New tenancy problem

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

The lead tenant has finally received a cheque with a list of deductions that she has taken.

A total of £650 some receipts have been provided but not all for what is being claimed.

This does include a check out fee of £130 which has to be proven as no signed document has been produced yet. They don't have a problem paying a check out fee but she states that she has their signed agreement of this which was done by the agent who introduced the tenants, they do not have a copy of this and don't remember signing anything but I accept that sometimes these things can be forgotten.

The deductions focus completely on the kitchen and utility area, she claims that the whole area was 'filthy', cupboards, cooker, washer, floors, the lot!

She claims that the work surface had to be replaced because of it rotting due to water being allowed to seep from the taps and also because of deep scratch marks.

They have been accused of putting a tennis ball in the extractor fan!

A few other issues (as far as she is concerned) one of which is replacing a curtain track to the small kitchen window. This was a net cord that would have been no longer than four feet and has charged £35 to replace and fit!

There was an issue with cleaning not being done behind the fridge and freezer but as there was no evidence of them being removed for inspection on occupancy, there is probably little they can argue about this and the 'professional' clean should have done this.

However, they say every picture tells a story so dispute being filed tomorrow with colour photographs showing how clean the kitchen was when they left.

Will update in due course.

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

No other communication has been by post so why shouldn't they expect it to continue by email?

Because you can't send a cheque by email

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

Roll on Sunday!

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

See post 96, you advised to put Monday 18th as a deadline to respond by.

That was to pressure on her to focus. You then acknowledged that legally speaking she had 10 days to respond.

Nothing they can do now until the 10 days have elapsed which is annoying but out of their control.

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

See post 96, you advised to put Monday 18th as a deadline to respond by.

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

Oops, crossed posts!

Sorry PlanB I edited it several times because I realised I'd missed some points.

No other communication has been by post so why shouldn't they expect it to continue by email?

I take on board what you're saying about me getting involved but someone needs to take her to task and I believe that the only reason she has emailed the lead tenant tonight is because of my call to her and the threat of putting in a dispute to my deposits.

As ALL payments have been processed via the BACS system, then is it unreasonable to expect the deposit to be returned in the same manner?

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

Posted on 14th August:

Unfortunately the 'lead' tenant is in the 'I don't want to upset the LL' mode, which I do understand because of all the hassle they've had but I think the others have to push this asap and I agree that it really needs to be on record asap with my deposits.

Posted on 15th August:

The lead tenant eventually realised that the LL couldn't withhold ALL of the deposit so an email was sent last night demanding repayment as per your advice PlanB.

I had to send it via my old talktalk email in order to obtain a read and delivery receipt

The demand was sent on 14th August which gives the Landlord until the 24th August to respond.

I may be rubbish at maths but surely 14 + 10 = 24

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

But the formal demand gave her until 18th August to resolve the matter.

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

I won't go into the details of the conversation and would only say that she is the most unreasonable person I have ever spoken with and just shouts and rants and would not answer the question.

I ended the conversation by asking her to email the lead tenant with details of the deductions tonight and advised that it was more than likely that a dispute was going to be lodged with my deposits.

Result !She has emailed the lead tenant and advised that she will be sending 'documents and a cheque' by special delivery!

Why a cheque, is this acceptable? Bearing in mind the post won't be sent until tomorrow so a cheque would have to be banked on Thursday/Friday, it's a bank holiday so the cheque would take longer to clear!

Why not detail things in an email?

You've edited your last post with some updates - I'm struggling to keep up with this fast changing situation

I'm now going to play Devil's Advocate.

The Landlord is returning the deposit by cheque. What's wrong with that?

She's doing it six days before she's obliged to (i.e. 10 days after the formal demand for a return of the deposit).

Where does it say in the legislation that a Landlord has to communicate by email not by letter?

Why is she even taking any notice of your emails/phone calls since you are not party to the tenancy agreement and you're not the Lead Tenant?

If she shouts and rants and doesn't answer your questions could that be because she doesn't have to legally speaking?


