Unfortunately I am having to use the deposit dispute service for the first time in 12 years. The tenant made an offer before the exit inventory had been carried out, reclean had been done and keys returned.
The cleaning is not up to scratch and I have asked for this to be rectified before discussing the offer.
They have refused any further discussion and asked to go via the ADR.
Any tips on how to best explain my case etc. Would be appreciated, I’ve read that if we do any work we won’t be paid so is it best to get gardeners, cleaners etc than do the work ourselves?
If there is damage to the property then you would be due compensation, regardless of whether you repair it. Whilst in theory that should also be true of cleaning, it doesn’t seem to work that way in practice. If you don’t incur costs then you probably won’t be able to persuade the deposit scheme that a deposit deduction is due.
Just take your time. Don’t accept offers etc. Go around the place as you normally would, carry out your normal check-out check and list with photographs anything untoward.
I would suggest in the first instance, put this together as a comprehensive report showing before and after photos an send to the outgoing tenant. This proves to them that you have a case. At this stage you can estimate costs. Give them a coupe of weeks to respond.
If still a negative then contact DRS. It is likely that you will need to provide actual receipt for any work done. They will also obvs take off wear and tear.