Helen Saunders
Unreasonable hold of deposit

My husband and I rented her property at 7, 4 Penywern Road for a two months and a half. We vacated on Oct 1st. The agency managing the property (Marsh and Parsons) instructed a check in report at the beginning of the tenancy, and a check out report when we vacated. The check out report stated the condition of the premises and its contents as professionally cleaned. We even had the bedroom carpet steam cleaned.

After a couple of weeks I started to contact the agency because our deposit hadn't been refunded. According to the agency, the landlord had two issues, she claimed that a stain in the ceiling of the first floor was due to us having an accident with the washer, and that the rug in the livingroom was probably soiled because she couldnt see it in the pictures of the check out report. We responded that the stain had nothing to do with the washer, as everybody knows that the washers have locking mechanisms that prevent the user from opening them before the water has been drained, and that the clerk had inspected the rug and it was not stained or damaged in any way.

Part of our deposit was released, but she is now holding 230 pounds. She is now claiming that the flat was not cleaned to a professional standard becasue we have not provided receipts of the cleaning. We were told that the new tenants confirm this, even though we have no proof of them saying so, no pictures, no reports, nothing.

We have the check out report by a third party, chosen by the managing agency, stating that the property was professionally cleaned and that all its contents were in order, consistent with the check in report. We have pictures taken at the beginning and end of the tenancy showing the condition of the property. She has nothing.

If you have been a tenant of this landlord in the past and your deposit, or part of it, was unreasonably held, please contact me with the details. I am taking this issue to court if I dont receive my deposit back before December 20th.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, I can email you the pdf reports, as well as the pictures, which are too large to attach in this website.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend you to think twice before renting from this landlord. She can hold your deposit undefinitely, specially her contract does not protect your deposit under any lawful deposit schemes. Instead she has the agency act as a stake holder and keep your deposit in a client account, which means you have no resources to recover it.

Irani Barranon

barranonir@yahoo.f

Company: Helen Saunders
Country: United Kingdom
Region: United Kingdom

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