Eos

I told them of all the problems I could think of by email. I wouldn't speak to them on the phone/ in person unless they agreed to let me record the conversations because its too open to abuse/ just poor memory on one side. (they wouldn't agree to allowing me to use a dictaphone to record the conversations, so there weren't any.) I think this will help when i move out because if everything is in writing, then there can be no doubt as to who said what. As far as I can see, I am protected today against claims on my deposit for doing up the house. however, if I sign that contract then next week i will not be protected and the onus will be on me to prove that the contract is unfair. For me, this is all coming back to not signing that contract, but I am worried that the landlord will lose patience and evict us,

Then about notice for viewings for prospective tenants when i am leaving: The contract says they can come round after giving reasonable notice. Who decides how much is "reasonable"? They do. (I wrote back suggesting 24 hours).

It's common sense that they would be unfair. i.e. I move into a dirty house full of dust and cobwebs, marks on the walls, food in the cupboards, hair matted into the carpets etc and the windows haven't been washed in at least a year . Plus several rooms have no light because all the bulbs are broken. Whereas I'd be agreeing to leaving the house hotel-clean, get the carpets and windows professionally cleaned and I'll be liable if there is even a single broken bulb when I leave. Isn't this betterment? Then there are other terms e.g. no rent is due if I have to move out because the house has been damaged by fire or flood. However, there's no mention about what happens if the house is uninhabitable for any other reason. Then thinking about a S21 notice, there's a clause that says that any mail they send to me will be deemed to have been delivered after 48 hours if sent by first class post. However, anything I had deliver to their office and get a receipt for, will only be considered to have arrived the following day. So I need proof, but they only need top be able to say that they posted notice to me two days ago...

Obviously I would rather give as little notice as possible but I do agree that its unfair on the landlord, which is why i agreed the two months. I was expecting a simple contract just saying that, but instead I got a very long contract that is full of unfair clauses. Everything is tilted in the landlord's favour in that contract. My advice to anyone else would be don't sign it, but I find myself in the position of worrying that I'll be evicted if I don't. The letting agent seems a bit confused about terms like "draft" and "revision" when applied to contracts. I am beginning to doubt myself. Is it me or are they just playing dumb? Does everyone else just sign contracts irrespective of what they say?

yes, loads of photos and several days of my summer holiday 2011 devoted to documenting the issues in writing. I can't work out whether the LL realises that the agreement has unfair terms or not. He is relatively new to being a landlord and has made a few comments to me that give the impression that he thinks tenants should upgrade the property. Maybe he is putting his blind trust in the agents. The agent seemed to miss the point about fairness in her reply. Instead she focused on how lawyers had checked the contract. So what? It doesn't say what I would agree to so who cares who wrote it or checked it over if the message is wrong??

I'd be interested to hear other people's views on what they would do in my situation. My 12 month assured shorthold tenancy contract expires v. soon. I wanted to go to the unwritten type, but the LL wants a written one for "his protection". As far as I can tell the LL thinks we are good tenants and is keen for us to stay. We were unhappy with the letting agents and he has gone to some trouble to get them to improve. The Lettign agent told me that the main thing the landlord wanted was two months notice from each side, so we agreed to sign a new contract. However, when the contract came through and I checked it, I found it has a lot of unfair terms e.g. demands for betterment and other things that are given as examples as being unfair by the OFT in their guidance notes on unfair terms in tenancy agreements. Also, I think the description of how they handle deposit disputes is unfair and not within TDS rules. e.g. there is no time limit for coming up with new claims and a very generous time limit for returning undisputed money to me after the tenancy has ended (they give themselves 6 weeks). I'd also be signing that I agree to let them give the LL my deposit money without my permission So I wrote to the letting agent outlining my concerns, pointing out the exact terms that i thought were unfair and copy pasting what the OFT said, where applicable. I got a quick email back from the letting agent basically saying that their lawyers have said its watertight, its in line with ARLA and am i going to sign it or not? I replied saying please reconsider your stance and review what is clearly a standard tenancy agreement against the detail of this tenancy. So far, i've had no reply. Time is running out. What should I do? Just sign and accept that it will cost me about £300 plus loads of hassle when i finally move out? Or stay quiet as the ball is in their court but risk an eviction notice because the LL REALLY was adamant that he wanted a new contract? Well done if you have read this far but there's just two other things to say: 1. the LL is really nice to me, but he was the same to the ex-tenant until he moved out and then he spent several months making one claim after another on his deposit. 2. The contract is very similar to the one that is about to expire, except that last year, i didn't know what state the house would be in when i got it. so I signed the agreement expecting it to be better than it is. However, I can hardly claim that if I sign another agreement now. Anyone got any ideas what to do?

I had an overlap too and the council tax clerk told me that i just have to declare the unslept-in property vacant. Call and explain that you had vacated the property in question and tell them where you were living for those days.

