Keeping Tenancy Deposit For Petty Reasons

You should be able to contest it.
I assume deposit was out into a proper protected scheme? If so you should be notified by them of anything being taken from deposit and reasons why and you can contest through them.
If it wasn't in a proper deposit scheme your landlord is screwed.
Inform him you will report him unless he returns the money.
It's a massive fine for landlord if deposit is not registered properly.
For some reason I feel like the appeals in the protected scheme are all a bit voluntary or something.
 


Former landlord sent her mother round with the letting agent to do the inspection, like a bulldog chewing a wasp she was.

She wanted the carpets professionally cleaned, walls repainted throughout, minor scuffs on the skirting boards painted over, tears in the lino in the kitchen behind the washing machine repaired etc. I produced a receipt to show I'd had the carpets cleaned 3 days before the inspection, and the inventory from when I moved in showing the tears in the lino. Even the letting agent had to intervene and tell her that what she was demanding would be considered reasonable wear and tear. Horrible twat.

I'm in the process of moving out of my current rented home. I tried to buy the property but the landlord wanted £36k more than he paid for it 4 years ago despite doing nowt to it :rolleyes:. Needless to say our relationship soured. I'm considering withholding the last months rent this time and letting him keep the deposit.
 
Have had a quick google of this after you mentioned it and I think I might refer them to it then see what happens, the £150 is pretty minor at this point it's just the cherry on top of the cake of the shit they've put us through to be honest, as I said, we are just happy to be gone.

If they are being petty, you be petty. They are absolutely screwed if they haven't used a deposit service. The court can impose a fine of upto 3x the deposit amount, and you get it all.
 
Had an ex do it to me once, came back after a week working away to find she'd done it through the letter box.
Heating wasn't needed as it was summer, but opened the door on the Friday evening to a stink then WTF

hated her, but applauded at the same time.
It’s ingenious tbf, evil but ingenious
 
If they are being petty, you be petty. They are absolutely screwed if they haven't used a deposit service. The court can impose a fine of upto 3x the deposit amount, and you get it all.
I have enquired with them as to how our deposit was protected, I guess they'll shit themselves and google the answer, can I ask them for proof?
 
I have enquired with them as to how our deposit was protected, I guess they'll shit themselves and google the answer, can I ask them for proof?

Yes they have to provide proof that it was/is protected.

I always got confirmation at the start of the tenancy when I was renting.
 
Past caring at this point as I'm glad we are rid of our negligent landlords who refuse to fix mould, damp and mushrooms growing out of our ceiling.

However as an extra kick in the balls they've kept £150 of our deposit to pay for a cleaner to clean the house after sending us pictures of some dust on top of the cooker's hood and on top of the cupboards. It's pretty laughable to be honest and I'm genuinely just glad to be away from the twats tbh.

What other petty reasons have people on here been screwed out of deposits for?
I rented a flat for a short pereiod between house moves and agents wanted to withhold part of deposit when I left, I asked them to be specific what problem was, it was a stain on a carpet, I said it was fair wear and tear, cleaned it myself and asked for full deposit to be returned, they got awkward and I contacted owner, they erroneously left his contact details on electricity bill when it was transferred to me. He tipped up straight away.

On another occasion I rented a flat because I was working away from home for 3 months, it took my wife a fair while to clean flat up, when moving the cheeky agent wanted to with hold money to clean flat, fortunately I had photo's of flat before my wife cleaned it and when I left. I told the agent as a matter of good will I would be happy if the owner paid the amount they intended to with hold to RNLI or I would take them to small claims court for return of deposit, money was in my bank within days. Was going to leave some cleaning stuff behind but binned it instead.

Its worth the entertainment value making agents squirm when trying it on. The agent on first flat wanted to rent it to a young lass and did his best to put me off, didn't want a middle aged man occupying it, just told him tell owner I wanted it for 6 months and he could have 6 months rent in advance, needless to say I got it.
 
I'll ask them for proof when they reply if they claim it was.

Thanks mate and @No7
if its done by the law, they cant get access to the money without your say so IIRC.

you should have been given the details at the start, not only can he be fined, you may earn a few quid also.

pretty strict the rules.
 
We moved into a flat in Hendon, it was an absolute shit hole but it was all we could afford at the time. Eventually we redecorated, put new carpets down, laminate in the kitchen area etc… when we moved out we got told we had to put it back the way we moved in or they’d take our deposit off us to do it ourselves - we were gobsmacked. We just said keep it in the end. We drove past about a year later and out of curiosity I had a peek in the window as it was up for rent… it was exactly as we had left it. They’d just took our money, basically.
 
if its done by the law, they cant get access to the money without your say so IIRC.

you should have been given the details at the start, not only can he be fined, you may earn a few quid also.

pretty strict the rules.
Really? We literally just paid the deposit and a months rent and that was it, he claimed he put it in a fresh account to hold it and that was all we heard about it.
 
I have enquired with them as to how our deposit was protected, I guess they'll shit themselves and google the answer, can I ask them for proof?

Yes - and you should have got an email off the company who were protecting the deposit
Really? We literally just paid the deposit and a months rent and that was it, he claimed he put it in a fresh account to hold it and that was all we heard about it.

He's knackered then :lol::lol::lol: Enjoy your holiday in the Bahamas
 
Last edited:
Really? We literally just paid the deposit and a months rent and that was it, he claimed he put it in a fresh account to hold it and that was all we heard about it.
they have to give you all the details of the account, neither you or the landlord can access the money until he end of lease and everyone agrees, if the disagreement cant be reached it stays where it is until a 3rd party decides.

going back to 2010ish when my old landlord explained it all to us when i took the house on, i remember i had to sign something for the money to be released back then, worth really looking into mate just encase things have changed.


The court may also order you to repay your tenants up to 3 times their original deposit within 14 days of making the order.
 
Last edited:
OP clearly had a Rigby-esque character as a landlord as that's shocking but it certainly works both ways.

We withheld the entire deposit from one tenant after they built a dog run in the back garden, spilled what seems to have been tar on a bedroom carpet, left an iron on the living room carpet, left a 6 foot pile of unwanted kids toys in the back garden and, when the lass had kicked the lad out, he took a crowbar to the kitchen window trying to get back in and ripped the garden hose off the wall while trying to stretch it far enough to put it through the letter box. The repairs cost far more than the deposit.

Some landlords are scum, some tenants are scum.
 
they have to give you all the details of the account, neither you or the landlord can access the money until he end of lease and everyone agrees, if the disagreement cant be reached it stays where it is until a 3rd party decides.

going back to 2010ish when my old landlord explained it all to us when i took the house on, i remember i had to sign something for the money to be released back then, worth really looking into mate just encase things have changed.


The court may also order you to repay your tenants up to 3 times their original deposit within 14 days of making the order.
I'm not even waiting for their reply now, just asked them for details about how it's protected and asked for proof and details, out of spite, if this isn't protected I might not even accept the £150 now, hopefully teach them an expensive lesson.
 

Back
Top