This is a question to the blog clinic from Jayne, who is a tenant in England.
Hi, my former landlord is trying to keep some of my deposit. This is for an iron burn mark on the lounge carpet, but it was recorded as being there when I moved in 4yrs ago from a former tenant. Can he keep my deposit?
He also says I am responsible for the outside sheds that have fallen apart, but I have asked him on several occasions about them. His reply was I could move them at my own cost. Can he charge me for their removal? (They were already at the house when I moved in with the roofs caving in). Thanks would be grateful for any advice.
Answer
All deposit disputes are dealt with on the basis that the deposit money belongs to the tenant. So if the landlord wants to make a claim, he must prove his case on the ‘balance of probability’.
This is normally done by having an inventory which is checked and approved by tenants when they move in. And then having a checkout meeting when they move out where the items on the inventory are checked again. If any damage is found to something that was undamaged at check-in, then this is the landlord’s proof that the damage was done by the tenants.
If there is no inventory proof or if the tenant can show that the item was damaged at the time they moved in, then the landlord will not be able to uphold his claim.
What you should do is challenge the deduction and request that the matter be dealt with by adjudication. All the deposit schemes have a free adjudication service. You will find details about them and how they work on the scheme websites.
The pages with tenant advice are
So far as the sheds are concerned, again, your landlord can only claim for damage to the sheds which was caused by you.
To start with, your landlord would need to prove the difference between their condition at the start and end of the tenancy. However, he cannot charge for any damage which is down to ‘fair wear and tear’,. Which is the sort of deterioration which would occur normally over time. So, for example, you cannot be held responsible for damage done by the weather!
It would be up to the landlord to prove that the sheds were damaged by you over and above the damage that would have occurred anyway. If he can do this, he may have a claim (for damage). But I can’t see how he can charge you for their removal.
And finally
There are time limits for referring landlord claims to adjudication, so you need to deal with this promptly.
If you are confused about what to do, all the schemes have free telephone advice services where you can ring up and speak to someone.