Claiming full deposit from tennant

Claiming full deposit from tennant

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BMWBen

4,899 posts

200 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She didn't lose it all. I won my money back and it was the right and correct decision regardless of my experience. *She didn't leave it in the condition she received it as they start of the tenancy*. Simple as that. She broke the agreement. I won fair and square.
She doesn't have to... (reasonable wear and tear). If she hadn't accepted the claim you would have lost. Your next tenant might not be such a pushover.

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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Thermobaric said:
Some agents/landlords take the piss with light bulbs sadly. A bulb out? That'll be £60 to send an electrician round to replace it...Doesn't happen to often these days but it certainly does happen.
Happened to me when I stood up to an agent, £50 to replace a lamp and dust a blind.

Bulbs go in the ground its a lamp!

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She didn't lose it all. I won my money back and it was the right and correct decision regardless of my experience. She didn't leave it in the condition she received it as they start of the tenancy. Simple as that. She broke the agreement. I won fair and square.
She backed down.

What clauses did she breach?

Didn't you without going back didn't enter a property without written permission whilst the tenant was still under assured period?

You realise without written permission you left yourself wide open and technically you had no legal right to enter!

I would of kicked you from a**hole to breakfast time but lucky for this tenant was as wise about these matters as you.

Lets take it you have been naive but fortunate and you need to be more aware of the legal obligations under agreement for you and the tenant.

You are not very wise on these matters you just got lucky.



DaGuv

Original Poster:

446 posts

205 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!

Du1point8

21,604 posts

191 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!
I would have been pissed if my tenant did that as I got my place re-decorated just before they arrived and fully professionally cleaned so there was no issue with the property.

If I get it back with burns/damage/stains, I will definitely go after the deposit as thats a complete lack of respect for someone else's property.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!
The same condition allowing for reasonable wear and tear. Sure, that's way more than reasonable wear and tear - but how old were the carpets, how long since it was last decorated, etc etc? You can only claim the value for the proportion of the use you've lost - so if fair life for a carpet's 10yrs, and it was 8yrs old, you can only claim 20%.

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!
....and you entered the property without written permission whilst the tenancy was still in effect, you have breached your own agreement.

How much despoit have you kept? Normally 1 months rent plus £100.

Have you got photos of the damage you can show us?

Its normally (I am landlord) my experience think that some landlords deposits is a new for old insurance policy.

Did you have a fully photographed inventory?

Without these things you would struggle.

Some people get bad tenents but s few minot stains should not warrant anything more than spot treatment. Not a full redeck. If some scratches your bumper you dont claim and full bare metal respray. Why do some landlords seem to think this is reasonable.

As said its not new for old DPS look at life of fixture and fittings and you would not get new for old!

Its live and learn from this experience that you need to up your game and play by the rules not bumble along and hope the tenant caves in.


surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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Only penny I ever lost on a deposit was for a massive fridge that the kitchen door opened onto. I asked for a door stop to stop the door hitting it but the house and fridge was under a 5 year barrett warranty.

Fast forward 2 year and the fridge had a pin dent in where the handle touched it. I used a been bag type door stop but with kids it happened.

I offered £50 compo even though I highlighted the bad design and offer a preventive measure. I was told i had a great case and the landlord would likely lose at DPS. In the end the agent a now friend got funny and the landlord demanded a new £207 door or a brand new fridge and I take the old one.

I coughed the £207 from my deposit in the end. The landlord pocketed that and never change the door!

KevinCamaroSS

11,553 posts

279 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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In the course of renting approximately 10 properties to live in over the last 10-12 years I have never, ever, failed to receive back the full deposit. In 3 cases I had to fight for it but won all of them without going to the TDS.

2Btoo

3,410 posts

202 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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TooMany2cvs said:
Thermobaric said:
otherwise you'll have to go down the TDS route which landlords generally get shafted on...
Only clueless ones who can't document the loss.
There is always the option of going to Small Claims Court to discuss any deductions from the deposit. In my experience you get a MUCH fairer result going this route than via the utterly opaque DPS Dispute Resolution route with their seemingly random decisions.

If I was to offer one piece of advice to any landlord or tenant it would be to avoid the DPS Dispute Resolution scheme like the plague.

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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KevinCamaroSS said:
In the course of renting approximately 10 properties to live in over the last 10-12 years I have never, ever, failed to receive back the full deposit. In 3 cases I had to fight for it but won all of them without going to the TDS.
I have been renting and been letting out our house for 7 years and had about 5 properties.

I argued the fridge issue believed I could win but would of fallen out with a good agent who i get on well with and he throws private work my way as he had a good relationship with my landlord who has 5 properties. Its the only time I have seen he get remotely cross or unpleasant normally he is sweet as a nut. As it happened probably wouldn't have the right sized house in the right location house now if I has fought them both over 200 quid.

I said let TDS decide and my landlord said he wouldn't bother with them and would take separate legal action to recover his loses for the fridge. For the sake of 207 quid and a lot of heart ache I gave in.

