Dispute over condition - end of tenancy

[Jon and Liz]

Hi, my partner & I have a problem now our 1st tenants have moved out :(

We let our house to 4 friends in Dec 06 and ensured that it was in a clean state, had the appropriate safety certificates and was in good order. It even had a brand new kitchen.

After 6months, 2 friends moved out but the remaining 2 assured us that the rent was managable so after conducting an inspection, we were happy to return the respectable deposits. The remaining tenants paid the balance of the deposit and as it was after Apr 07, it was placed with the DPS.

We then received notification that the tenants wished to leave so we conducted an inspection with the tenants present, we pointed out various things we were not happy with, breakages, burns in the carpets, cleanliness etc.. and that the house also stank of smoke and it was a clause that the property was strictly non-smoking to which they responded that the faults existed when the moved in.

I admit that we did not provide a condition report at the start of the tenancy but on the only occaision that they notified us of a problem, duff washing machine, we provided them with a new one the following day.

The tenants admit to some damage and have signed the end of term condition report but insist we cannot hold back any of their deposits to cover the damage which amounts to £400.

During the tenancy, we have had numerous fraudulent credit/store card applications made in my fiances name but as we registered with CIFAS we lost nothing. Since the end of the tenancy, mail has arrived from various sources for a name that was not officially a tenant but we suspect someone that was subletting.

If you've got this far, I thank you for your patience!

So, what can we do? Are we entitled to withold some of their deposit to cover repairs? Is the DPS arbitration a useful tool?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[Poppy35]

if you have no inventory you really are on a hiding to nothing im afraid.

You would have to prove to the court that the problems did not exist at the start of the tenancy and without an inventory how would you prove this?

Maybe you can come to some sort of agreement with them?

[Jon and Liz]

Thanks for the reply!

I thought that might be the case with regards to the damage to carpets/walls etc.. but surely the fact that it was not cleaned to a satisfactory standard and it stinks of smoke, both of which are covered by clauses in the AST, will enable us to seek some redress?

The trouble is that one of the tenants is communicating positively but the other is being, obstructive to say the least which makes getting an agreement all the more difficult. Guess we've learned a valuable lesson as well as an expensive one!

Also, is there any way of checking what credit is o/s on a property or do we wait for the bills/notices and provide forwarding details to the relevant parties?

[Poppy35]

ah but who says it was clean when they moved in? All this info should be on a thoroughly prepared inventory and you cant go wrong.

if you have forwarding addresses you want to call all the utility companies, give them final meter readings and the tenants address. problem sorted.

[Jon and Liz]

The tenants have signed a end of tenancy report in which they have stated that there are faults which they were to rectify before the end of tenancy, surely this is some form of admission of responsabilty for the damage/uncleanliness?

Thanks for the replies btw, being new to this, advice is appreciated.

[Poppy35]

if what they signed states "the house is dirty and we will clean it before we leave" then yes this is some sort of admission but really without an inventory its hard going down the court route.

good luck.