Anyone ever withheld the final months rent?

[a1ex2001]

You are I believe legally entitled to keep with hold your last months rent if you have good reason to believe the Landlord will unfairly withhold your deposit. I did it in all my Student houses as student Landlords routinely with hold deposits without good reason. Until the government makes it a legal requirment for deposits to be held in a special account and legislates what is and isn't grounds for with holding a deposit I would always with hold my last months rent. Oh and before anyone says anything I've never left a house in anything other than tip top condition most properties have actually been in better condition when I'm moved out than when I moved in, rare for a student I know!

 

[Nathan]

Being a student and renting a large student house, our landlord is proper dodgy. He came round the other day for rent and pointed to small scratch on the wall by the stairs and said "no deposits for you lot, have to repaint whole house now" I was like er? The house was filthy when we moved in, since then we have took all the crappy wall paper off and painted it all nice. Looks BETTER than when we first moved in. I am very angry about this, if he trys to keep my deposit im going to ebay the house contents

EDIT: he lives right next door to us, he shares the same address as us, so comes into our house every day to get post without consent, we have to ask him to turn heating on/of as its controlled from his part of the house. We also seriously think he is stealing our electricity as our bills are higher than all our mates but we cant say/do/prove nothing. So crap.

 

[stoofa]

I wish we'd gone the "not pay final months rent and let them keep deposit" route.
Long story short - when we moved out we made sure the place was extremely clean.
All we needed to do was a final "with water" clean around in some of the cupboards.
When our washing machine was removed the water wouldn't shut off correctly so we had to turn off the main stop-****.
We informed the landlord and asked that as soon as that was fixed that we should be called and we'd go back and finish the tidy up.
The call never came, we went in on the final day of our lease and there was still no water going into the flat so we used bottled water to clean up best we could.

Days later when we tried to get our deposit we were told we were only getting half of it back because the flat had been "filthy" - a lie.
When we mentioned the water we were told that they had fixed the leak from where the washing machine had been weeks earlier - yet they had failed to contact us.
We then asked why the main outside stop-**** was still switched off to which we were told it was our responsability to go outside, switch thatg back on and check they had carried out the repairs so we could do our final clean and not theirs.

End result - much verbal discussion.
Promise from them to send digital photo's of the "filth" (twice) that never turned up and we lost half our deposit :-/
So pleased we are on the mortgage ladder now - never will we be screwed by landlords again.

 

[a1ex2001]

^^ Another good plan go round the house before you leave with a copy of that days papers and your digital camera did that at my GF's once and the landlord backtracked pretty sharpish from his keeping the deposit for cleaning!

EDIT: he lives right next door to us, he shares the same address as us, so comes into our house every day to get post without consent, we have to ask him to turn heating on/of as its controlled from his part of the house. We also seriously think he is stealing our electricity as our bills are higher than all our mates but we cant say/do/prove nothing. So crap.

Comming into your part of the house with out consent/notice is almost certainly illegal, tell him to stop. If he refuses report him to the University and ask them nicely to remove him from the property lists I did that to a Landlord who told us he only had the one house. he was a right cowboy and the house was pretty grim we discovered the sofa's and Arm Chairs didn't have fire safety tags so we asked him to replace them he did and then tried to bill us. We refused and complained to the Uni turned out he had 10 houses that were all removed from the Univeristy property list making it lots harder to let them he was not happy.

 

[tenchi-fan]

I avoided the landlord for the last month.

I ended up owing him €550, and the deposit he got to keep was €400.

I'm usually quite an honest guy, but the landlord lied through is teeth when describing the accommodation in both the advert and when I came to check the place out. So I felt justified in not paying over the €150 I owed him.

 

[KaHn]

I've always done this, it normally saves on a pedantic landlord, you normally lose about 30 quid.

KaHn

 

[playworker]

I did this when I moved out of the student accomodation I'd lived in for several years, at the end of the day it saves a lot of hassle on your behalf and makes sure the onus is on the landlord to sort out any problems with the place - in my case this was after a couple of years of asking the LL to fix various issues so I didn't feel at all guilty, if your LL isn't a complete **** then you may want to consider an alternative course of action

 

[playworker]

I wish I had witheld my last months rent in all the properties I've rented as I've only had one deposit back.

Should've asked for more tea tbh

 

[Wryel]

I've always done this, it normally saves on a pedantic landlord, you normally lose about 30 quid.

KaHn

You've chased the buggers for the whole time you've lived there, its about time they put some effort in, stuff 'em!

