I moved out of my property over a month ago. The agency said they were going to conduct a check-out inspection. They did so after I moved out. Following this they have quoted me 700 worth of repairs. My deposit is 510 only. I have left the property in great condition and I have video proof of when I moved in and from when I left. The tenancy was a takeover and I never received an inventory report from this agency or the previous one. I disputed this and said I will not and they have now given it to debt collection. What do I do?
Your deposit had to be protected under a government scheme, such as MyDeposits, DPS etc. You should have been provided with copies of the deposit prescribed information when your tenancy started.
Ordinarily, if you dispute any deduction from the deposit on move-out this is referred to the scheme deposit arbitration.
Check the paperwork you received when the tenancy started to see if you have the prescribed information. This will provide more information.
If not, ask the agency which deposit scheme your deposit is protected with, and then contact that scheme or look at their website for guidance.
If they wish to make any deduction from your deposit, they will need proof of damage, and if you didn’t get an inventory, I’m not sure what prove they will be relying on.
Hi, I have the dps certificate. I have requested it back from them via dps and they have not responded.
I have email confirmation from them that as it was a takeover, they cannot comment on the previous tenancy and asking me if I would like to make a counter offer.
The thing is they have now passed it to a debt collection and I am worried about the impact this will have
If you have requested repayment via DPS, I understand that the Landlord has 14 days to respond.
Ideally, Landlords & tenants will negotiate & agree between them. If you think there is room for negotiation then do this. If not, wait for the 14 days, then use their stat declaration process to request the DPS pay you.
If the agent insist on the full deduction, and you don’t agree, then you need to use the DPS arbitration system.
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the debt collect threat. Have you been contacted by debt collectors, or is this just a empty threat by the agent to put pressure on you.
Id also ask the agent who their Redress scheme is. They have to be registered with one, and you can complain to them.
The debt collection has contacted me. I said I am disputing the amount and they said their legal team is going to be in touch. I am looking at the stat declaration
Hold firm. That’s just scare tactics. If everything is as you said it is then you have nothing to fear at all. Just take it to arbitration with DPS. Until the DPS process has concluded, they have absolutely no legal claim on you, and the onus is on them to prove the difference in the state of the property from when you moved in to when you checked out.