Also they dropped the £50 for lamp and blind dusting.




Edited by surveyor_101 on Tuesday 27th June 13:24

KevinCamaroSS

11,553 posts

279 months

Tuesday 27th June 2017
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Yes, it is all about reasonableness. As a landlord I have also only stopped a small amount to cover a red wine spill on a carpet, the others got full deposit back.

So

26,271 posts

221 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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surveyor_101 said:
[OP].....you need to up your game and play by the rules not bumble along and hope the tenant caves in.
To be fair, I think the OP is more on top of his game than you are. A great deal of what you have written in this thread is frothing of the type to be found on Landordzone and other websites where tenants congregate to contrive faux-legal arguments which have no substance in the real world.


surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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So said:
To be fair, I think the OP is more on top of his game than you are. A great deal of what you have written in this thread is frothing of the type to be found on Landordzone and other websites where tenants congregate to contrive faux-legal arguments which have no substance in the real world.
I dont frequent any of the sites.

The landlord has not been clear on the damage of inventory. When I have had an issue like this I will upload photos so people can see.

If you endorse a landlord entering a property without written permission prior to the end of the agreement and issuing unsubstantiated claims for damages then that is up to you.

The tenant may of breached the agreement if they have burned parts of the property but that doesn't make up for the fact the landlord hasn't down things by the book either.

As said any many landlords seem to struggle a deposit is not new for old insurance and you only get back the value of the remaining life of a damaged fixture and fitting.

In terms of redecoration for some stains on a wall I would not of left them as a tenant, As a landlord I factor in every few years between tenancies I may need to redecorate the property.

There seems to be no allowance for fair wear and tear in the OPs claim. There seems to be an unrealistic expectation with some landlords that they get back the property in the exact condition they let it with no allowance for wear and tear.

If as a landlord you assume the rent is pure income and never factor anything for maintenance and wear and tear you are very niave. Also its a risk there are bad tenants just as bad landlords.

Driver101

14,376 posts

120 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!
What stands out to me is the level of damage has got greater the longer this thread hasn't gone your way. The carpets only needed cleaned originally and it wasn't a full repaint that was required.


selym

9,539 posts

170 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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Driver101 said:
DaGuv said:
She breached clause 7.1 of the tenancy agreement which states the property should be returned in the same condition as it was at the start. Burns on carpets, damaged floors, and full repaint due to yellow stains all over walls. I think that’s breaking the agreement!!
What stands out to me is the level of damage has got greater the longer this thread hasn't gone your way. The carpets only needed cleaned originally and it wasn't a full repaint that was required.
Ooh, 'calling bullst' took longer than usual to appear on this thread.

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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selym said:
Ooh, 'calling bullst' took longer than usual to appear on this thread.
Its true though no mention of burns or damage other than a broken pipe (for what we dont know) and the immersion heater.

No photos or clear descriptions just' my tenant has left this broken and damage i want all their deposit as compo"

No mention of length of tenancy! could of been 6 months or 6 years and now needs a full redec!

I have never rented an immaculate house either often found they want them back professional cleaned when I got a house that needed a basic clean or in the case of new homes had a builder clean not what we call in the trade a 'sparkle' clean.

How do people let houses thinking the tenant in responsible for faulty appliances!

I also fear than landlord doesnt have a photographed inventory.

selym

9,539 posts

170 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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surveyor_101 said:
selym said:
Ooh, 'calling bullst' took longer than usual to appear on this thread.
Its true though no mention of burns or damage other than a broken pipe (for what we dont know) and the immersion heater.

No photos or clear descriptions just' my tenant has left this broken and damage i want all their deposit as compo"

No mention of length of tenancy! could of been 6 months or 6 years and now needs a full redec!

I have never rented an immaculate house either often found they want them back professional cleaned when I got a house that needed a basic clean or in the case of new homes had a builder clean not what we call in the trade a 'sparkle' clean.

How do people let houses thinking the tenant in responsible for faulty appliances!

I also fear than landlord doesnt have a photographed inventory.
My tenant has been in for decades (nearly two) and with that in mind, I'd not be withholding a penny. There is no way she could return it to how it was handed over!! She can probably have another month or two free for all the years of rent she has been giving me; she's been bloody good (compared to how it could have panned out over the years) so the rent has not really gone up too much over the tenancy.

DaGuv

Original Poster:

446 posts

205 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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Been some good advice on here and some utter tosh written as well. I can’t be arsed to go into details but what I will say is I won and it was the right outcome.

surveyor_101

5,069 posts

178 months

Wednesday 28th June 2017
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DaGuv said:
Been some good advice on here and some utter tosh written as well. I can’t be arsed to go into details but what I will say is I won and it was the right outcome.
Problem with advice is some people don't want the truth they want the forum to say yes your right and just confirm you position.

I am trying to be helpful and show you how to be a better landlord so the wrong tenants don't fleece you.

You were lucky and both naive.

If the tenant as clued up couldn't of been different.

Are u willing to reveal the length of the tenancy and deposit amount.