Wear & tear

[pammy61]

A tenant of ours has just left a property and has left a right mess!! The place was filthy, with grease & old food in the kitchen...at the back of the cooker, under a freezer, the underside of the top kitchens cupboards, inside the cupboards,& not to mention the cooker!! The walls, ceiling & window in the kitchen were black with mould (which did come off to a point when wiped, so obviously had never been cleaned) as were the walls round the lounge & bedroom window (which wouldn't clean off because they were so black) The paint on the ceiling in the bathroom was hanging off and this & the window wall were also covered in mould. The bathroom window had gone rotten with the damp and the handle was broken off & missing. The windowsill in the bedroom was also ruined. The walls in the lounge had dirty handprints on & black marks where things had been scuffed. The light pull was missing in the bathroom and 3 door stops had been completely broken off. I wanted to keep all of his deposit, but because we hadn't put it in a scheme, he has threatened to go to court. We have now paid this back to him, but my question is, could I have kept it if we had done things correctly?

He says, he has lived there for 2 years and we never painted (I thought it was up to the tenant to keep things up to scratch) The mould was due to poor ventilation!!!! (not sure if they ever opened windows) The dirty marks were "wear & tear" ( I would have accepted that if that was the only "damage") and he had cleaned the cooker "to the best of his ability" A new window handle only costs about £5.00 (why didn't he fit it then, as he had broken it) and he couldn't see why that had to be replaced. If we were to paint the kitchen & lounge this was not because of damage he had caused and we should budget for this. (he didn't mention the bedroom or bathroom)

(This is another question): he took the tenancy on in his name, then moved a woman in and then there was a child...not sure if it was theirs or it was hers. We were never told of this arrangement, so was he in breach of his contract?

I realise we were at fault with the deposit, but is there any point in taking one if the tenant is going to argue that things are "wear & tear" ?

[Richlist]

* You should employ an agent if you are unsure of how to operate correctly.

* You or your agent should be doing regular 3 monthly inspections.

* You should have a guarantor &/or rent guarantee insurance.

* You should pick your tenants VERY carefully.

Tenants will usually dispute damage if money is involved. Normally if the deposit is protected you can settle the dispute thru the deposit protection service or take action against the tenant in the small claims court.

[pammy61]

That hasn't really answered any of my queries

[Richlist]

I wanted to keep all of his deposit, but because we hadn't put it in a scheme, he has threatened to go to court. We have now paid this back to him, but my question is, could I have kept it if we had done things correctly?

Normally if the deposit is protected you can settle any dispute thru the deposit protection service or take action against the tenant in the small claims court. You wouldn't be holding the money so there 's nothing to keep. The scheme administrators make the decisions based on evidence.......proof of condition at check in/ check out.

(This is another question): he took the tenancy on in his name, then moved a woman in and then there was a child...not sure if it was theirs or it was hers. We were never told of this arrangement, so was he in breach of his contract?

No tenants are at liberty to have vistors.

I realise we were at fault with the deposit, but is there any point in taking one if the tenant is going to argue that things are "wear & tear" ?

Yes......you can argue back thru the arbitration service or small claims court by producing your check in & check out evidence.

[Melboy]

I wanted to keep all of his deposit, but because we hadn't put it in a scheme, he has threatened to go to court.

You are the architect of your own problems by your statement above. Your tenant had better knowledge of Landlord tenancy law than you had and he took full advantage of it. He would have have won his case as well and you would have been several hundred pounds out of pocket.

Had you followed the correct procedure before letting your property and after letting as well then to answer your question then yes, you could have been compensated for damage and the dirty conditions as described but as you didn't move on and make sure next time you are fully compliant with the law of tenancy deposits etc.

Regarding the additional persons moving in how many times did you carry out property inspections during the 2 years to ensure eveything was in order?

[Mortitia]

Your second mistake after not dealing with the deposit was not getting an inventory done setting out the condition of the property at the outset of the tenancy.

Costs about £80-100 depending on area but invaluable should a dispute arise.

Get one done as soon as property is ready for re-letting.

[Grampa]

Wear and tear depends on a number of things.

1 How long the tenants lived in the property

2 The type of tenants. ie: family with kids or single person.

3 Combination of the above two.

4 The opinion of the landlord, tenant, inventory clerk, agent, court or deposit arbitration team.

You also have to consider betterment when correcting W & T.

Remember damage doesn't come under W&T but there is sometime a grey area between the two and a lot of the time (not always) the landlord ends up paying when that is the case.

As stated it is important to get a signed inventory done before the tenancy started and also a guarantor.

If you have a guarantor for your tenant you can try you luck and try to get something out of them but you will have to prove it with a check out report, inventory and invoices.

[Richlist]

Just for clarification......money received to compensate for loss or damage does not need to be spent replacing, repairing or cleaning those items. The landlord can choose to spend the money on anything they like. The money is to reimburse the owner (landlord) for the loss in value and receipts/ invoices to prove money has been spent repairing or replacing are NOT required to be produced.

[Grampa]

I should have rephrased that to independent invoices or estimates (or original invoice when fitted). This is what the court or deposit arbitration would want to see. You can’t just pluck a figure out of the air you have to justify it unless all parties agree.

[pammy61]

Thanks for all your tips & advice.......refurb almost complete now, thank god.