Landlord witholding part of deposit.

wayne0308

Hi,

I've just moved out of a 2 bedroom house in Dublin. I was sharing with a friend of mine that had a dog. The landlord was aware of the dog and had inspected the house numberous times during our tenancy which lasted 17 months.

She made an inspection of the property for the last time on Thursday night and was happy with the place except for a few things which she pointed out, such as dusty skirting boards and some dog hair down the side of the couches. I and the other tenant set about cleaning these the next morning. I left the house yesterday and my housemate left today.

The landlord came around today and text me saying that she was getting a cleaner in as there are still lots of dog hairs and dust around the house.

The house was very clean when I left it yesterday, the thing with dog hairs is that they are very hard to get rid of completely and a reasonable attempt was made to ensure that the carpets were as clean as possible.

I've been looking around and I'm seeing conflicting statements regarding my rights.

I've been told that she cannot deduct any money from our deposit for anything other than damage above normal wear and tear?

Does she therefore have the right to deduct money from the deposit to have the house cleaned?

She has reported no damage to us, the only thing she has reported is the dogs hairs and dust that was missed by us.

Edit: something else I forgot to mention was that I have digital photographs of the house from the day I moved in of the house in its entirety. I also took pictures on the way out.

Sorry about the long post.

chicken fingers

contact threshold.
Amateur and struggling landlords will generally try to use the deposit as personal income.
Don't accept it.

Rulmeq

I'd consider dog hairs to be over and above normal wear & tear. However, if she is getting professional cleaners in she needs to provide you with receipts for them. She can't charge you for any labour she puts into cleaning the place (although she could put in for chemicals, or equipment hire). If you have a dispute with her, you contact the PRTB and lodge a complaint. It will cost you €25 (it may have increased recently) to lodge a complaint with them.

The_Conductor

I agree with Rulmeq- unfortunately irrespective of whether she was willing to allow the dog or not- dog hairs would normally be considered to be above normal wear and tear.

She would normally be entitled to bring in professional cleaners in an instance like this- and deduct the cost from the deposit.

If you disagree with this- it is up to you to bring a case to the PRTB- get professional advice from Threshold first- as there is no point in wasting your time if its not something that you have a reasonable chance of winning.

wayne0308

That's fair enough, it was my housemates dog and I've asked him to take responsibility for them so what ever this should cost he will pay for all dog related costs.

I've asked her for an itemised quote from her before she pays for anything and I should get this on Wednesday when she's going to hand over the deposit or part of it at least.

I've also rang a few cleaning companies to see how much this would cost. All quotes for carpets only are between 50 and 100 euro so I'll have that to compare to at least.

If she tries to include things that constitute wear and tear, for example the couches have faded a little since I moved in. Then I will object.

It would be nice if some organisation like the prtb could have a deposit holding facility where neither the tenant or landlord have access to it during the tenancy and when the end of the tenancy comes around they make sure that all rules are followed. If the use of that facility became law you'd imagine the number of cases of unfair deposit retention would drop quite a bit.

The_Conductor

wayne0308 wrote: »

That's fair enough, it was my housemates dog and I've asked him to take responsibility for them so what ever this should cost he will pay for all dog related costs.

Keep in mind- hair may only be one item on a list of dog related damage- I've yet to see a dog that didn't enjoy chewing the legs of chairs for example- and even a well house trained dog may urinate if frightened or under stress.

wayne0308 wrote: »

I've asked her for an itemised quote from her before she pays for anything and I should get this on Wednesday when she's going to hand over the deposit or part of it at least.

She doesn't have to give you an itemised list with quotes before she gets anything done- she can go and have whatever remedial work is necessary done- and then show you the bill. She is under no obligation whatsoever to run any particular item past you in advance. She may agree to do so- however this would be a courtesy that she is not obliged to give.

wayne0308 wrote: »

I've also rang a few cleaning companies to see how much this would cost. All quotes for carpets only are between 50 and 100 euro so I'll have that to compare to at least.

As per above- carpet cleaning may very well only be one item on a list.

wayne0308 wrote: »

If she tries to include things that constitute wear and tear, for example the couches have faded a little since I moved in. Then I will object.

Fair enough. Fabrics fade, fixtures and fitting have a finite lifespan- which is why she is allowed depreciate them against her taxable income on a flatline basis. She is not allowed to charge you for anything that might be considered normal wear and tear. This is a rather vague term though.......

wayne0308 wrote: »

It would be nice if some organisation like the prtb could have a deposit holding facility where neither the tenant or landlord have access to it during the tenancy and when the end of the tenancy comes around they make sure that all rules are followed. If the use of that facility became law you'd imagine the number of cases of unfair deposit retention would drop quite a bit.

The proposal is that the PRTB take over this duty- however its not legislated for at present. The proposal is also that deposits be raised to 2 months gross rent- in Europe this is the norm (and in Europe property is let unfurnished.......)

Time will tell.

wayne0308

smccarrick wrote: »

Keep in mind- hair may only be one item on a list of dog related damage- I've yet to see a dog that didn't enjoy chewing the legs of chairs for example- and even a well house trained dog may urinate if frightened or under stress.

Luckily enough the couches have no legs ;-) But in fairness the dog was very well behaved in that regard. I never witnessed it do a number 1 or 2 in the house and I've noticed no stains when I was cleaning to suggest this had happened. Of course this doesn't mean that my housemate didn't try to cover up something like this. Which is a worrying thought...

I've have discussed this with the housemate and he has agreed to take full liability for all cleaning related to the dog (thus far the only cleaning she has mentioned is the carpet for dog hairs) so I personally should be covered from losing any money in that case.

smccarrick wrote: »

The proposal is that the PRTB take over this duty- however its not legislated for at present. The proposal is also that deposits be raised to 2 months gross rent- in Europe this is the norm (and in Europe property is let unfurnished.......)

Time will tell.

I think this would be a welcome change. I personally would have no problem in paying 2 months rent as a deposit as long as it was fairly protected by law and not open to abuse.

Well fingers crossed all goes well, it's going to be along wait until Wednesday.