Landlords

Access Denied

It was like that when I got here...
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
2,552
Fucking cnuts the lot of them. I could quite cheerfully murder our previous landlords for the trouble they're causing. Wankers.
 

Ch3tan

I aer teh win!!
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
27,318
Just as many bad tenants as landlords, and just as many good ones.

What are they doing?
 

Corran

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
6,180
If they anything like alot of landlords they are either:

1) Giving bad references for no reason
2) Trying to deduct money from the deposit for something nothing to do with the occupant
 

Zenith.UK

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
2,913
If they anything like alot of landlords they are either:

1) Giving bad references for no reason
2) Trying to deduct money from the deposit for something nothing to do with the occupant
Or they rip the place apart and renovate the whole flat, and then try to hit the previous tenant for the TOTAL cost under the guise of "damages".
Like my fucker of a landlord did. 2 years of legal shit and courts, dragging mum into it because she was my guarantor.
I've already said that I will spit on the grave of my ex-landlord when he's dead. The day won't come soon enough.
 

Scouse

Giant Thundercunt
FH Subscriber
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
35,981
That's bad shit Zen.

On the other hand, I'm dreading going round to our rental property and seeing what the horrid little oiks have done to the house/not done to the garden :(
 

ford prefect

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
1,386
I haven't rented for a long time. The last time I did, it appeared that the landlord was happily taking my rent, but had decided not to pay her mortgage, prefering to buy a pub instead. I lost a £3k deposit, she went bankrupt and I had to find a new place inside 28 days.

If it is an option, I would always say buy.
 

BloodOmen

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
17,937
the last time I rented a flat my neighbour had a 10 inch knife to my throat threatening to kill me and my wife (just because of the noise that was made whilst moving in) I knew he was a big mouthed **** tho and offered him to get his arse outside so we could settle it like men but he declined slamming his door :l my landlord failed me in this tho because not only did he not tell us that the guys injunction had ended but they failed to evict him either despite him having previous arrests over knife crime.
 

Chilly

Balls of steel
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,046
my current rental is mint. landlord is reasonable - even shelled out for some garden furniture for us.
 

Access Denied

It was like that when I got here...
Joined
Jun 14, 2006
Messages
2,552
Hmm well lets see. This is the list of "damages" we recieved including prices:

Washing machine rubber seal: £35.99. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just stained, shit happens. No dice.

Stones in ornamental fireplace: £6.98. They're in a cupboard in the kitchen so they can't have looked very hard. No dice.

Toilet seat: £19.99. Possibly agree with this as it's wobbly but not paying £20 for a piece of plastic. Maybe dice.

Roller blinds for both bedrooms: £11.99 each. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them. No dice.

Gas BBQ: £149.99. They don't need a new BBQ, just a new gas pipe. Willing to pay for that otherwise no dice.

Gardening costs for grass cutting, weeding and general tidying: £24.99. Not sure why they're attempting to charge us for that. No dice.

Lounge carpet: £254.87. Seems a bit steep for a place that's not a lot bigger than a prison cell. Might even come under "Acceptable wear" Maybe dice but not paying that.

Carpet cleaning for the rest of the house: £150. We did clean the carpets. However they're fucking cream carpets and we have a now toddler. They were warned that they wouldn't be pristine. No dice.

Painting (Walls where necessary) £250. Not a chance. We painted over any marks our kid or ourselves made with the same paint they used in teh first place. In fact it came out of the shed. No dice.

Cleaning costs for bathroom and kitchen: £36. Wtf? There's no way they're charging us for something we've already done. No dice.

Window cleaning: £10. Again they can do that themselves. No dice.

Aside from all that they were perfectly nice landlords until they needed the house back. Didn't renew the tenancy and sent us some not overtly nasty and harrassing emails because we weren't moving out as soon as they'd like.

Now here's the interesting part. There's a list:

Wasn't done through an agency.
Deposit wasn't put in a scheme (Legal requirement since 2007)
No third party inventory and their own one only lists what they were leaving behind, not what condition any of it was in.

I actually have a question for the FH boffins. Since the deposit was only put in a scheme in Feb' this year, does any previous tenancy agreement stand or does it begin once the deposit is actually in a scheme? Also do they really have a leg to stand on since the inventory wasn't done offically by a third party and there are no "Previous to movign in photo's"?
 

Zenith.UK

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
2,913
Check your Tenancy Agreement carefully.
Is there a clause that says "The tenant will make good any damages at their cost" ?
Because that one clause completely pulled my whole case from under me.
No exemption made for fair wear and tear, depreciation or natural degradation. It is new for old. Straight as that.

If the clause states states something like "tenant will make good any damages at their expense fair wear and tear excepted" then you're in a stronger position.

How long were you in the property? Length of habitation has an effect on depreciation. If your landlord is doing things properly, with an accountant looking after the legal/tax side of things, that accountant would be making a tax deduction for depreciation of the items.


The costs for various things that they could do themselves (such cleaning windows) is meant to indicate a cost of how much it costs to put the item back into it's original state.