 

[gib786]

im quite suprised at the landlords you guys have, i always rin the tenants to ask permission before going down to collect any mail, same with fixing anything thats broken, currently got 3 chinese lads living in one of the houses and they have messed up the place pretty badly. Now if they clean it before they leave then they will get their deposit back, however if they leave it trashed then obviously they'll lost some of their deposit, not all of it though as who really damages a house that much. You guys should start being arsy to your ****** landlords who like to keep your deposit, it aint right whatsoever, an if they withold the deposit, nick some furniture from them!

 

[Sequoia]

...
Comming into your part of the house with out consent/notice is almost certainly illegal, tell him to stop.

It is, and yet isn't, illegal.

A landlord certainly has right of access in emergencies, and also has right of access to check the condition of the property, or effect repairs. BUT .... that latter point should be done by arrangement and with at least 24 hours notice.

But as with most things, there's a balance. You can't just put off a landlord's access for weeks, because it "isn't convenient". Similarly, he can't say "be there in 10 minutes".

But other than situations like these, the tenant has a contractual right to "quiet enjoyment". The landlord does NOT have the right to just walk in whenever he feels like it.

As for withholding rent, be aware that you are in breach of contract if you do this, and could well end up in small claims court. There are a lot of things tenants a liable for, and some that they aren't. It was said earlier that you (the tenant) isn't liable for wear and tear, and that is absolutely right. But you are liable for losses, and damage.

Because you are liable for losses and damage, it is essential to get a full inventory, check it out, agree it with the landlord and both keep a copy of said inventory signed by both of you. It is also essential to thoroughly check the property when moving in, and to report any damage, marks, etc.

Look at it this way. You WILL very likely be held liable for anything found when you move out, and saying "it was there when we moved in" won't wash. Anybody can, and usually does, say that. So check, and report things. If equipment doesn't work, report it. If there's damage to the decor, report it. If furniture is scratched or upholstery torn, report it, do it in writing, and get a signature. If you don't, don't be too surprised if you get a bill later on. Oh, and also be aware that, depending on the tenancy agreement, each of multiple tenants can be jointly liable with the others. So if one of you withholds (or just doesn't pay) the last month's rent, you may ALL be held liable for it.

Also, if you don't leave the property thoroughly cleaned, don't expect the landlord to come round with a mop himself. He's probably going to engage commercial cleaners, at commercial rates (plus VAT) and YOU will likely end up paying for it. It WILL amount to a couple of hundred pounds, possibly more. The property should be spotless when you move in (and if it isn't, don't moan about it months later, report it right there and then), and you will be expected to leave it in that same spotless condition, because that is what the next tenant will expect to find.

 

[dirtydog]

The law is changing in October regarding deposits...

http://www.findaproperty.com/story.aspx?storyid=8754

Maybe I've been lucky but I have always got my full deposit back!

 

[Sequoia]

The law is changing in October regarding deposits...

http://www.findaproperty.com/story.aspx?storyid=8754

Yeah. But for good landlords, it's one more layer of hassle and admin ... and cost.

Of course, bad landlords won't much like it either, but for different reasons.

Maybe I've been lucky but I have always got my full deposit back!

I doubt it's luck. It suggests you're a good tenant .... though you are either good, or maybe lucky (or both), in choice of landlord.

 

[singist]

I can see both sides of the story but have a question for the LL amongst you ...

I would have to say that I think that it's part of your responsibility to clean your property before you attempt to let it; by all means charge for damage or loss but cleaning should be your problem, IMO.

When I hire a car, it has been cleaned, inside and out, before I get it and I am not expected to clean it before I return it so that hte next hirer can have a nice tidy car: Not quite the same I know but the principle surely is correct.

 

[Sequoia]

I can see both sides of the story but have a question for the LL amongst you ...

I would have to say that I think that it's part of your responsibility to clean your property before you attempt to let it; by all means charge for damage or loss but cleaning should be your problem, IMO.

When I hire a car, it has been cleaned, inside and out, before I get it and I am not expected to clean it before I return it so that hte next hirer can have a nice tidy car: Not quite the same I know but the principle surely is correct.

The contract should define who is responsible for what, as with the car.

The difference is that, typically, one is long-term and one transient. Either way, the renter pays.

With a car, as with a hotel room, the cost of cleaning is built in to the rental charge, and you aren't expected to clean a hotel room before leaving either ... but you ARE paying for it to be done. I don't run a car rental business, but I'd bet that those that do could give figures for the average duration of a rental period, the cost of cleaning and servicing, etc, and the loading that is put onto every rental, or every rental day, to pay for that.

