Landlords (groan!)....advice needed

[The Mighty Elvi]

You clearly are an imbecile!

If the OP did not sign/or there was not, an inventory:

THE LANDLORD CANNOT WITHOLD THE DEPOSIT OR DEDUCT FOR DAMAGES

No ifs, no buts. The law is crystal clear.

If YOU do this, you are an irresponsible landlord and are breaking the law.

End of.

..... and once again for the foolio

p.s. you would be surprised how many student sign up to their tenancy agreements without even noticing the inventory attached. You may want to just check and be sure he doesnt, and that you havent signed anything without reading... a common student error.

like i said... students dont always look into exactly what they are signing.


p.s. yes i am an irresponsible landlord.. do i give a fcuk  no because i am not left out of pocket because some wisearse student breaks some sh1t 

as you were captain

One last time. 

And I quote:


"Thanks for all the replies (especially Elvi) - will have a good read through, some good advice. No inventory was done, nothing was signed. I know it happens to all students however we are talking £245 (+£70) over a £30 drawer here - if I manned up any more I'd be decking him one (something I'm trying extremely hard not too!)"

End quote:


So. NO INVENTORY!  =  NOT ALLOWED TO WITHOLD DEPOSIT/DEDUCT DAMAGES.

STFU!  Fool!

[R32UK]

oh no look... an person getting angry on the internet 


like i said "students dont always look into exactly what they are signing"

i will more than happily "STFU idiot" if you would say that to my face  no didnt think so.

[HARVS1789UK]

Well enough bickering I think?

R32UK I get your point as a landlord you can never document everything e.g. 'non-broken freezer draw' is not likely to make the inventory, however that said 'frezzer - good working order no damage' might and/or photographs. I can appreciate if you know for sure something in your house has been damaged you will push to get it replaced at the tenants cost at the end of the year.

BUT

As Elvi is clearly pointing out IF you don't provide a decent inventory you have no legal right to. I have just finished with some hell landlords! I sh!t you not everything from the 20p plastic drain strainers to the colour (and finish) of the paint was in the inventory! They had ridiculously high expectations and effectively wanted the house returned to show home condition at the end of the year. As Elvi's letter template points out the deposit is NOT to be used as a redecoration fund (as my landlords have used some of it for - un-necessaries too)

With regards to the original poster I feel your pain my friend, landlords can be total C*$ts I suggest you take Elvi's advice, send them a letter so they know you arnt happy and arnt f**king around.

Here is a question for you Elvi. At the beginning of my tenancy we had to sign an additional agreement (written up by the landlord) regarding the off street parking area. It had recently been built and in fairness was totally free of oil. They were clear they were very picky about it and we were not to get any oil on it else we would have to pay for it to be re-lanscaped.

Long story short we got some oil on it over the year. We knew it was going to cause trouble and I spent 3 lots of 30 mins on my hands and knees scrubbing at it with oil remover. The patches faded but were still fairly visible, needless to say it was not good enough and they wanted us to pay £240 to have it re-landscaped (Their cheapest quote was £300 but they said they wouldn't make us pay all of it) I begged and pleaded both before and after signing my acceptance of how much damage deposit we were to loose (I didn't really have much other choice) but they insisted it needed to be done.

I signed my acceptance of them taking the money from the deposit to have the work done, everything has gone through I have the rest of my money back and a confirmation letter from the deposit scheme HOWEVER, we moved out 1 month ago and the work has still not been done. I have knocked on the door and asked the new tenants if they have been informed by the landlord that work is due to happen on a certain date and they had absolutely no knowledge of it at all.

What are my legal rights?! surely if they have insisted the work needs doing and charged me £240 for it they HAVE to get it done? but I have already signed my acceptance of my loss and got the rest of my money back?     

[jmsheahan]

Jesus this has got a bit hairy since I left 

R32, you are right in respect that I'm not up to speed with my tenancy rights hence my post asking for advice on here. I've been given plenty and it's appreciated. I'm ringing the landlord later in a bid to sort this all out (again). While I realise landlords have to cover their expenses etc I don't particularly appreciate the comments about students. We aren't all house trashing muppets and the house is seriously 100 times better in terms of cleanliness than when we arrived. The drawers were cracked when we moved in and have broken through natural wear and tear. Plastic gets brittle in the freezer, especially when it's no thicker than cling film.

