Deposit dispute DPS

Tenant Discussion
1

Hi,

We moved out of our property a couple of months ago, and we suspected that the landlord would try and deduct as much as possible from out deposit, and they are trying! Our deposit is £850, and they are trying to claim £2500!

We are shocked. We left the house absolutely spotless, and I took 60 time and date stamped photos. All of these have been uploaded to DPS as evidence, as well as a statement from us and other bits of evidence such as email and texts over the time from our landlord.

We lived there for 12 years, and there were 4 of us. Some of the things they are trying to deduct are £600 for re-decoration, when I have an email from the landlord that they sent the month we were moving out, to tell us we didn’t need to paint any walls, just fill in any holes and sand down, which we have done.

Other things such as saying we have not cleaned, when we have and we have a receipt from the cleaner we used. I think they are just being very fussy and as they are not happy with us, they want to try and get to us this way.

There is no actual damage to the property.

The main piece of the puzzle seems to be missing though. They forgot to do a check in inventory when we moved in. They realised this, after we had been there for 4 years, and they did one then but it is very basic and has no photographs, doesn’t say anything about the garden for example.

How likely are we with getting our deposit back? I mean, surely no check in inventory is a major thing?

2

You are very likely to get your deposit back. You lived there for 12 years, so almost all the Landlords claims are likely to be deemd fair wear & tear. Go to the DPS arbitration process.

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3

Any decent landlord would be happy to have a decent tenant for 12 years that paid the rent and looked after the place. The landlord is supposed to do an inventory when you move in and one when you move out. The burden of proof lays with the landlord. They will need to provide quality time stamped photos of before and after for the adjudicator to compare. Okay he did one 4 years into the tenancy so he can only provide evidence from year 4 to you moving out. Any issues from moving in to the 4th year inventory won’t count. In 8 years the adjudicator will put any differences in the before and after down to wear and tear as long as things aren’t broken or damaged. Cleaning is often a contentious issue. You using a professional will go in your favour. If what you are saying is correct, the landlord will not get a penny of your deposit.

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