Letting Agencies - Lady Gardens

[C.A.R.]

Brace yourselves - feel the need to vent.

We were recently evicted from our flat because the landlord wanted the property back for her son to live in. Bearing in mind I had a heavily pregnant Mrs at the time I think we were quite accomodating.

The problems came up just over a week ago when we actually moved out. The move out was scheduled for the 8th at 3pm, whereon a 'Checkout inventory' of the flat is to take place.

Cue frantic cleaning of the flat from top-to-bottom on the day of checkout, we made sure the place was spotless.

Comes to 3pm. Nobody here yet.

3:30, still nobody. I'll give them a ring.

"No sorry, the inventory clerk is not available this afternoon and we had trouble locating the master inventory for the property, but if you could still drop the keys off at the office...."

I did as was asked of me and dropped the keys off.

Still hadn't heard of them by the Monday afternoon. Phoned up, evidently "no checkout has been done yet, we hope to do it tomorrow morning"

At this point I'm pretty p*ssed, as they are holding up £1,000 of my money.

On the Monday night I returned to the flat to check with neighbors to see if they had any parcels for me, as one had gone missing. There were lights on in our old flat, so I knocked.

The landlords son had moved in - get this - on the Saturday night, just hours after we handed the keys over. A checkout wasn't done until the Tuesday.

On Thursday they phoned up to tell me the inevitable - surprise surprise, there were problems with the state of the flat.

Apparently two walls needed repainting, to the tune of £120.

I'm so, so p*ssed off it's unreal.

Surely they can't prove we are responsible for the supposed 'damage'?

So with that I can confirm that all letting agents are in fact lady gardens unless proven otherwise.

[puglove]

Id fight it like f*ck. And insist the damage must have been done by the landlords son and that you want your full £1000 back

[Oil-burner]

Tell them you'll paint it yourself! £10 B&Q cheapo magnolia!

Yeah defo a bunch of lady gardens mate, that reminds me I've got to pay our contract renewal before Xmas!

[Andy]

That sucks man. They really are all twats... My mum had similar issues with a previous residence.They always never seem to want to help but they will bring you down if there's a pube on the floor.

What you need to do now is napalm their office.

[WiNgNuTz]

As said, i'd be inclined to fight this to the end. Just as a matter of curiosity, did you take any photos before moving in/leaving the flat?

[Niall]

As said, i'd be inclined to fight this to the end. Just as a matter of curiosity, did you take any photos before moving in/leaving the flat?

This because otherwise its just their words against yours.

[puglove]

Exactly they cant prove it was you if he was already in by the time they checked

[Niall]

They have shot them selfs in the foot really by not confirming any of the damage before the new guy moved in but could still be a tricky argument. Just threaten them with legal action on that basis and I'm sure they will pay up :p

[Matt]

That's a shitter man, argue it like f*ck. My letting agent is also a lady garden

[vincent1]

http://306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-8906.html
as the tennants deposit scheme will argue for you they have to allow general wear and tear how long was you in the flat for?

[C2K]

Is it private let, or are you using a letting agency? Who is holding your deposit, because if it's not the government accounts then they're in contravention of the letting laws - this was aimed to stop unscrupulous landlords seizing deposits unlawfully. Do you have a copy of the master inventory? Does it detail flat condition when you moved in?

I rented 3 times, and each was drastically different from the other.

First was a flat in Peterborough for 6 months, which was advertised through an agency. Got a call after my application to say that the landlady wanted to hold the deposit privately, turned out she was the manageress of the letting agency. I did an inspection, noting things like the stairway carpet was filthy, kitchen floor was ripped where someone had moved a fridge out etc. At the end the woman took the piss, bringing people to the flat when i was at work, when i got home from work etc. Everyone wanted to view when i got home from work and it was starting to take the piss when people were turning up unannounced - when I complained I was told I wasn't being accommodating, politely told her to kiss my ass and read my rights. She too pulled the same trick, dodging me for the final inspection, ultimately requiring me to post the keys at the letting agency. I offered to be present as it was half a mile from work but never got a call, just one day got a voicemail saying she wanted to use my deposit to clean the carpets as they were filthy. At that point I reminded her she'd agreed and signed an inspection report stating exactly that - dirty carpets - which i'd f*cking scrubbed and scrubbed to make them look 10x better anyway. No apology, nothing - just a cheque in the post for the full amount luckily.

Number 2 was a house in Coventry for 26 months. Had a good letting agents who were always polite, quick to remedy problems, and gave you advanced notice of all regular 3 month inspections etc, which after the first they never came again as they trusted us. It was the owner's actual house but she'd been seconded overseas on business so let her house out, but she was mint. Everything that broke was fixed within 2 days. Agency came to do inspection after we left, I got stuck in traffic and couldn't get there in time, but all was spot on and they left a polite voicemail saying no problems, full deposit would be on the way back to me. Result.

Number 3 was a house in Peterborough with a cheapskate landlord who'd jumped on the housing boom and clearly had priced himself out of his own pocket. Cheap decor everywhere, cheap kitchen, garden looked like a jungle etc, cheeky lady garden left the bins full of his decorating shit so I couldn't use them, so i reported it to the agency and he was forced to rectify it. After rectifying it, he tried to get his own back and say my girlfriend was living there without consent (er f*ck you, i'm not paying needlessly for her when she wasn't earning) and I had a right go at the letting agency, citing invasion of privacy and violation of letting rights etc. After that they never messed with me again. Fortunately when moving out time came as I bought my current house, they did a PRE inspection, pointed out 7 minor things I needed to rectify (paint touch ups etc from moving my shit out) and gave me forewarning to rectify the faults - no issues with full refund after that.

Some landlords are absolute lady gardens, and you must learn to cover your own arse like I did in future if you haven't already. Take photographs of the current place etc and submit them to the letting agency for keeping on file.

[C.A.R.]

The deposit is being held by the DPS (Deposit Protection Service) but the letting agency are holding up proceedings by either being slow to respond or not being transparent in what they are telling me.

I have a voicemail message on my phone from yesterday saying they would only keep back £60 of the deposit, yet a phonecall this morning stating they want £120 again.

It's a total mess, I feel a strongly-worded letter coming on. Absolutely skint now as we were forced to move out just prior to Christmas and they are taking the p*ss big time.

[C2K]

Well, record the facts as you see it and present it to the DPS, given that before a final inspection was made a new tenant had moved in. If the letting agency can't prove an inspection was done on the property whilst vacant it should be game over.

Suggest phoning them for advice.

[C.A.R.]

Unfortunately the DPS can't offer advice - they're supposed to be independant. They defer you to the CAB who were also unable to help

I've got a list of email addresses sorted anyway, one for the head office, one for the lettings manageress and one for the franchisee.

It's a fooking nightmare. I might go and revisit the chap who lives there now this evening to confirm when he moved in exactly. He can either be honest with me or try to send me away, I'll claim I'm back to check for post again.

[puglove]

Good idea. Also pretend to be txting on your phone wilst asking and video recond it as evedence also get him to say a date or say yes to a date when asking. All good back up for you