When a tenant challenges the landlords decision to make deductions from their deposit, the case would usually end up with an adjudicator to decide, if both parties agree.
As mention in my pre-tenancy checklist blog, the burden of proof is on the landlord, the tenant does not have to prove anything and adjudicators will, without proper evidence and justification from the landlord, ere on rule in favor of the tenant.
Here are two real life experiences.
Challenging the adjudicators decision
I once had tenants who disputed the deductions made after they vacated the property. I presented my evidence as best as I could to the adjudicator.
Even though the adjudicator believed my evidence, he or she ruled against me due to the fact that, in his or her word, “I did not prove that the inventory was presented to the tenant “. The entire deposit was returned to the tenant on that basis.
In the tenant’s submission, the tenant never denied receiving a copy of the inventory.
I then challenged the adjudicators decision on the basis that the tenant never denied receiving the inventory, it is therefore reasonable to assume it was received and it wasn’t in the adjudicators place to make the tenants case for them.
The appeal was allowed, and the deposit was paid to me. I don’t believe they retrieved the deposit from the tenant, they probably just covered the cost.
Had the tenant denied receiving the inventory, the burden of proof would have been on me and I would have lost the case.
The lesson here is to ensure you save all relevant communication in particular where evidence of the serving of any important document is required.
Failed to get deductions due to poor inventory or presentation of evidence
In another scenario, the tenants left the property in a terrible state. I don’t think the oven had ever been cleaned and the shower and kitchen were just awful. The walls had marks and the kitchen had oil stains all over the walls. Note that this was a new build flat, the tenants were the first set of people to live in it and had been there for less than a year. The tenants also left items behind which needed to be disposed of and the entire flat needed redecoration.
I made a claim against the deposit and the tenants challenged it. The case was sent to the adjudicator with me submitting my evidence as usual. The tenants also submitted their evidence and whilst they could not dispute the state of the property, they claimed the amount being charged was too much and that the stains on the walls should be considered normal wear and tear.
The adjudicator ruled partially in my favor and partially in the tenant’s favor. The adjudicator challenged the cleaning fees and cost to remove the items and agreed with the tenants’ figures which were ridiculous. He also did not agree with the redecoration and stated that he was unable to clearly see the issues and having the pictures taken at similar angles to the check in report would have made it clearer.
The lesson here is to provide accurate quotes or receipts rather than just estimates which is what I provided for the cleaning and furniture disposal. Before and after pictures should also be clear so there is no ambiguity and taking the pictures from the same angle in both cases would have been of great benefit.
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