I have plenty of stories and a few photo's of the damages but it's my word against his there. I'm talking dodgy wiring, 'something' eating the carpet, and a seriously damp wall (painting over mould) and covering an electrical switch in said wall with a 'do not use' sign next to it claiming it to be fixed 

New plan of action today I think is to say take £15 from each of the bonds, meaning I'm still out of pocket but there is no loss for him whatsoever. He has the money and the drawer on order. If he refuses that he's a completely unreasonable c*nt and I will be forced to take legal advice. Only problem with that is his son is a barrister.

No offence R32 but I f**king hate student landlords. They make a bloody fortune every month and NEVER live up to their requirements. Out of 5 households I know of, none have had a hassle free transaction.

I shall report back later.

[jmsheahan]

Update. I don't think he has the deposit registered - threatened legal action today and he seems to have bucked up a bit. After him waffling a complete load of sh!te the agreement is £15 taken from each bond to cover the drawer and he will refund it when the drawer comes (apparently).

Once/if the bond shows up in my account I'm half tempted just to cancel the order and tell him to sort it himself (perhaps a tad spiteful). Such a dodgy muppet!

edit - new addition after my housemate has been round to see him - apparently we are lucky we don't get charged for cleaning (£300 yeah right, he hasn't done anything of the sought). I'd love to see the receipts seeing as it's bound to be b*llsh!t. Place was spotless when we left, so much better than we went in    Priorities obviously lie in bogus claims rather than fixing the hazardous electrical switches and damp walls. Forgot to mention the tv used to change channel and lights dimmed when a living room switch was used  Agh, sorry rant over!

[R32UK]

no worries jmsheahan  i know that not all students are like that but have lived with enough to know than many are... usually after a couple of beers 

p.s. i dont rent to students. working pro's only.

[dom]

I signed a contract for a new flat earlier and what concerned me was what could be considered grey areas in the inventory, for example:

'Hallway carpet - good condition with a few marks', to me that sounded very ambiguous and when questioned about it the landlord agreed, I insisted that photographs were taken and a more detailed inventory was written before I would sign anything.

It took more time but I now have signed photographic evidence of all marks on walls/floors and an extremely thorough inventory (also signed by the landlord).

However.....in a similar query to that of HARVS1789UK, in the contract it states that carpets must be professionally cleaned before the tenancy agreement ends and that windows must be cleaned inside & out on a regular basis.

Now, the previous tenant obviously hasn't had the carpets cleaned professionally before leaving the flat and the flat is on the 3rd floor so cleaning the outside of the windows regularly is impractical and clearly hasn't been done in a long time. If this hasn't been done prior to my tenancy agreement beginning I am to assume that I can get away with it as well or not?

I like to cover my arse as much as I can when it comes to landlords as, like most, when I was a student I had difficulties reclaiming my full deposit due to disputes over the condition of items. Where would I stand at the end of my agreement if the windows had not been cleaned outside and the carpets had not been professionally cleaned (assuming they were cleaned to a good standard)?

[HARVS1789UK]

Hey Dom,

Those two conditions were also written into my last contract. As well as the professional cleaning of any soft furnishings (sofa covers, curtains etc) IF they have become stained, soiled or marked during the tenancy, ours had not yet they still charged us to take them all off and wash them :@

We did pay to have the carpets professionally cleaned as they were very clean when we arrived (though we saw no receipt to say professionally done) My advice would be to ask the landlord 'Are the carpets and windows going to be professionally cleaned before I move in?' If he says no then ask him 'Was that not part of the previous tenants contract as it is in mine?' Im guessing he will be using the same contract, if so Id say to him if the carpets/windows are cleaned to a satisfactory level (by himself) you are perfectly happy with that as long as he only expects them to be cleaned to a satisfactory level (by you) at the end of the tenancy.

Same for the windows, if they have been pro cleaned on your arrival fine you will do the same but if not you don't think its fair for you to have to on leaving. You should be expected to return the house in the same state you were given it, your not his live in handyman who pays for him to get his house back cleaner    

[jmsheahan]

So, today I receive a cheque. Should be £245 minus the £15 we agreed over the phone to be taken from my bond. £15 to be taken from the my housemates. He sends a cheque for £215. He's done the same with my housemates cheque - basically taken double what he said he would. How f*cking hard is ffs 

The cheque is stamped by his bank and his name. Would this mean he's using personal cheques rather than ones from a holding account? Seeing as I've been perfectly reasonable, (beyond reasonable!),I think my next plan of action is ring him, tell him to lick my anus and then cancel the second drawer order which should balance everything out ish (bar £15).

Farking landlord c@nt!