You'll probably find there's a clause in the tenancy about keeping the outdoor garden areas tidy and trimmed. If you've got that clause and not looked after the garden then you'll just have to suck it up for that cost. If there's no clause that specifically mentions keeping garden areas tidy, you've got a case.

The inventory doesn't have to be done through a third party at all, but the fact that they've just listed the items and not the state means you've got an advantage there. If it goes to small claims, your solicitor can raise the point that the initial inventory doesn't list state of items and there was no exit inventory either?

This is exactly why I hate all private landlords. I've never had one that didn't try to grab some of the deposit for "damages", even when I've put the flat in BETTER condition than it was when I originally moved into it. Thankfully I'm in my own house now so I won't have to deal with landlords ever again.

How much was the deposit? When it's put into the scheme, it's supposed to be ringfenced so that the landlord can only put a claim to the scheme for deductions for damages AFTER you've moved.
 

Aoami

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
11,223
Or they rip the place apart and renovate the whole flat, and then try to hit the previous tenant for the TOTAL cost under the guise of "damages".

Contrary to this, last flat I had before i started uni, my housemate and I completely tore the place in to pieces. There was half a wall missing in the hallway because my housemate fell through it when pissed. They gave us all of our deposit back because they were gutting the place and re-doing it. Not often felt such a feeling of relief as when I heard him say that!
 

Ch3tan

I aer teh win!!
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
27,318
Hmmm, some of that list seems fair to me access, your landlords only problem is they haven't followed the law regarding deposits. Easy way out? Say that because of their failure to secure your deposit you'll be pursuing them through the courts, you can sue them for three times the original deposit value. Or the can simply give you the deposit back.

IMO, the garden is nearly always the tenants responsibility, as zenith said; did you read your agreement carefully on this? Toilet seats are not cheap. 20 is reasonable to replace one. You've admitted the place isn't cleaned perfectly; having a toddler is not an excuse for extra wear and tear.
 

eksdee

FH is my second home
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
4,469
Great link, thanks a lot dysfunction! My girlfriend and I are just looking at flats right now for when I find a new job in London, we will definitely look into using the DPS.
 

Ormorof

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,817
have had so many problems with landlords hehehe

once while a student they came to our house during xmas (with a letter dropped in through mailbox day after we left) knocked a big hole in the wall (to install a new boiler) we got back 3 weeks later and there was a new boiler, but still a big hole in the wall took him 3 months to get it fixed...

we were then charged for "cleaning" after we left, i complained that it was in pristine condition when we left and they said ok you dont have to pay, we were 10 people in the house, 2 of us complained and didnt pay (they didnt even put up a fight about it), the rest just paid because they didnt want any trouble...

in Ireland a few years later, i told our landlord we were moving out with 1 months notice, once the last months rent was paid i cancelled the direct debit, i knew we wouldnt get our deposit back as we left before contract ended so wasnt too bothered, we told landlord we were leaving ireland

about 5 months later i get a call from my old bank saying i owed them more than €800 + charges (which i didnt understand), i checked and it turns out my landlord had charged me for the months rent after i moved out, this was taken out of my account, the bank then charged me because i had cancelled the direct debit (they still paid the landlord which i dont get?!), and then 5 months of overdraft charges, after months and months of arguing with my old landlord i got the €800 back but they refused to pay the €90 charges from bank, with interest i ended up €130 out of pocket because the landlord (and the bank) didnt do things properly

i am now renting with the city council so i doubt that kind of stupidity will happen here in Finland :)
 

Wazzerphuk

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,054
Having had a lot of experience in this kind of thing, a fair bit of what you're saying no dice to IS your responsibility, and further cleaning is nearly always undertaken as cleaning to a high domestic standard is not the same as having it professionally cleaned. I can't be arsed to take each part and tell you where you're right and wrong, but you really need to read your contract to find out what you're responsible for. Things like gardens and windows are always the tenant's responsibility.
 

old.Tohtori

FH is my second home
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Messages
45,210
i am now renting with the city council so i doubt that kind of stupidity will happen here in Finland :)

If you don't f*ck a place up, not really.

Never heard of it anyway, as long as you're fair in your actions, they're fair.
 

Ch3tan

I aer teh win!!
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
27,318
Great link, thanks a lot dysfunction! My girlfriend and I are just looking at flats right now for when I find a new job in London, we will definitely look into using the DPS.

What deposit scheme is used is the landlords decision, not yours. You should only check that he or she has used one, they have to notify you within 14 days of the deposit being paid / you moving in. Most deposit schemes will make you as the tenant register your details as well.

DPS is the government scheme and the money is held by them, and no interest is earned. Other schemes like mydeposit, charge the landlord to "insure" the deposit, and they can then do whatever they wish with the money.

Having had a lot of experience in this kind of thing, a fair bit of what you're saying no dice to IS your responsibility, and further cleaning is nearly always undertaken as cleaning to a high domestic standard is not the same as having it professionally cleaned. I can't be arsed to take each part and tell you where you're right and wrong, but you really need to read your contract to find out what you're responsible for. Things like gardens and windows are always the tenant's responsibility.