I'm on your side Mary, but the arbitrator or the court won't be because you have absolutely nothing to do with this legal contract save for the fact that you stumped up the money for your son. That's not his Landlord's problem

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

There has been no response to the email sent with the formal demand (surprise surprise)

Maybe because the Tenants' demand for the return of the deposit was only made on 15th August and the Landlord has 10 days to respond

Nothing they can do now until the 10 days have elapsed which is annoying but out of their control.

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

There has been no response to the email sent with the formal demand (surprise surprise)

I have called the LL this evening simply to ask when she is going to return the deposit or a proportion of it depending on the proposed deductions.

She claims that she didn't receive the email (all other tenants did) and that she had only today received a final quote (for whatever jobs she deems are needed) that she had been waiting for in order to calculate the deductions!

I won't go into the details of the conversation and would only say that she is the most unreasonable person I have ever spoken with and just shouts and rants and would not answer the question.

I ended the conversation by asking her to email the lead tenant with details of the deductions tonight and advised that it was more than likely that a dispute was going to be lodged with my deposits.

Result !She has emailed the lead tenant and advised that she will be sending 'documents and a cheque' by special delivery!

Why a cheque, is this acceptable? Bearing in mind the post won't be sent until tomorrow so a cheque would have to be banked on Thursday/Friday, it's a bank holiday so the cheque would take longer to clear!

Why not detail things in an email?

More delays methinks!!

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

That's very interesting, the thought did occur to me but I hadn't investigated and now you've done it for me, thank you!

I don't think it will be necessary to go it alone, he's moved into another house now and is still sharing with one of the others and I think that getting the point over about her holding on to all of the money made them realise that she's not playing ball and they have to start kicking her ass!

Nothing they can do now until the 10 days have elapsed which is annoying but out of their control.

I hope she realises now that they aren't going to roll over and give in to her demands (that's if she ever tells them what they are!)

Will update as and when.

[PlanB]

Re: New tenancy problem

The 'formal demand' is one of the deposit scheme rules and not something you would find in a tenancy agreement.

I checked out the Lead Tenant issue since I was interested to know what would happen if not all of the Tenants agreed on what should or shouldn't be deducted. Mydeposits told me that in those circumstances any of the other Tenants can raise a dispute relating to their portion of the deposit as long as they can provide evidence that they have paid it.

So if there are four Tenants who each paid £500 towards the deposit at the outset, then your son can raise a dispute over his £500 even if the others are happy to walk away and let her charge them for cleaning they don't owe but are happy to pay. The Landlord would then have to pay your son's portion (£500) into their scheme while his dispute is arbitrated.

I was curious because I've never known four kids in their 20s to ever agree on anything unanimously so it's good to know there is a system in place for that eventuality

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

The lead tenant eventually realised that the LL couldn't withhold ALL of the deposit so an email was sent last night demanding repayment as per your advice PlanB.

I had to send it via my old talktalk email in order to obtain a read and delivery receipt as this option isn't available on gmail or hotmail it seems.

No response so far but I 'accidentally' called the LL mobile this morning but quickly disconnected and of course the call was returned because it was an unrecognisable number and she runs a business so would possibly think it's a customer.

I said who I was and that I'd called by accident but as an aside, I just mentioned the email that had been sent and asked her to reply to the tenants accordingly. I didn't mention the contents of the email but she quickly stated that they knew what deductions she was going to make and it had been done at the checkout.


This indicated that she had read the email but I haven't had a read or delivery receipt. I realise that a read receipt is optional for the recipient but I thought a delivery one would be automated.

I didn't question her comments but just said that the email was self explanatory and she said that she would be sending a self explanatory one back! End of conversation.

My deposits will not register any dispute until 10 days after the formal demand is issued so they're obviously not happy since they've already waited 15 days! Nowhere on the AST does it state that the return of the deposit has to be formally requested.

[marypoppins]

Re: New tenancy problem

Thank you PlanB, that's much better than my version!

Unfortunately the 'lead' tenant is in the 'I don't want to upset the LL' mode, which I do understand because of all the hassle they've had but I think the others have to push this asap and I agree that it really needs to be on record asap with my deposits.