[Closed] Moving out of a flat - Deposit confirmation letter?

Your deposit is held in the deposit protections scheme, they adjudicate these matters if you don't have the reference for that then she could be in trouble

Do you have an inventory from when you moved in? The check out should be with reference to the inventory. For example, she shouldn't be able to say you've left marks on the wall if the inventory stated that wall was already in less than good condition. She couldn't claim you broke something that wasn't on the inventory. Any deductions which aren't backed up by evidence can be appealed to the 3rd party deposit scheme.

I've had to do this with one flat deposit. It was a fairly long process (3 months) of attrition to get the landlord to back down.

Her: You damaged the wall.

Me: It was already like that, there is no reference to the condition in the inventory.

Her: You damaged it.

Me: Prove it [I actually didn't btw]

She also tried to charge for things like extra cleaning. I asked for the supplier invoice, which of course didn't exist, so got that written off too.

Basically, it comes down to how much time you have and how much you need the deposit back quickly.

If it's not in a DPS then obviously ignore the above and do her for that instead.

If you are worried, look to fix anything that is damaged, replace any items that have been broken but don't add extra stuff and make the property as clean and presentable as possible. This will minimise any frustrating expenses. Deduction from the deposit has to be pretty clear cut these days and it is required that any deduction takes into consideration any general wear and tear.

For example if you have dropped the iron and burnt a big hole in the carpet you will likely be charged a percentage to replace the carpet, if you have spilled some coffee and cleaned it up and as that bit of the carpet is cleaner than the rest so is a slightly different colour i would not anticipate any deduction - carpets do get dirty over time.

If you have had a pet in the property and the lease prohibits this then you could be in some bother as any damage would be considered reckless and out with the lease agreement and there is the potential that a significant amount of your deposit would not be returned for repairs.

This is the safe deposit scheme we use and they have some useful info on their site for tenants and landlords.

Familiarize yourself with the process of the scheme your deposit is held in - it should be similar to this and ensure you respond in writing within the time frames noted.

There is further info her on guides to disputes.

https://safedepositsscotland.com/landlord-information/guidance-documents

https://safedepositsscotland.com/resources/files/Adjudication%20digest.pdf?view=1

Photograph everything prior to leaving.

I had a landlord try it on for a cracked toilet bowl..... Now I do sometime dobigger than average shits but no way we cracked the bowl. But my photo quickly sorted them out

Do a good photo/video sweep of the place before you leave.

Record audio of the "walk around". Do a soundcheck first with somebody talking quietly to get the level correct.

Yep as others have said photo everything, don’t forget the electric and gas meters, my last rental I told the landlord there’s a standing charge through British Gas, I showed him the money keys and gave him a local map where he could buy gas and electric, I left the meters with £2 on each, would of lasted a week.

When I tried to claim my deposit it took a month for the agents to get it going as he refused there calls, then disputed we left the gas electric in arrears of £30 on both, turned out he hadn’t added any money and it ran over. The estate agent refused my deposit and claimed an admin fee etc.. i went in and showed my time stamped photos on leaving day, not too happy they authorised my deposit return and claimed there expenses off the landlord.

Reason I went through this, was the original agreement was with his wife it was her flat but he got it in the divorce, it was the first time he had seen the flat in the 10 years we lived there.

As others have said, your deposit needs to be in a DPS - find out now before you move out whether it is or not. If not law very much on your side and one of the few occasions where I’d be withholding the last month’s rent if any doubt.

If it is in a scheme, you’ll find that they’re very much in favour of the tenant so provided you have photos of the place and an inventory, you’ll be fine.

Are you renting through an agent?

We had a few issues arose largely due to the agency misleading the landlady....

It's such a quagmire.... though I now own when renting I'd adopted a "defensive renting" strategy.... assume you are going to be screwed over.... then act accordingly

1st thing we did after moving in was send lots and lots of photo's with anything vaguely broken/damaged.... (if you didn't do this then you might still have time/date photo's on phone/cloud) .. including a leaking pipe joint that discoloured the carpet... a small burn etc. etc. etc. (about 300 photo's in total nearly everything as trivial but I assumed they would screw me later)

To cut to the chase moving out....the agency had a "professional" deposit screwing over company do the inventory. They code a DIFFERENT one to check-in (accidentally I think not)

I'd also officially written to ask for permission to change suppliers ... as the contract (non-enforcibly had said we needed the landlady's permission.  They had not even bothered sending the letter to the landlady so no permission and they were then out of contract for the entire rent.  Half the lights were not working as the transformers were BURNED out .... (I removed all of them for safety anyway .. fitted LED's and removed these when I moved out and refitted burned out transformers)

They then misadvised the landlady...

Ultimately they were trying to charge me for anything and everything... including all the items I'd photo'd and sent them.

AFTER 1 week I wrote asking for proof of material loss by the landlady...

They continued bumbling along with my money....

I wrote the 3 letters before action for small claims including my damages for not receiving the letter approving change of utility supplier... etc.

I also made it clear that the landlady (who was living in Scotland and house in Surrey) I had to trace myself as they had "illegally refused to provide her address) would more than likely have to attend the local county court...

Then I rang the agency.... told them at 09:00 that either the money was in my account by COB OR I would be taking them to country court. I emailed the landlady and informed her what I'd just told the agency...

The money was in my account by lunchtime!

The inventory clerk will inspect the flat with torch and magnifying glass.  I am a landlord,my last outgoing tenants got a terrible report which cost them dear. I went to inspect the damages and though some were obvious, cigarette burns for eg, various scratches were termed as gouges.

The inventory report is what you will be judged on and have to pay damages versus your check in report. It states q clearly what is tenant damage and ord wear and tear.

I take pictures with the tenants on the day they move in and move out - we both take them on phones.

I also get them to sign on day of move in, and am there on move out to collect keys and sign the 'we are good, thanks for that, deposit to be returned' letter there and then.

As above, it goes via the deposit holding agency and they adjudicate (usually in favour of tenant anecdotally). Just contact them.

If she doesn't have the deposit in and independent agency, she will automatically lose and be fined for this. Go via your council and her landlord registration.

There are serious  penalties on landlords for not placng the deposit in a verified scheme.

You should have had emails etc from the DPS when you moved in, and they should have your number too.  Check before you leave (now) which scheme applies. If the landlord haasn't put your money in, you can more-or-less tell them to do one.