Moving out of house advice

[plumberman]

hI,

Im moving out of my 4 person shared flat at the weekend when the AST runs out. Another guy is moving in instead of me. I have 4 questions. My landlord is coming round tomorrow to inspect the property...

1) In my opinion it is in the same state as when i moved in. I aknoledge that there are a couple of marks on the lounge wall about 2 inches across. Can this be put down to wear and tear and if not what is the maxiumum the LL can take out my deposit.
2) I intend to tidy the flat, but does it need to be spotless if he is assessing the wear and tear in order to give me back my deposit. I know this sounds like a stupid questin but the others in the flat arent moving out and it seems quire hard constantly tidying and cleaning after them so that the landlord sees a pristine flat.
3)When i moved in the exisintg tenant i moved in with said the carpets were not going to be cleaned - they were not. I have actually cleaned them myself last week knowing that i am going to move out and i know that there small stains on the carpet when i moved in. Can the LL deduct form my deposit even though they were not done by anyone in the AST that i am in (i.e the tenants before me). P.s I did not sign and havent seen an inventory.
If he tries to take money from me, is there a standard figure, i assume he cant take £100 for a dark 1 penny size spot on the carpet.

4) My housemate lost his keys and the LL got in a locksmith to replace the cylinder of the yale lock, however a month after this the lock failed (it was the block bit on the back of the door NOT the cylinder that was replaced that failed) In a nutshell, the locksmith thinks its the part he did not replace, whereas the LL thinks the locksmtih's spinning me a yarn (I know for a fact its NOT the part the Locksmith did not replace, however the LL wont listen). Anyway whose responsibility is it to replace the lock as I have a feeling the LL will try and take this problem out of my deposit. In case your sondering we have a mortice lock that we've been using?

Many Thanks for you advice

[MrShed]

1) No, and he can take whatever it costs to repaint the wall.

2) You would have to discuss with the landlord.

3) Ah, now this makes it entirely different. If you have not seen an inventory or signed it, he cannot deduct a bean from your deposit. BTW, if the mark on the carpet did not come out, he could theoretically, and fairly also, charge for the replacement of the entire carpet. However, if you have not seen an inventory he cannot do this.

4) First of all, the sentence makes no sense. But you/other tenant are responsible for the cost of the initial lock, but not subsequent costs of the lock being faulty.

Do not accept any deductions from your deposit, he cannot without an inventory.

[plumberman]

Regarding the inventory,
Basically 3 of us moved into the flat with a guy who stayed on from the original AST (the other 3 people moved out). So we began a new AST with the original guy. If the original guy had seen the inventory are we bound by it - i dont beleive he has as he doenst remember. I know none of us "new" housemates have never seen one but is it binding of 1 of the 4 has.

Also is there any legal bumpf written in black and white stating "if there is no inventory the LL has no claim in keeping any of the deposit".

Many Thanks

[MrShed]

I do not know the situation regarding if one of the other tenants saw it.

With regards to legally? You can take it as virtually guaranteed that no inventory = no deposit deductions. I believe legally in a law it will state something similar to "any reasonable deductions must be backed up with evidence that such deductions arose due to the current tenants", this evidence is the inventory. However, I suppose there is nothing to say that they could have photographed every corner of the house prior to you moving in. However, I would very much doubt this, as if theyve been clumsy enough not to make an inventory, they probably wouldnt have done that either....and I doubt any form of evidence has much credibility in court unless the tenant has seen it and agreed with what it represents.

However, are you not panicking somewhat early, you havent even moved out yet! Do you have some reason to believe that this landlord is going to screw you?

[MrShed]

Oh but having re-read your post, I believe that having started a new AST, you should have been given a new inventory. If not, then no deductions :) not 100% on this though

[plumberman]

I have a feeling since he's done things in odd ways and sent a really stinky letter to us telling us to tidy the house up so he could show it to prospective tenants. He told us it was a "bombsite" and that it would cost hundreds of pounds to clean. It was a complete overreaction on the grounds we had some dirty dishes and some beer bottles after having some frineds round the day before and my washing was on a clothes horse in the lounge. The whole point which he missed was that his son turned up with peopsective tenants without letting us know until that day. we also told him about his leaking shower about 5 times and when confronting his son about this, his son just said " oh you nkow dad, goes in one ear and out the other". He also said he'd clean the carpets which he never did so i assume hes going to forget about that,. I think the final issue is that he wants to come round tomorrow when everyones at work, although im going to try and get him to come in the eveing.

[MrShed]

He CANNOT enter the property without your express permission 24 hours prior. In case he does screw you for deposit and it goes further, keep a note of dates etc. Also make sure you put in writing about the shower, ask him to fix it again. He can, however, ask you to tidy the house, although I would doubt hecan force you....appreciate that it can be difficult to let an untidy house!

[plumberman]

i completely understand it can be difficult to let an untidy but giving us 24 hours notice would have prevented that. Where you refered to the legal aspect of the AST with regard to ther inventory, is that in the inventory or is it in another legal document. Also if i cant get him to come when we are all there to go through his lists, what would you suggest we do?

Thanks again

[MrShed]

When you say "his lists" do you mean a checklist/inventory type thing? You do not have any right to be present when he goes through this, if thats what you mean. A prudent landlord would wish the tenants to be present, but he doesnt sound like he is too prudent! The legal aspect will be not in an AST(although it will have something about the deposit there) it is actually written into property law. Someone more expert in this, like paul_f, will be able to advise you exactly which law.