UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,

I moved out of a property myself and 4 others had for two years on 31st of August 2012. Our estate agents had been a nightmare throughout- the staff are rude, we were left without a shower for 6 days because of a leak and had to use the local gym, the windows would not shut in some of the property and it took 4 calls to have someone come and replace the latch, the garage door did not open and after 3 e-mails I gave up and accepted that I would just park my car in the drive. Anyway this is irrelevant to my problem at the moment....

On moving out of the property I tried to contact the estate agent via email three weeks afterwards asking when we would expect return of the deposit. I had no reply and then at the end of December rang up a few times and was told I would have the bills sent out soon for what was being deducted. I was obviously quite worried and waited for the inventory to come through. After e-mails in which my father sent to them, they eventually sent the cleaning bill only which came to 800 pounds!! Apparently 35 hours of cleaning was done despite the fact we had thoroughly cleaned the property with the help of our parents. One of my fellow tenants Aunts owns a professional cleaning service and helped for the 2 days leading up to the end of our tenancy making sure everything was in order. I then recieved a damage list which charged us randomly for small marks on the walls, blue tack marks in one bedroom from one poster, finger marks around the only light switch that lit up the hall (it was a 3 story property and this was the only light switch apart from one on the top floor which switched on the hall lights. There was no windows in the hall so it was expected that the cream paint surrounding the light switch would be not as fresh as the rest of the paint). The charges for small marks varied from 15 pounds to 50 pounds. They also charged us for a number of other things we did not agree with including removal of previous tenants property and missing items which were left in the house.
I therefore emailed the estate agent a break down of what we did not agree with. They ignored this so I rang their office to be told 'the money which is spent in the deposit is not up to you so take it or leave it!!' and she hung up. (Charming!!)
I then attempted to email various other staff within the estate agents to only recieve the repli 'Provide us with your bank details in order for us to pay the rest of the deposit'.
I then went into the shop and was told if I had an issue take it to court.

I then did a bit of research etc and decided to take them to court. I know that it was effectively the landlord I should sue as this was who our contract with. We however know the landlord and have confirmed with her that she was not transferred any of the deposit when we first rented the house and had no involvement in inspecting the property afterwards.

The estate agent also sent us a bill for 4 days rent for late return of keys despite the tenant contacting her to say she was in Ghana and did they want the keys posted that month (Aug) or handed in on the 4th when she returned back to the UK. They said to put the keys through the door of the property and that was fine. They then obviously decided to charge for the 4 days and said it was up to the landlord. The landlord however was not asked this....

The total amount they have spent from our deposit is £1400.

We went ahead and took them to court. I am just looking for some advice. Do i have a leg to stand on since the contract was with the landlord? Depsite the fact that the agent kept the deposit and spent it without first informing either the landlord or tenants? The deposit effectively had top be chased (what was left of it).

I have also been into the house as I know the people that took on the tenancy and have taken photos of things they have charged us for which have not happened. e.g. There were letters stuck to the wall with double sided stickeys in one of the bedrooms and the tenant of that room rang the estate agent and said to take that amount for removal from her part of the deposit. Which they stated on the damage list. Yet the letters are still up 5 months on....

Please help! Should I ditch the case or pursue?

Thanks so much for any help. Much appreciated!

Hello stefanielianne,

Did the agent provide you with paperwork outlining how the deposit has been secured?  The answer to this question will determine your next steps.