With a tenancy, it is expected that the tenant will at least indulge in periodic cleaning during that tenancy, to avoid living in a manure heap. And, one way or another, the tenant is going to end up paying for cleaning at the end. It could be, for instance, that the landlord arranges a weekly cleaner to go in, but guess who's going to end up paying for it. After all, it's the tenant causing the mess, so it's the tenant that should pay for it. You can either clean up yourself, or you can pay for the landlord to get it done, whether that be a fee at the end, or a loading on the rent. But whatever way we do it, you will end up paying for it .... just as you do with a hotel or a car rental.

If you adopt the stance that the tenant can just move out, all that will happen is that landlords will average out the cost of a thorough clean, divide it by the typical rental agreement (say 6 months) and add one sixth to the monthly rent.

As I said above, most tenants would not want to move into a property with someone else's mess. They expect it to be spotless when they move in, and would be right to complain if it were not. So ... should they not leave it in the condition they expect to find it?

 

[2bullish]

It is the responsability of the tenant to leave the propoerty as they found it. All of this should be in the AST that was signed (if any) and is standard practice. It is not the responsability of the landlord to clean up after a tenant, should this be the case the cleaning costs can be subtracted from the deposit. Again this should have been spelt out in the assured short hold tenancy agreemnet.

 

[timbob]

When I moved into my student house for my 2nd year of university - it was a total dump.

I had to argue my case for a new mattress for weeks - the old one would poke you in the back with springs while you slept. The front door lock never worked well - the frame was rotten. If the door wasn't deadlocked and you pushed hard enough, it would open. It was like that for the whole 12 months I was there. We complained about it every oppurtunity we got, they sent 2 people round who could find nothing wrong with it?! (wtf, the metal plate in the door frame is rotten and falling off!) Eventually, they sent someone round to paint the front door, and not fix the lock. Except he shut the door whilst the paint was still wet, so it stuck to the doorframe and peeled off when we opened it.

The roof leaked. There was a stalactite on the toilet lightbulb, from where the water had been dripping off it. You got a wet leg if you were sitting on the toilet and it was raining. And you had to go to the loo in the dark - turning on the light would short out the electricity to the whole house. The roofspace was flooded and it was in with the electrics. You get the picture.

Anyway, two of my housemates moved out a month before I did, so did a big clean up of their own before they moved out (very nice of them I thought), and come moving out week, the final housemate disappeared, leaving his girlfriend to do his cleaning for him - which consisted of opening the freezer door to "defrost" it, flooding the kitchen, and spending a minute spraying the oven with cleaner, before she left.

It was then down to myself, and the girl who'd been crashing over for a month to clean the house. We spent about £40 on cleaning products, and spent 3 whole days cleaning. The landlady came round and said "wow, better than when you moved in, you'll get your deposit back, no questions."

Wish we'd have got that in writing though, because we didn't get any of the deposit back. Had to argue my case for ages with letters and all sorts trying to get only half of it back, which I did in the end - the cheque came through about 4 months later.

Landlords Thankfully, now I'm working and living in a nice rented house, the landlady seems lovely, and really genuine.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I have done it along with my flatmates, we all asked the landlord if he would mind taking the last months rent out of the deposit as since they were all graduating they had very little in the way of cash to pay up and then get the deposit back later. The landlord agreed and even gave us back a payment a couple of days that would have been extra, we had been tenants at two of his flats for about three years overall though so there was probably an element of trust involved in his decision since the flat was always in at least as good a condition as we got it.

 

[Moredhel]

By that same token why should they clean your filth?

I really do understand the need for deposits now, I left my flat spotless and when they took out £100 for cleaning I was rather annoyed and thought it was a bit of a con. But I've recently seen the state my friends have left their 3 bedroom flat in and it's going to cost the landlord a LOT more than a £600 deposit to sort out, they've smashed the windows on the internal glass doors, they've ruined an old cast iron fireplace by burning it white hot and it cracking, they've ruined the chimny to the point where there are visible cracks in the wall around it from the heat. They've destroyed the radiator in the living room, its currently only held on with cellotape. The list goes on and on. I was really really shocked that they could have trashed the place so badly.

 

[gib786]

you should leave the place in the same condition as it was when it was first rented out to you, i can understand that normal wear and tear happens, but the last bunch of people we let a house out to painted their names all over the walls, broke 2 brand new desks, spilt stuff all over the carpets and had never used the vac once in the whole year of them staying there, so we had to take their deposit as payment for the clean up, eventhough it cost a lot more to sort the place out.