A
male
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:Our landlord came to check on the property since we are moving out in 4 days, though plans to come back on moving day to do another one. Its as if she is purposely looking to trip us up to get more money as she herself is in a heap of debt - why not just to one end of tenency review rather than two 4 days a part? We trusted this woman because we have know her 16 years even though the contract is heavily in her favour, figured it wouldn't matter because we are never behind in rent and the house when we moved in was in a bad state. Though Landlord now claiming nothing wrong with the house at all. She's been claiming was freshly painted which a big fat lie.Not saying we haven't done anything. Unintentionally we have broke some of the contract rules so now in beach of contract obvioulsy, landlord says we automatically lose our despoit. However it says on the contract about the lordlord being compenstated for the damage and making reductions to the despoit, not take the whole thing if one tiny concern comes up. We don't count the despoit now - we consider it gone for whatever damamge caused to help fix it. But what we are concerned about is her trying to make us cough up cash to fix damage when despoit supposed to go towards that.We damaged*painted over marks when we weren't supposed to have painted at all. *caught wall paper moving some furniture out.*not cleaning gutter properly*garden needs cutting and weeding.*few marks on walls with wear and tear.There is also a clause in contract about paying for profession cleaners if reasonably nessesary. And also if damage to garden costs 50 quid per "dishonour". I think she is going to most certainly come after us for these despite the fact we fixed a lot of it up, not damaged it. The house was dirty when we moved in with odd bits of junk from previos tenant. Though not perfect we are leaving the house in a better state than what we found it - minus the paint and wall paper damage. We didn't think to collect evidence of when we first moved in to cover ourselves for later disputes, we trusted the landlord. What can we do? How do we dispute what she's saying? Is our despoit lost and we have to pay damages saparately?? Please give me your opinion, i am not legally minded and haven't a clue what to do. We never run away from our debts but haven't the money to waste on being taken advantage off.Please help x
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reader, anonymous, writes (28 May 2012): I work in the legal profession. When I moved into a rented house, I took pictures of and listed all the pre-existing damage with the agent.Everytime something happened like say the fences fell down in strong winds, or the door came off the outdoor elecric meter cupboard due to vandalism, I told the agent about it. I told them in writing, e-mail AND fax and kept a record of everything. When I left, I asked for my deposit back. I was told they couldn't find it had to check the house and they even said they had given in to someone else etc. I sent a letter to the manager with a copy of every letter/fax/e-mail. Within 3 days,I had a cheque for my deposit in full. I kept the paperwork for 7 years (they had 6 years to sue). What is the requirement in the lease for reporting damage? Did you report the damage as and when it happened?
A
reader, anonymous, writes (28 May 2012): Go to your local citizens advice bureau straight away! These guys can point you in the right direction as they offer FREE legal advice on pretty much any matter! You'll find your local branch if you just google "Citizens Advice Bureau"
I've used them once for something random about dog laws but I know lots of people who've called and had help.
Best of luck x
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A
female
reader, oldbag +, writes (28 May 2012):
 Hi
Try getting advise from Shelter, its free, its not just for homeless people they can advise private tenants too.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold
Your deposit should be protected under the scheme the other person mentioned.
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A
female
reader, k_c100 +, writes (28 May 2012):
 The landlord has every right to take money out of the deposit to cover the costs of repairs that are above and beyond reasonable wear and tear. However they have NO rights to ask for extra money for repairs UNLESS the damage is beyond the sum you paid for the deposit.
What you need to do is get independent quotes for the repairs - e.g. get a quote from a decorator for the paintwork, quote from a decorator to re-wallpaper the wall (and look at the costs of buying new wallpaper), get a quote to clean the gutter, get a quote to sort the garden out....
Once you have ALL your quotes to repair the property in line with your contract, so you are no longer in breach of your contact - then take them to your landlord (they MUST be in writing, not a verbal quote). Add all the costs up, and that will give you a total amount that you need to pay to get the house back into the correct condition. If the sum is more than the deposit, then you need to give the landlord the extra. If it is below the amount of the deposit, then the landlord deducts the costs of repairs from the deposit and gives you the balance.
Have you checked if your landlord has placed your deposit into the deposit protection scheme? More info here http://www.depositprotection.com/
Basically the landlord is required BY LAW to put your deposit into this scheme. If they dont they will be required to pay you back three times the sum of the deposit (or something like that) because they are breaking the law. Make sure you are covered by this, and if not then you need to report her via the website link above, and the matter will be sorted that way.
They also look after all deposit disputes, so if you are covered by the scheme then you can dispute the amount you are getting back via that website.
You might also need to find a lawyer - as you have no evidence of what state the house was in when you moved there, it is basically going to be your word against your landlord's so you are going to need some legal help if it gets messy.
But first thing first - do any work to the house you can yourself (sorting the garden out should be number one, it is very easy to do), then get some quotes to do the repairs, go to your landlord and explain that this is the amount the repairs will cost, so she can deduct £xxx and return £xxx to you.
If she refuses, get legal help. And make sure you look into the deposit protection scheme - it is free to use and it will give you a good argument if she hasnt bothered putting your deposit into the scheme as she could end up oweing you a lot of money and be breaking the law.
I hope this helps and good luck!
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A
female
reader, chigirl  +, writes (28 May 2012):
 Contact a lawyer to get your deposit back. Or have the costs of repairs drawn from the deposit. There should be no extra repairs outside of this. But READ UP on the tenants rights in your country. They are online (probably, I recall having read this before), and they trump whatever contract you signed. A personal contract can NOT trump, or bypass, state law. So read up on what the law says, figure out your rights, and contact a lawyer for a consultation if necessary.
Has the landlord come up with an exact amount for costs and repairs? Having broken the "rules" does not give her a right to keep a deposit. Deposit money can only go towards paying rent that has not been paid, or to fix what has been broken. Deposit money does not go to the landlord just because she feels like she deserves it...
Read up on the law. State law wins over personal contracts. Personal contracts can not go against the law, but it sounds like your landlord might have attempted to trick you. However, her being a scam does not give her the right to do this. Get a lawyer if necessary.
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