UK Landlord Forum / Life

So ... we are new and somewhat reluctant landlords ... we had to evict our tennant as they were DSS and could not pay moving forward.
We rented them a completely refurbished and pristine property ... which they have abused ... then we had to Evict them from the Courts so they got re-housed ... so the question is what can I legally retain from the deposit from the following list: -

1. Redecoration which is viewed as beyond normal wear and tear - definitely YES I'm told
2. Court costs - definitely YES I'm told
3. Additional Solicitor costs - CAN I WITHOLD THIS FROM THE DEPOSIT ??
4. Cleaning stains off carpet - definitely YES I'm told
5. Repair to broken Sofa - definitely YES I'm told

How do I justify the decorations are due to abuse and not just fair wear and tear ... any ideas/guidelines?

So any help/clarification would be really appreciated !!

The deposit is not used to cover legal fees/ court costs unless otherwise stated in your tenancy agreement.

Did you do an inventory? If not, you will have trouble proving the damage was done by the tenant.

OK - guess I need to check the tenancy wording then ... we have a full inventory with pictures before and after so it's quite clear the level of degredation to the flats decor ...

K

Great. Having an inventory with pictures is a good position to be in.

Regarding your points...

1. Redecoration - Why is it beyond normal wear and tear? Are there holes in walls/carpets? How long as the tenant been living there? How many people living there? This will determine different outcomes for wear and tear.

2. Court costs - Doubt it

3. Additional Solicitor costs - Same as above

4. Cleaning stains off carpet - Yes. Can deduct the cost of cleaning

5. Repair to broken Sofa - Yes. Can deduct either cost of repair or new sofa (within reason)

tenant has been there for 2 years 10 months 2 people in a 2 bed flat ... virtually all walls have scrape marks ... no holes though ... the walls are pretty solid ... paint chipped off by rough use in a lot of places etc. ... would this be classed as fair wear and tear ... some stains and burn marks on the carpets as well as general dirt

K

Right so you will have to use your judgement (unbiased) and see whether the condition of the flat is a realistic result of two people living in there for two years.

Paint chipping is normally considered wear and tear, but it depends on the amount. If it was newly decorated then I doubt there would be too much chipping after 2 years. Scrape marks, this does not sound like wear and tear, so I am assuming you can claim this against the deposit.

Stain and especially burn marks in the carpet are definitely not wear and tear.

Also check if the tenancy if it says anything like "tenant is responsible for professional cleaning after vacating property" or similar.

With deposit's, it's all about proving the damage/stains are of the tenants doing, and cleaning costs are a common deduction from the deposit. The key is to not get greedy and start claiming whatever you can think of, the landlord is not allowed to profit from the situation. You can only cover the costs of any losses incurred as a result of your tenant.

My advice is to simply make good all the stains and damages, cleaning, etc keep receipts of everything together with your inventory, and if the tenant disputes the deposit, you should be in a very good position to counteract his claims.

OK ... thanks for the advice ... I think I will ask for a statement from the maintenance man and split out the costs between wear and tear and abuse ... there is some stuff that is down to the freeholder and I have already deducted that ... so I guess as long as its reasonable then it should be OK ... thanks

K

Hello Mr X,

I think you've given Keith some really good advice here but I just want to pick up on why you think court and legal costs can't be recovered.  I've just looked at my agreement.  There's a clause saying the deposit is held on account of the tenant's obligations under the lease.  One of the obligations is prompt payment.  Another is to return the property at the end of the lease.

If the tenancy eas ended by a section 8 notice for non-payment of arrears then this action was to remediate non-payment of rent and this cost is allowable.

So if the tenancy was terminated by a Section 21 or 8 notice and Keith had to go back to court to evict then the return of the property was not done and costs incured in remediation are allowable deductions from the deposit.

I think my agreement is pretty "normal" and not biased towards getting my hands on deposit money, so I'd be grateful for your thoughts on thi aspect.

Thanks.

Hi Jeremy

hmm you do paint a logical picture as always. I agree due to the tenant not adhering to his part of the contract puts Keith at a loss, where he is then well within his means to recoup his losses from the deposit.

However, my understanding has always been that legal costs were not part of it, I always assumed this would need to be claimed back via small claims. To be honest, the only argument I have is that I have never come across legal fees as an allowable deduction from the deposit. I accept this is nothing more than an inkling, which obviously doesn't compare to your logical explanation. Just spent a few minutes on google and could not find anything to say whether this is possible or not.

Also Keith have you deducted loss of rent from the deposit?

Hi Mr X,

Thanks for your thoughts.  You might be right.  Court procedures award costs and damages at the end and a law not menioned in the tenancy contract could have the effect of making it fully recoverable without needing to use the deposit to cover it.  I.e. in really bad cases the landlord will recover deposit plus legal fees, rather than deposit including legal fees.

Although our combined uncertainty is not helping Keith on one finer point, maybe we should thank our skill or luck that neither of us have had to evict a tenant so far.

Keith: If you've got a solicitor you've got a relationship with then give them a ring to sort out this last point.  It's the kind of thing they know in a minute and they won't charge you.

Cheers Jeremy. Hopefully our ideas are food for thought for Keith. You have definitely made me think

If there are 1 or 2 months of arrears, then perhaps this may use up the full deposit anyway!

Would be good to hear the outcome.

Interest reply my friends ... I think the debate over whether court costs and solicitor costs for me  ultimately lies in the wording of the tenancy contract ... now my solicitor told me I could claim the court costs against the deposit ... and the letting agent (Foxtons Uhh!) told me I could claim the Solicitors costs too .. but I wasn't really convinced by the response ... it felt more like a quick dismissal to me ... I suspect the answer lies in the detail wording of the tenencay agreement ... I have looked at it and I think it implies I can recover all costs through the deposit ... now we have some legal people at work ... I might ask them to give me some informal advice to finally clarify the issue

Thanks for your help and opinions ... it's not a clear vut case from what I can see

Regards

K

Hi

Hope you had the deposit protected or you could lose it all and end up being fined!!

ciaraboo