I do agree with you, however a lot depends on the landlords relationship with the tenant, tenants should always understand what they are agreeing to when signing a tenancy agreement. In this case however, as the landlord has not followed the law, Access has a chance to be a scummy tenant and pay sod all.
 

eksdee

FH is my second home
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
4,469
What deposit scheme is used is the landlords decision, not yours. You should only check that he or she has used one, they have to notify you within 14 days of the deposit being paid / you moving in. Most deposit schemes will make you as the tenant register your details as well.

DPS is the government scheme and the money is held by them, and no interest is earned. Other schemes like mydeposit, charge the landlord to "insure" the deposit, and they can then do whatever they wish with the money.

Thanks for the further info - my girlfriend has dealt with all this stuff before so she's much more 'in the know' than I am!
 

Huntingtons

Resident Freddy
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
10,770
i denmark we have LLO who you can register with for a 600 DK fee (around 60 quid) and let them take care of the hassle of all that stuff. maybe check if you have the same in UK?
 

Chilly

Balls of steel
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,046
garden is deffo your fault. should have kept it neat and tidy. my landlord just shelled out for a mower because I was complainig my garden was fucked and I had nothing to work on it with.
 

Ch3tan

I aer teh win!!
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
27,318
I think let's hang tenants who don't understand what they are signing up for is more apt, no? ;p
 

Fafnir

Resident Freddy
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,024
Never rented an apartment in my life, went and bought mine when i was 24, and got tired of living at home, and found a cheap apartment, that cost me less a month that a rental in the same area would. And the fact that i managed to haggle down the price 10.000 euro, cause i overheard the stupid fucks that none else had checked out the apartment and they really needed to sell since they where sitting on 2 apartments.

10 year old apartment when i bought it, 76 square meters 2nd floor, 6 square meters balcony, 8 square meters storage across the hall outside my front door. for 17.500 Euro. Thanks to the new buildings they´ve thrown up, a similar apartment sold last week for 90.000 Euro. Got everything i need within 10 min walking distance, pubs, grocery stores, apothecary, Systembolaget (Goverment controlled alcohol store, that will be getting twice its flooring space in a few weeks) Postal office, cinema, library etc etc etc.

Just a pity BA got rid of their overnight apartment next to me.. :(
 

MYstIC G

Official Licensed Lump of Coal™ Distributor
Staff member
Moderator
FH Subscriber
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
12,362
I actually have a question for the FH boffins. Since the deposit was only put in a scheme in Feb' this year, does any previous tenancy agreement stand or does it begin once the deposit is actually in a scheme? Also do they really have a leg to stand on since the inventory wasn't done offically by a third party and there are no "Previous to movign in photo's"?
In my experience it's likely that any court would determine that your previous tenancy ended and a new tenancy began in February unless there's anything elsewhere that has very specific dates on it, i.e. the tenancy agreement.

Further in my experience, courts would mostly dismiss anything they considered fair wear and tear but hit you for everything else that's covered by the agreement.

All I can say in this instance is that you should always rent through an agent and you should try as best you can to sign as basic and standardised a form of tenancy agreement as possible. One by the Law Society or Oyez Forms, etc.
 

taB

Part of the furniture
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
1,791
Everyone can be a **** whether they're a landlord or a tenant. Money tends to cause issues.

Here's my problem:

On my DPS account there is currently £300 "awaiting tenant response". It has been sat with this status since September now. Despite a number of unanswered e-mails to the person in question the money hasn't been claimed. I have spoken with the DPS on two occasions and checked that they have the correct contact info and also attempted to make contact.

I believe it's still there as she's feeling guilty about being a twat and thinks not claiming it will alleviate this. i.e. consistently 3/4 weeks late with the rent, giving me 4 months notice of moving out (ideal!) and then getting the major arse with me when the next lodger wanted to move in the day after she should have moved out but hadn't. She'd not got any money to pay the next deposit despite the 4 month notice :rolleyes: . I gave her my box room for a few days until she was sorted.

Wear and tear from her year's stay was negligible so I just released the deposit after checking things out. As someone who is so careful with money this situation does baffle me. She definately owes people / family money that this could help with. I don't want it tbh but the thought of the DPS having it in perpetuity is galling.

So, finally a question or three: Does the DPS keep the money indefinately? Can I ask them to donate it to charity? Can I u-turn and take the money to spend on hookers and blow (or perhaps some cause du jours)?

I really shouldn't care about this but it's a loose end that's annoying me enough to post it about 8 months later.

Ta.
 

DaGaffer

Down With That Sorta Thing
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
18,398
I seem to remember it can take up to six months for deposit protection disputes to be cleared.

Speaking as a landlord (in the UK) and a tenant (in Ireland), tenancy protection basically means damage has to be pretty serious, and unequivocally the tenant's fault (which is often hard to prove) for me to recover anything as a landlord, and I'm going to have a long wait for the money. Its very much geared towards the tenant these days, to the extent that it was easier for me to kick a tenant out before they wrecked anything else, rather than rely on getting anything back from the deposit.

Speaking as a tenant, I know I have a responsibility to keep the garden ship-shape and get the place professionally cleaned before I move out, its right there in the lease.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom