you didnt demand that it was & you knew that in the contract it states that you have to get it professionally cleaned then frankly you have been quite silly but hopefully a hard lesson has been learnt. I'm sure next time/the place your moving into you will do as I have stated in the 1st paragraph - dont do it more fool you.

[option click]

princeperch said:

I'm only obliged to give the flat back in the state I received it in...

Did you have an inventory taken when you moved in? This should cover you in the event that the landlord wants to take deductions that you deem excessive.

In any case, you should leave the place tidy and pay what you owe - don't stitch yourself up for future rentals by risking a bad reference.

[Hoppy2008]

princeperch said:

will_ said:

princeperch said:

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Matters wernt helped by the fact the flat wasnt cleaned before I went in, so I'll be damned if I'm cleaning it!

Before any Landlords comment - check my occupation, I'm all too aware of the risks in this approach, but the landlord will still have his months rent due and the cash for all the money I owe the letting agent, plus a hundred quid to play with, so I think it's more than fair - it's just protection from getting fked over for the rest of the deposit...

What's the protection for him being screwed by you? The deposit. Do the right thing by the contract, as I doubt the Law Society would look highly on you if he complained to them.

Edited by will_ on Wednesday 24th September 10:55

I'm only obliged to give the flat back in the state I received it in, so he was in breach of his obligations under the lease when I moved.

I want to be fair with him pay him what I oww, but I also don't want to get shafted. I have a feeling many Landlords look upon the deposit (even though its protected) as a golden goose to make "legitimate" deductions against when the tenants gone - even if the place is in very good nick...

As a Landlord of a few properties, I would have to say it's only right to pay what you owe in rent. Biased? I dont think I am.
I had a tenant who was due to move out. When I asked for the last months rent, he sadi "na, take it out of the deposit".
He was an absolute cock about it, and up until that point, I had intended on giving him back his full deposit.
Guess what - he didnt get it all back. I got my rent, and deducted legitimate costs for things which I was prepared to waiver.
If your deposit has been protected, play it by the rules and he wont be able to screw you over.

[will_]

princeperch said:

will_ said:

princeperch said:

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Matters wernt helped by the fact the flat wasnt cleaned before I went in, so I'll be damned if I'm cleaning it!

Before any Landlords comment - check my occupation, I'm all too aware of the risks in this approach, but the landlord will still have his months rent due and the cash for all the money I owe the letting agent, plus a hundred quid to play with, so I think it's more than fair - it's just protection from getting fked over for the rest of the deposit...

What's the protection for him being screwed by you? The deposit. Do the right thing by the contract, as I doubt the Law Society would look highly on you if he complained to them.

Edited by will_ on Wednesday 24th September 10:55

I'm only obliged to give the flat back in the state I received it in, so he was in breach of his obligations under the lease when I moved.

I want to be fair with him pay him what I oww, but I also don't want to get shafted. I have a feeling many Landlords look upon the deposit (even though its protected) as a golden goose to make "legitimate" deductions against when the tenants gone - even if the place is in very good nick...

Is that what the contract says? Did you complain at the time?

Paying what you owe means paying the rent - that is seperate from the deposit. The deposit should be held by a third party, who will deal with disputes.

Having been shafted by tenants I wouldn't hesitate to go straight to the small claims court and claim back what is unquestionably due under the contract.

[princeperch]

I like to do my homework before I engage them



The fact is, if I withhold the last months rent, then he gets his rent, all the fees plus a hundred quid, which he probably would have taken off me anyway.

I don't trust him and I dont trust letting agents, in general. I'm sure the ones on PH are the salt of the earth...

[sjg]

princeperch said:

due to leave my current flat in under a month, and I dont trust the landlord or his letting agent.

my rent is 450 a month and the deposit 695.

Techincally under the lease I owe 57 quid for the tenancy arrangement fee when it went periodic, and 70 quid for the checkout fee. They'll also no doubt stiff me a tonne for cleaning the carpet.

I know the deposit is protected etc but would others who have been in this situation just withold the last months rent and write off the deposit?

Only time I've witheld the last months rent was when I had a landlord who hadn't been paying the mortgage (it had got to possessions proceedings stage) and I wasn't convinced someone nearly a year in arrears still had my deposit to give back. This was pre-TDS though.

The tenancy deposit scheme only allows deductions from your deposit if both of you agree to them. It also has to get your deposit back to you within a short time of you moving out - should an amount be disputed, you get back the undisputed amount (eg. if landlord claims cleaning the carpet cost £200, and you dispute that, you get £495 back now until the rest is sorted out).

Disputes go to arbitration and the landlord will have to show that charges are reasonable - so they can't get their mate the "carpet cleaner" to knock up an invoice for a silly amount. They also have a better sense of "fair wear and tear" than most landlords who expect the place to be pristine after a couple of years of use.

If you owe fees that you're liable for in the agreement the agents could chase you in the small claims court for that.

Not even worth considering these days, the whole point of TDS is to protect tenants from dodgy landlords that make ludicrous deductions. If the carpet has been dirtied by you, either rent a cleaner from B&Q, pay someone to do it or just take the (reasonable) hit from your deposit.

[will_]

princeperch said:

I like to do my homework before I engage them



The fact is, if I withhold the last months rent, then he gets his rent, all the fees plus a hundred quid, which he probably would have taken off me anyway.

I don't trust him and I dont trust letting agents, in general. I'm sure the ones on PH are the salt of the earth...

...and you're in breach and he will no doubt become very particular as to what he wants to deduct from your deposit - and you be sure that will be more than £100 worth. If you deal with him properly you are well protected and might find him more reasonable than you think.

Pay the rent as you agreed to. Turn the tables - what would you do? Would you really let someone do that to you? Would you trust the tenant to leave the place as you'd expect? No doubt you are a salt of the earth tenant, but he doesn't know that.

[Welshbeef]

If you dont pay the final months rent then your breaching the contract plain and simple. So you could then forget about a reference from him so you may find future letting more difficult especially in a time when rentals are at record highs and increasing all the time.

Secondly the whole deposit is held seperatly -not in his hands at all. At the end of the day he will check out the property and any excessive wear & tear/damage or lack of cleaning will be deducted.

Firstly though clearly you live in the place and I would assume you keep it tidy - or do you live like a filthy pig - in which case if its kept clean & tidy i.e. you fully clean the bathroom & kitchen every week (like normal people do) and hoover up once a week, all you'll have to do is a quick run through of the weekly clean & then clean the windows which is much less often.

I'm sure you do keep it clean in which case its hardly going to be a chore to do it and at the end of the day by you cleaning it well yourself & I assume you kept the garden in good nick rather than oh there is a lawn I didnt bother cutting it all year now I might get charged £300 to get a pro in to sort it out.

Finally its pretty std these days to have in the contract that the house is to be cleaned professionally by x firm, usually someone they have used before and does a job they are happy with, that way they cannot debate with you oh that not clean enough even though to you it is clean enough in your humble opinion. If the cleaners dont do a good enough job then they dont get paid/lose future contracts.