Agent gave back deposit without consent

[mxwoolag]

I am a landlord currently working overseas and am having difficulty with my letting agent after a recent change of tenant. The agent sold his service to me on the basis that he would guarantee that my home would be returned to me when I return in the same condition as when I left. The tenancy aggreement included clauses for professional cleaning to occur etc.. The problem I have is that the last tenant seems to have taken no care with the property and the check-out report (done by a professional and registered inventory clerk company) includes many things which were not considered normal wear and tear, and I have now received an unpaid electricity bill for the time the tenant was in my home. I expressed my concern to my agent regarding the findings of the check-out report and the outstanding bill in both e-mails and phone calls. I got assurances that no deposit would be returned without the agent first requesting my consent. I waited a long time for a reply to queries I stated on e-mail following telephone conversations. Eventually I got a reply from a new girl in the office advising that the deposit had already been returned to the previous tenant as by law they had only 28 days to deduct. No deductions were made from the deposit for some damages logged in the check-out report or for payment of an outstanding electricity bill.

What can I do now? I have lost all confidence in my agent and feel my interests are no longer being protected.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[MrShed]

My thoughts:

- Get rid of the agent somehow. They are talking out of their arse if they genuinely believe that they have only 28 days to make deductions.

- If you have been given in writing, or by email, these assurances, you are IMO entitled to any financial loss incurred. It would be difficult to prove these assurances if they are not in writing.

- After this it becomes somewhat subjective, as I doubt it will have in your contract with the agent that the property will be returned in the exact same condition. You probably have little recourse, unless you persue a negligence claim. Personally would put it down to a bad experience and move on.

- Check your contract carefully, and see how you need to break the agreement. No signed contract and you can just stop immediately.

[Paul_f]

Err...........you haven't suggested the poster ask why the deposit was returned anyway without his consent as he MUST be involved in giving his authority for its return, whether it's held as "Landlord's Agent" or "Stakeholder". The deposit should be returned wiothin a "reasonable" time and 28 days could cover this, but of course that's not a lawful matter, but it could ahve been stipulated by the agent in teh AST that it would be done wihtin this time, which in itself is enforceable by the tenant! Clumsy though!

Small claims court here we come!

[slick]

They should not of returned the deposit at all. Do they have copies of the check in/out reports?

[Paul_f]

They should not of returned the deposit at all. Do they have copies of the check in/out reports?
It's "not have returned" ; ..........'not of' is excrutiatingly meaningless, and incorrect English in this context!

[slick]

I do apologise, I didn't realise it meant so much to you

[Paul_f]

The reason it means so much to me is that standards are deplorable. Every computer has a spell-checker and mispronunciation of words and phrases precipitate such an error as your's. It's the dumbing-down of speech too! Soaps such as Eastenders are dreadfully boorish and the spread of the ubiquitous glottal "t" is directly responsible. Sorry! I could go on, but I've a life to live!

[MrShed]

I could go on, but I've a life to live!

You sure paul? :D

[Dingbat]

The reason it means so much to me is that standards are deplorable. Every computer has a spell-checker and mispronunciation of words and phrases precipitate such an error as your's. It's the dumbing-down of speech too! Soaps such as Eastenders are dreadfully boorish and the spread of the ubiquitous glottal "t" is directly responsible. Sorry! I could go on, but I've a life to live!

Shouldn't that be 'precipitates' and 'yours'?

[Paul_f]

"precipitates" is in the singular, but I said "words and phrases" (plural). I did hesitate over your's and meant it to be short for "yours has" but I guess it might still be wrong.

My point is that I make a great deal of effort to be correct! Sometimes I get it wrong! I don't count typing errors though.

[Dingbat]

"precipitates" is in the singular, but I said "words and phrases" (plural)

Ah, but 'precipitates' relates to 'mispronunciation', which is singular. But at this point I think hairs are being split.

[susan 2]

Paul - I do not always agree with you but oh yes -why oh why will posters not use spell checkers and as for those who write i instead of I! I realise that some people obviously do not have English as their first language, but even so a bit more effort should be made.

[john4arena]

Seems simple to me, it was his mate! I bet the 'tenant' passed his credit check with flying colours too! did you not use 'non- slip' gloves when handling agent?

[choices]

Boys, boys, calm down and behave. Yes, one should always strive for correct English, however, not everyone is perfect.:)

[Paul_f]

Boys, boys, calm down and behave. Yes, one should always strive for correct English, however, not everyone is perfect.:)We are not asking for perfection, it's just we like posters to construct a question that is:
Shortish
Comprehensible
Detailed without rambling
In chronological order
Contains just the facts ma'am
Uses bullet points
Gives start and finish dates of tenancy agreements, how many tenants there are, the rent (sometimes it helps), whether the deposit is held as stakeholder or landlord's agent, or if you don't know then say so, please!
Anyone add anything else?

[mxwoolag]

An update:

Following many exchanges I have now received a without prejudice offer from my agent of a value equal to that they agreed they would pay me back in September. There are still outstanding issues which they just don't seem willing to address. They have also not acknowledged they did anything wrong with the deposit and say they acted in accordance with the law.

1) Should I take the offer and then get rid of them,

or

2) Fight on with a small claim.........?

[Gigi]

Feeling the way I do about agents right now I would say "Fight 'em" (short for them ;) ) especially if it is a significant amount. Small claims court is relatively inexpensive and you can't really lose as even if you lose they won't like the publicity

[catcuddler]

The mispronunciation is doing the precipitating so it is 'precipitates'. The words and phrases aren't doing anything.

If you take away the ' you are left with yours has which doesn't make sense.

But you are quite right, Paul F. Sloppiness is laziness. What worries me is that in some learned circles, the common usage is considered the correct usage. That, of course, is how language develops. Can you imagine: our native tongue will be Chavvish, or is that Chavish....

It doesn't bear thinking about.

And have you noticed the disturbing change in Radio 4 pronunciation - 'Irock' instead of 'Iraq'.... 'Parkistarn'.....and they've changed the way they pronounce 'Vladimir' of Putin (think the spellings right but I'm not sure) and the Roman-Chelsea fellows surname....

[catcuddler]

I'm sorry. I forgot an apostrophe in that last sentence.

[House proud]

Paul,
Such as error as your's should have been such an error as yours.
All that ranting and raving and you didn't get it right yourself.

[Daytona]

Following many exchanges I have now received a without prejudice offer from my agent of a value equal to that they agreed they would pay me back in September.

If it covers all the expenses that you are entitled to, accept it, otherwise hand it over to LandlordLaw (http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/).

You're entitled to the property being returned in the state it was in at the commencement of the tenancy ignoring fair wear and tear (http://www.arla.co.uk/download/dealing_with_deps_disps_dams.pdf).

[zoe]

"No deductions were made from the deposit for some damages logged in the check-out report or for payment of an outstanding electricity bill. "

The electric bill has nothing to do with the LL. If it is in teh tenants name that it is there debt, you do not have to pay and you canot deduct the costs from the deposit.