Rental Deposit – Tenant Seeks Advice

Rental Deposit – Tenant Seeks Advice

18:38 PM, 10th July 2014, About 10 years ago 105

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I was renting a property as we were renovating our own property. We took very good care of the house and had it professionally cleaned before we handed it back to the estate agency, who was happy but requested that the external drains be cleaned and the grass cut. Both were done. Rental Deposit - Tenant Seeks Advice

After that began a long set of emails with rubbish claims from the owner such as there are weeds in the garden, cracks in the outdoor tiles (which I had not noticed and are not in the inventory – it was winter so we never went out) and loads of other things such as saying there was a smell of cigarettes even although we do not smoke.

I have tried hard to get my deposit back and even offered to give £200 from it to avoid the hassle and time wasting but the landlord wants the lot.

The estate agency is doing nothing.

Should I go to the dispute resolution or court and how do either of them work and are they any good?

Thanks

Dr Ahmad Aziz


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Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

13:24 PM, 11th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ahmed Aziz" at "11/07/2014 - 12:04":

Was the property in England or Wales?
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Farah Stehrenberger

14:24 PM, 11th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ahmed Aziz" at "11/07/2014 - 12:04":

I am going to start from the beginning, how long was your tenancy for? When did you rent it? You landlord is complaining about weeds in the garden and cracks in the tiles, if you only used the property for a short period of time, your landlord is being unreasonable. You said ‘it was winter so we never went out’, timing or term of your tenancy could be used as an evidence as well as the inventory. If the inventory was completed by an independent company or individual, that would help you, your landlord should not underestimate the inventory. Invoice or payments you made to third parties for cleaning etc would be great to use for ADR.

You are right that you need both parties’ consent for ADR, however, if your landlord is not willing to engage, you should still be able to start the ADR. ADR is an evidence based process (evidence from both parties), but decisions are made on the principle of balance of probability. You as a tenant do not need to prove anything, the deposit money belongs to you therefore the landlord would need to prove that he has a legitimate claim.

Both parties' consent is needed because the decision will be binding on both parties.

Please check if there is any time limit on starting the ADR.

Michael Barnes

21:56 PM, 11th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "11/07/2014 - 08:32":

Ahmed wrote "my deposit ID" which I took to be "the ID for my protected deposit", not "the ID from the My Deposits scheme"

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

22:12 PM, 11th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Michael Barnes" at "11/07/2014 - 21:56":

Aha, that makes sense, thank you
.

Seething Landlord

0:17 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Has Ahmed actually lodged his claim with the DPS via their website? If not, that should be his first step. There is no mention of his receiving the prescribed information, which should have included a full copy of the DPS terms and conditions; if not he has a potential claim there.

Ahmed Aziz

0:33 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Do you know what the website address is plz? What is a prescribed information and what do u mean I have a potential for a claim

Ahmed Aziz

0:34 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

When I put the claim into the DRS what evidence do I need to put

Seething Landlord

1:17 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

The website is http://www.depositprotection.com . You can download the t&cs . 2c makes brief reference to the prescribed information. This is only relevant if you were not given the information. For guidance on how to initiate your claim for repayment of the deposit you could phone their helpline on 0330 303 0030.

Ahmed Aziz

1:32 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

What do u mean I may have a potential for a claim plz

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

11:10 AM, 13th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ahmed Aziz" at "13/07/2014 - 00:34":

You don't need to submit any evidence, all you need to do is claim a full refund of your deposit. It is YOUR money. You are fully entitled to have all of it back unless your landlord can PROVE that he has the right to make deductions.

If the deposit protection certificate and prescribed information wasn't served properly and in a timely manner, you MAY have a claim against your landlord for up to 3 times the deposit. If you are in England or Wales, the proceeds of the claim will be payable to you. For now though I think you need to focus on getting your deposit back.

There are several questions which have been raised which you have yet to respond to. Therefore, it is difficult to provide you with further meaningful advice until you answer those questions.
.

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