Landlords refunding deposits?

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Rollin

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Anyone on this forum ever had a problem getting their deposit back on a rented property?

We are landlords - we still have property in Scotland. We know that people who rent often don't have much cash. We refund deposits promptly. When our son was at university in Scotland we never once got our deposit refunded without having to get 'nasty'.

In England, we understand that deposits have to be placed with on escrow, so landlords cannot pocket or withhold the deposit.

Do forum members have tales to tell? If anyone is more adept than me how about a poll?
 
I too am a landlord and have never refused to return a deposit, even when some considerable decorating was needed (we classed it as normal wear and tear over 5 years)

BUT when I was a student I did have a deposit withheld - for leaving a toothpaste mark on the bathroom windowsill!!!! Maybe it is a student thing :confused:

Thinking about it, some tenants a while back said they had never had a deposit returned either and they were neat, tidy professional people.....
 
Well we took the trouble to check properties before our son moved out - so there is/was no reason.
 
In April 2007 the government introduced the tenancy deposit scheme. This is a scheme whereby the landlord has to place the deposit (if one is taken) in a government scheme within 14 days of accepting the deposit, and notify the tenant of the scheme that the deposit is held in.

At the end of the tenancy, the tenant and landlord must agree what happens to the depsosit. For example, if a door needs replacing and the tenant agrees that they punched a hole in it, they can agree that the landlord keeps £150 or whatever for a new door. If they do not agree they have to go to the dispute resolution service, The landlord will have to provide evidence - before and after photos and bills/estimates etc to prove what they need to retian the money for.

If the landlord has not protected the deposit within 14 days of taking it, the tenant can apply to the courts to have the landlord REPAY THREE TIMES THE DEPOSIT!!!!! Also, the landlord will not be able to serve a section 21 notice if he has not protected the deposit.

Hope that helps!!
 
When we moved out of our last property, the landlords refused to refund us our deposit because there were 'dead flies' on one of the windowsills and because a patch of carpet under the TV had not been hoovered (TV was the last thing to be moved). They completely overlooked the fact that we had put up £4000 worth of stabling at the property without them having to fork out a penny, as well as doing some serious redecoration and renovation inside....

It didnt matter in the end though, as we actually owed them more (they wanted utilities paid through them, but hadnt given us a bill for 2 years so we owed a fair amount!) So we just deducted our deposit from the amount we owed and sent them a cheque....
 
I have been in private rental properties, and had deposits withheld.

Once as the property was in my partners name, and as he abandonded me and my daughter we were given notice to quit as they didn't want someone on benefits living there. Obviously they wouldn't refund the deposit to me, we had to go into temp housing.

The other time, I was sent a letter for repairs, and they wanted things like cleaning of living room floor £60.... Curtains need cleaning - £50. The floors were wooden and needed a mop, and curtains were just a bit dirty.
They also tried to charge me for a replacement fence panel that wa going to be needed, but it was a panel I had bought anyways! The list was ridiculous!

My bf brother had recently given up his flat and the landlord was trying to charge him for a burnt worktop, thing is he was there for 4months and didn't own any saucepans, or even ever cook there!

I find its a nightmare to get the deposit back, and am glad I'm in housing association property now.
 
Well, I have rented in England for a while now. The deposit scheme makes it better, but the following has happened to me before.

IMHO, most landlords here are greedy people who want everything for free! My first flat in London was fine - I shared with the landlady, second flat also fine.

Third flat - got hardly anything back. Why? Stupid estate agents - big estate agent that charges tennants 4x more than to just do the "admin" and find them a property; watch out for that green sign with a large letter in yellow - didn't do an inventory (said they would - but somehow, apparently it was my responsibility to do so), and landlord claimed he had to repaint walls and clean carpet after my tenancy of 6 months.

First of all: the carpet was cleaned through a steam cleaner I hired. In fact, it was the same one the landlord hired when I moved in, but I got it cleaner than he did. Second: Marks on the wall. There were red/black lines on the wall he said I had caused... ehm... I had no red/black furniture, but I know he had a red and black sofa before (saw them in the pictures) that probably caused those marks when he took it out before I moved in. Third: The kitchen was way a LOT cleaner when I left than when I moved in!!!

Fourth Flat: again, hardly saw anything back; the landlord wanted to change the old carpet and billed me 50% of it (it was old and damaged when I got there in the first place, so he would really have to charge the last 5 tennants - and shouldn't it be wear and tear?); estate agents always stick to landlords, so never trust them as a tennant (though the ones we have at the moment are ok). He even wanted to bill me for electricity/gas months later, and I had to tell the estate agents I settled the final bill with the electricity/gas company months ago... and that the period they wanted to charge me for was for the period AFTER I had moved out?!?

Fifth flat: Half of it back. Employed cleaners prior to moving out, but the estate agents wanted it cleaner.
 
