17th September 2016
There was a landlord who was unwilling to pay for a check-in, inventory and check-out. He found a couple to rent his lovely one bedroom flat, they stayed in it for quite some time and the landlord felt he had no reason to visit the property as there had been no problems.
The end of the tenancy came and the landlord arranged to do the check-out himself as he had done the check-in himself too.
When the landlord went to the property after the tenants had left, he noticed a small amount of cat fur all around the property, in the corners of the living room and all over the carpet. Not only this, but the wallpaper and the curtains had also been shredded. The landlord wanted to deduct costs for this damage, however, when one doesn’t have an inventory at the start of a tenancy it makes it tricky, or neigh on impossible to deduct costs.
As part of the service we will negotiate deposit deductions with the tenants. So I contacted the couple, however, they did not agree to the costs. They argued that they had been good tenants and that obviously they didn’t have pets in the flat as the agreement did not allow pets at the property. The tenants took the case to the TDS and asked them to take a view, and as the landlord had no inventory there was nothing the landlords could do, as it was one person’s word against another. It did look like the tenants were going to get away with it, however, we took a long shot and checked their Facebook profile! Low and behold there were several photos of two cats taken at the property, including one that had the comment “my fury babies are at their new home”.
This evidence secured costs from the deposit, for damages caused by pets which was £500; but not for other repair works, which totaled around £1,850 as there was no inventory in place.
- Cost of repair works £1,850
- Pet deductions from deposit £500
- Cost of inventory for this property £190
All this could have been avoided if regular inspections had been carried out, and the landlord had paid for a check-in, inventory and check-out!
Call me to find out how I can help you.
Richard Bond
Lettings Manager
