UK Landlord Forum / Life

My tenant among other things removed several items from the property without permission after the tenancy.

This left the next occupant without a number of items to use plus it was looking like it was intentional so I considered it theft but did not report it to the police.

I was advised by the letting agent 3 weeks later that the T. had returned a number of items.

I had already replaced a few of them as they were quiet necessary, i.e.mattress protector.

The lettings agent never advised me of the T's. intention to return any items and says that if the claim goes to dispute that returned items even 3 weeks later cannot be deducted from the deposit.

This sounds odd as the disruption, cost and inconvenience caused by the removal of the items was the T's. action plus the return was totally at their convenience.

Anybody have any idea where I stand or how best to handle this?

Many thanks

What are the items, what are they worth?

I know your response might be "it's the principle that counts" but - trust me - this is not the business for adhering to principles. Well, you can - and you should - but please don't expect Tenants to, as it is likely to lead to repeated disappointment.

When these situations arise my advice is to "move on".

You may not want to hear that. You may think you've been taken advantage of, you may think they've treated you like a sucker... don't. Your best approach on how to handle this is to pretend it doesn't bother you - because you are above it! One day, it might not bother you... it's just part-and-parcel of The Game.

Move on, 'cos it's time to groove on...

On mattress protectors...

They are great ideas. I buy good ones from John Lewis. They're about £30 to £35. That's quite expensive, you can get cheaper ones. I refresh them when the tenancy ends on my couple of furnished properties. I want to move away from furnished over time, but some properties demand it (they won't let otherwise). I'm not a fan of washing a mattress protector for the next Tenant... a bed can be quite a personal thing and if the mattress is not already full of miscellaneous stains and there's a new mattress protector most Tenants will be very happy indeed.

Account for new mattress protectors when the Tenant changes as par for the course, maybe? It's the mattress you're protecting. That's your expensive asset that you want to survive beyond repeated tenancies.