I got an email from the agent on Friday saying they'd been told to make a full repayment of my money and to expect it in my account that day. Of course, it did not turn up (because the agency are slow even when they need to be quick) but I'll give them to Monday before I start getting upset again. TBH I never thought the ex-landlord would settle. I sent an email last week saying I intended to contact the police about fraud (and I believed I could prove it). Personally I do not think the police would have been interested (I'd have tried though) but if the police did start investigating then at last my ex-landlord had something to lose by making false claims. I think that's the problem with the current system... the landlords can make stuff up and they are only back where they started if the TDS finds against them. They have no downside risk.

I was going to start the TDS last Monday (having given a deadline of last weekend to give all the money back to me). I downloaded the forms and filled them out and got all the documents together. Then I noticed my husband needs to sign too but he's out of the country all week. He's back tomorrow night though, so I will post them on Saturday, unless it gets resolved before then. An hour ago, I thought there was no chance of a resolution whatsoever. However, now I actually think it might get resolved before then as I've had an email from the landlord this evening and he's pretty much backing down and now denying all knowledge of the claims. Apparently life is too short... (PS I was also strongly considering going to the police too to see if I could interest them in the lies-to-obtain-money aspect i.e. attempted fraud.)

the agent is now offering to stump up some money if the landlord and I will compromise. (they say its too much work and they want ti settled). They aren't stating an amount though but the landlord would get it in any case. the truth is they haven't done any work so far apart from forward on the landlord's claims and return the undisputed money. I think they've sent me about ten emails, most of which are only a couple of sentences. But next week when I send the case to the TDS, then they WILL have work to do, and lots of it. they haven't even given me one invoice, estimate or receipt for all the work that the landlord claims he had to do. I don't want to pay anything because the claim is false, so why should I pay my ex-landlord money when I can PROVE that he is lying about half the claim and the other half is wear and tear? In fact, I don't want the agency to give him money either but obviously I can't stop them. But I guess that if I don't offer something, then i will look unreasonable to the ICE?

I got a very interesting email from the person who had the tenancy before me over the weekend. (We got to know each other after I moved to the area and into the house that she had just moved out of). She tells me that the house had damp problems whilst she lived there and then it was flooded about a year before we moved in. About half the LL's claim against my deposit is for damp which he says I must have caused by breathing! I asked for a damp inspection and he wouldn't do it, so now I know why. The other half of the email goes into territory which would be of interest to the inland revenue and I am fairly certain that the landlord would not want the tax man to see his ex-tenant's description of what she'd witnessed. I had the dispute service papers all printed out and ready to be posted to the TDS this morning, but now I am wondering what to do? Show this to the letting agent first and give the landlord one last chance to end this all or just send the whole lot to the TDS this morning, including a copy of the email with the tax evasion allegations and wait for all hell to break loose?

i hope you are right, Zebedee! Well the agent didn't pay back the extra undisputed money yesterday, as promised, so unless I get it back today, I am going to have to raise a dispute with the TDS even to get the undisputed money refunded!

I got an email today from the agent to say that the landlord's have reduced their claim by 40% (no explanation) and that they will soon give the agent receipts and estimates to back up their claims. Then the agent is going to refer the matter to the dispute service on the landlord's behalf. I will wait until I've got the money back - should be by Thursday - so that I know how much to put down on the TDS claim form (unless the agent does it first)

if they completely hedge, then they should only make small losses or small gains. the ones in question are probably directional - so the manager guesses the direction of the market and bets on that. If he gets it wrong, then he loses some money. If he leverages (i.e. borrows to put on an even bigger bet) then he loses a lot more - and most do leverage. In fact i think they more or less all leverage. (ex- fund of hedge fund manager!)

It is over five weeks since the tenancy ended, three weeks since they sent me the first claim, two weeks since it went up 60%. I have asked in writing several times for something to substantiate the claims and my request has been ignored every time. In turn the agent has written three times asking for a counter offer and/ or a meeting at his office where he can explain the landlord's claims and then get me to make a counter offer. I keep saying the offer is £0, now justify your claim. Anyway, after no contact for a fortnight from the agency's side, they finally sprang into action last night (maybe because I sent an email quoting the Property Ombudsman code of conduct yesterday morning). But still they keep ignoring my request for something to validate the landlord's claim and they keep asking me to make a counter offer. Finally the agent wrote today that if I won't make a counter-offer, then he'll refer the matter to the TDS and tell them that I refused. he made it sound like a threat. I replied that i was tired of going round in circles and that as far as I am concerned the claim is false so either give me all my money back within a week, or I will refer the matter to the TDS myself. (and the agent can't/ won't tell me why the landlord increased the claim by 60%). So, a week from now, I'll be looking for advice on how to complete the TDS forms (if anyone has any experience?)

so small claims court (from a tenants point of view) has the following disadvantages:- 1. it takes longer 2. it costs more 3. the tenant is less likely to win and the following advantages:- n/a ???

The landlord's claim just jumped by 60% (no explanation or detail about what the extra money is for)

A few more days have gone by and nothing more from the letting agent, including the undisputed part of my deposit (nearly £2k). I asked in writing twice when I will get it back and the emails have been ignored. So i called this morning and asked again. The agent I spoke to said she'd let me know this afternoon and I reminded her that it should have been repaid immediately according to the TDS, so it s a week late already. I suggested that maybe she should think about actually getting it paid. (It will be crazy to have to go to the TDS to get even the undisputed portion repaid to me!) Meanwhile the agency proudly include a message about how they just one some good agency award on their on-hold "musac".