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Brandy said:
In April 2007 the government introduced the tenancy deposit scheme. This is a scheme whereby the landlord has to place the deposit (if one is taken) in a government scheme within 14 days of accepting the deposit, and notify the tenant of the scheme that the deposit is held in.

At the end of the tenancy, the tenant and landlord must agree what happens to the depsosit. For example, if a door needs replacing and the tenant agrees that they punched a hole in it, they can agree that the landlord keeps £150 or whatever for a new door. If they do not agree they have to go to the dispute resolution service, The landlord will have to provide evidence - before and after photos and bills/estimates etc to prove what they need to retian the money for.

If the landlord has not protected the deposit within 14 days of taking it, the tenant can apply to the courts to have the landlord REPAY THREE TIMES THE DEPOSIT!!!!! Also, the landlord will not be able to serve a section 21 notice if he has not protected the deposit.

Hope that helps!!
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You are 100% correct but it does not apply in Scotland. One month on we are trying to get a refund for my son's flat in Edinburgh. As he was a graduate and in new employ we paid it. We also paid rent for the other room when his flat mate moved out to give him time to find another tenant. The landlord did very well out of it.
 
tasel said:
Well, I have rented in England for a while now.

IMHO, most landlords here are greedy people who want everything for free! My first flat in London was fine - I shared with the landlady, second flat also fine.

Third flat - got hardly anything back. Why? Stupid estate agents - big estate agent that charges tennants 4x more than to just do the "admin" and find them a property; watch out for that green sign with a large letter in yellow - didn't do an inventory (said they would - but somehow, apparently it was my responsibility to do so), and landlord claimed he had to repaint walls and clean carpet after my tenancy of 6 months.

First of all: the carpet was cleaned through a steam cleaner I hired. In fact, it was the same one the landlord hired when I moved in, but I got it cleaner than he did. Second: Marks on the wall. There were red/black lines on the wall he said I had caused... ehm... I had no red/black furniture, but I know he had a red and black sofa before (saw them in the pictures) that probably caused those marks when he took it out before I moved in. Third: The kitchen was way a LOT cleaner when I left than when I moved in!!!

Fourth Flat: again, hardly saw anything back; the landlord wanted to change the old carpet and billed me 50% of it (it was old and damaged when I got there in the first place, so he would really have to charge the last 5 tennants - and shouldn't it be wear and tear?); estate agents always stick to landlords, so never trust them as a tennant (though the ones we have at the moment are ok). He even wanted to bill me for electricity/gas months later, and I had to tell the estate agents I settled the final bill with the electricity/gas company months ago... and that the period they wanted to charge me for was for the period AFTER I had moved out?!?

Fifth flat: Half of it back. Employed cleaners prior to moving out, but the estate agents wanted it cleaner.
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If the flat is furnished landlords can claim tax relief on wear and tear. I get carpets cleaned between tenants and put that down as an expense. I have never found it necessary to charge tenants. I only charge tenants for things they have failed to do e.g servicing CH boiler, which is written into their lease.
 
Oh yes, landlord do do very well. There are evensome tenants that do well - 'professional' tenants who know the score, rent a property, knowing the deposit won't be protected , then claiming three times the amount back.......

There are many unscrupulous landlords out there, but there are good ones too.

Would advise anyone takingon a new tenancy to look into the tenancy depsoit scheme. At least if your deposit is protected, you have the dispute resolution service to fall back on.

Insist on an inventory, and take the before photos yourself, with dates, for absolute proof - make sure you get the 'bad' points.
 
I have rented 6 poperties over the year and have always had the depoits returned with no issues. I guess I have been lucky. Only issue I did have was when 1 land lady, said that we paid the rent at the end of the month we were in, when we paid at the start, so we both had to prove she has been paid at the starts of the first month. She couldn'tdo anything then.
 
Rollin said:
If the flat is furnished landlords can claim tax relief on wear and tear. I get carpets cleaned between tenants and put that down as an expense. I have never found it necessary to charge tenants. I only charge tenants for things they have failed to do e.g servicing CH boiler, which is written into their lease.
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Yes, there are good landlords, too - like you seem to be, but they are few and far between.

My dad has over 10 properties he lets out - but they are in a different country where the goverment is a lot more on the tennant's side rather than the landlord's (you have to if you want to be re-elected and the majority of the population rents!), so the standard is actually quite good.

It's just that in my experience, in this country, there aren't many landlords I would trust (at uni, we had a nice one, I admit). Many also rely so heavy-handedly on their estate agents who often just want to charge the tennant for everything... seriously, in many cases, particularly that estate agent office in London/surrounding area with the fancy office, green sign and yellow letter, I do wonder what on earth they are being paid for??? They show people around, but after that their service sort of ends, and they're like... well, you're renting, it's your problem!
 
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