Renters - a question!

[CLH_X3]

I think you have been reasonable, she needs to expect wear and tear after a year.. Maybe you can clean the extractor fan and cut the hedge but that's it..

We have been renting a place for 3 going on 4 years now and when we leave I know I have a few jobs to do, but also when we have been here the whole house was under pinned and the builders wasn't the tidiest, they made loads of marks up the stair way ad the banister is now really marked which was them, they also nice put the floor boards on properly again either, our landlords are really good though and they know to expect wear and tear

 

[magicwhisper]

when we left our old rented place we scrubbed the place and painted over the hooks we had in the wall thats all.

if she is going to be that picky she should of had a book with the condition with everything in from the condition of the walls, floors basically everything!

all landlords should expect reasonable wear and tear but no damage.

i think she is taking the pee tbh

 

[jenny82]

Shit just gets better!

Do you replace all bulbs on check out? I had replaced most of them, but there were a few I missed. SHe has replaced & charged us. Whatever I guess, just seems petty to me.

The letterbox of the front door was damaged by Royal Mail trying to jam something too big in there. The brush-heat-retainer things came off. Not sure if this is a Royal Mail thing or us, but we didn't do anything and we are being charged to repair it.

SHe has charged us to replace 2 granite cupboard door handles, even though they came off on me at least twice a day since the day we moved in. I never thought to get them replaced as I was busy I guess and it wasn't really an issue for me.

Kitchen chairs have some chips off the paintwork. Now yes I will admit they are there but it was not excessive wear and tear. I just think they are cheap chairs. How do I say this politely? Obviously I have lived with dining room furniture in my lifetime, and I have never seen furniture to chip as easy as this.

My LO damaged the downstairs toilet roll holder ages ago but pulling on the handle and one of the ends moved out a bit. I would not say it moved out a lot and can probably be bent back in (my dad has offered to go do it). She says they are from Pottery Barn and it would cost £100 to replace them. Feck that, pardon my french. Inventory says toilet roll holders, not imported designer toilet roll holders. Can I refuse to pay that? Same for the apparently imported towel holder, that fell off easily at the slightest touch - so much so that I didn't actually keep a towel on it.

Sorry, I know some of this seems pointless. I just am not sure of where we stand at all :/

 

[special_kala]

Do you have any kind of deposit protection over there?

Shes being ridiculious. I would threaten small claim court and try and scare her into giving your money back

 

[jenny82]

No deposit protection. Also slightly worried as we paid a double deposit as I didn't want my mum to be a guarantor.

If you think she is being ridiculous, then at least i know I'm not alone phew :/ I have the list she gave the estate agent and I've made some notes on it. Going to finalise tonight with OH and send it back tomorrow. I think I should tell the estate agent that I think she is being incredibly unreasonable, although tbh I think she agrees with me.. :/

 

[CareBear]

That is ridiculous and would all count as wear and tear, I have never replaced lightbulbs when moving out of a house I just replace then when they go. If you had reported these when you lived there it would have been her decision to leave them or fix them so I can't see how she can charge you now.

 

[magicwhisper]

if she is going to be fussy then you should

go word by word what is in the inventory?

light bulbs? they asked if we wanted ours back!

 

[jenny82]

Yeah magic whisper, we have done that! The letterbox damaged by Royal Mail? Not on the inventory... Inventory should have specified a £100 loo roll holder etc.

My OH helped me write an email last night. It was really really good. He was polite but got his bit in. Unreasonable, particular, things she didn't do for us. At times I was :O but I think it got the message across. Fingers crossed now :/

 

[magicwhisper]

sounds good.

as long as it is by the inventory you would win if you went to court

 

[sam2eb]

She sounds like a nightmare! Hope yous get it all sorted asap!!

 

[Pearls18]

We rent from the MOD and the cleaning standards are pretty strict, we hired cleaners when we moved out and they did everything from the over, inside windows, skirting boards, carpets, walls basically anything that needed cleaning. DH mowed the lawn and we got a window cleaner for the outside bits. We passed march out with no charges, when the housing officer came around they noted broken paving slabs (not us anyway) new flooring needed in kitchen (from wear and tear not damage) but that's something they do, anything that needs fixing like light switches, cracks, painting etc is done by them. Hedges is a bit of a grey area. She's definitely asking too much.

 

[jenny82]

Its been almost a month since our lease ended but we haven't had any deposit back. Never received a response to the email we sent either.

I emailed the estate agent this morning and she said that she just got an email back from the landlady to say that she has been so busy, she hasn't gotten quotes for anything. SO basically she has £1700 of our money and is too busy to sort it out? I'm not sure that is on! I checked tenant's rights but in NI, the tenancy protection scheme only came in this year, so we would've signed our lease before that and there is no clear timeframe on returning deposits. It is getting a bit ridiculous really as we did our bit and she is dragging her heels.

 

[sam2eb]

I would maybe write to her and say of she isn't in touch my whatever date, that you will be going to the small claims court. She sounds like a right headache!!!

 

[sweetlullaby]

Phone the estate agents they should be getting your deposit back heck they might even have it. OH's last house he rented the day they inspected it was the day he got the deposit back. (which is a miracle as they are a really crap estate agents and don't sort out repairs etc)

 

[auntiesarah25]

As a former landlord I would say reference your lease if you have a copy. Otherwise it sounds like you've done more than enough. Most people who left the apartments I was in charge of didn't even vacuum. All depends on your lease and your state really.

 

[jenny82]

Phone the estate agents they should be getting your deposit back heck they might even have it. OH's last house he rented the day they inspected it was the day he got the deposit back. (which is a miracle as they are a really crap estate agents and don't sort out repairs etc)

It's not their responsibility apparently as the landlord manages it herself rather than pay them a management fee. I am really worried though as I have heard tales of people not getting their deposits back and didn't bother chasing it as it wasn't worth the effort. I am not going to be that person though. I will hound her and hound her and if needs be, will be writing a solicitor's letter to the estate agent as well as the landlady. I have a lot of time on my hands...

So angry that a person would do this. We rent our own house out and I would never treat a person this way.

 

[jenny82]

As a former landlord I would say reference your lease if you have a copy. Otherwise it sounds like you've done more than enough. Most people who left the apartments I was in charge of didn't even vacuum. All depends on your lease and your state really.

I have gone through the lease and done all we should, although there is no mention of getting deposit back or a timeframe for it. She lives in Italy too so I suspect she will make it difficult to get hold of her.