Thanks for this. I never signed the check-in inventory and I didn't even see it for the first 13 months. The LL didn't attend the check-out inventory, although I did. Bizarrely the inventory clerk said we shouldn't have any problems with getting our deposit back as she closed the front door at the end of the check out inventory. Then we got a claim of £900+. There's no claim over the garden, so why is the LL mentioning the time he spent on it in the email (and implying that this is part of the £400 cleaning charge? I don't get it. He is saying that he was too busy getting the house ready for the next tenant to collect evidence to back up his claim. Would that hold water with a tribunal?

I can't... the TDS won't look at it until 20 working days have passed (its only 13 today)... but I will as soon as its day 21!

I sent the LL an email this morning asking for communication to be in writing or through the agent and I got an exceptionally vitriolic reply back tonight. He used phrases like "you can't afford my time (for the work he did cleaning up the damp damage and cutting down trees in the garden)". He said that it was as well for me that I didn't answer his calls. He also refused point blank to provide evidence to support his claims against our deposit.

sleepwell'onights - yes, that's the reason (sort of). I want to raise a dispute because I want the matter settled. I need a damp report to be done but the agent and LL are mute on the subject. It was recommended on the check-out inventory. Without it, we have a stalemate on the cause of the damp. Also I need an answer to why I am being charged for old damage which was listed on a letter the LL wrote to me when I moved in. But no answer from either the LL or the agent. Also, I need to discuss whether walking on carpets and young children holding onto a wall results in FWT or not. But again the LL/ Agent have nothing to say. The LL is trying to call me (i.e. not put anything in writing) but I want the conversation to go through the agent or at least be in writing or recorded. With regard to cleaning, I left the house very clean, apart from where there was damp damage that wouldn't wash off. My husband and I cleaned the house ourselves because I couldn't find a professional cleaner who was available after we moved out. We had a quote for £175 to do it though but we were too late to make the booking. (We had the windows and carpets professionally cleaned though). When we moved in, it had been domestically cleaned too, so it was like for like. However, one of the claims is for £400 to clean the house. All the agent has to say is that I need to make a detailed counter-offer, even though I have already written to reject the claims. Yesterday morning, I set the agent a deadline of last night (i.e. before he went on holiday) to at least acknowledge an email I sent to him asking for some justification to the LL's compensation claim and he just ignored that too. So I want to go to the TDS/ small claims court because the sooner we go there, the sooner it will all get resolved as we have a stalemate right now.

I think this could turn into a pseudo-blog about getting a deposit back. My ex-landlord asked for nearly £1000 on Friday from my deposit and the agent promised to send back the rest of my deposit. I've asked when I will get it back (twice) but my question is being ignored. I've asked for some detail on how the landlord came by his £1000 based on quotes/ receipts etc but I've been ignored. Instead the agent keeps writing to say that the ball is in my court to make a counter offer (and by the way he's off on holiday now). How can i make a counter offer when I think its all FWT and even if it wasn't they won't give me any info? I've explained each and everything linking it to the damp, or pre-existing stains but no one is bothering to read my emails. meanwhile the LL has taken to calling my mobile. I don't want to talk to him because I don't have anything to say to him that I wouldn't rather be said via the agent and I don't trust him to tell the truth about what was said. I phoned the TDS for advice. They said that the LL/ Agent has 10 working days to tell me about how much £ is being claimed (they took 11) and another 10 days to give me more detail and negotiate. Then it can be referred to them and they will take about 40 working days to resolve it. However If a dispute is referred to them, they will send it back if the parties haven't tried to resolve it themselves. But the agent's idea of how we resolve it is I say how much of my money I'll give to the LL when I think £0 is due! Aaagh!

I got details of my former landlord's claim: £950!!! That was after he gave up on trying to claim for the already damaged hall carpet when the agent showed him my evidence that it was there before I moved in. The agent also changed their story that the curtains had been professionally cleaned before I moved in when i asked for receipts. Now I am being asked for money for each and every spot stain caused by the damp. Instead of going for big ticket stuff, its loads of small and not so small things, such as £200 for "shading" on a cream carpet caused when it had my furniture and rugs on some of it, whereas my family and I had walked on the other parts (and then had it all professionally cleaned twice). There is £30 for a 5mm spot stain on an old carpet that already had a stain elsewhere. £40 for replacing a roller blind that was mould marked (currently for sale for £16.99 in the shops). I have written about 1000 words in my defence, whereas the landlord has spent just enough time to give me a scribbled, handwritten list. I have asked for a damp inspection to be done (as recommended in the inventory report), but my request has been ignored and I am being charged for each and every bit of mould damage. I wrote asking when I would receive the undisputed portion of my deposit but the agent did not answer. Instead the agent dealing with me wrote to say he's taking a two week holiday starting on Tuesday. Aaagh!

Does anyone have a view on which is a better route for a tenant who wants their deposit back? I read somewhere that you can't do both, so soon I will have to choose. Which would be more off-putting for the LA and LL?