Mokhtar: As owner of the business you've reviewed it falls to me to either try to understand where we might have not performed up to scratch, or to discuss with you what issues you've encountered - we only ever want our tenants to feel they've enjoyed the homes we let. In the same way, I very occasionally have to put right mis-impressions created by tenants who simply like to sound off when they don't like being held to account for their own behaviour; this is one of those occasions. First, if you have any worries at all about the deposit deductions proposed, you have the complete right to take your concerns forward with a deposit scheme dispute - that is exactly what the legislation around deposits since 2007 has enabled you to do. We too have the right to put forward the evidence of the exact issues being claimed for, which in this case include a good deal of cleaning of the entire property and with specific attention to carpets in five rooms, all matters that you could easily have avoided had you adopted basic cleaning functions. Likewise, why should your landlord or their agent have to deal with the disposal of clothes you chose to leave behind - why would you think that reasonable? These things are plainly not "inventions" by us. Second, your comments about asking you to sign hundreds of items BEFORE you get into a property are manifestly untrue: you are indeed asked to sign photos of the condition, but only when you are walked through the property on the DAY you move in, so that you can be protected against any later claim for damage that was already present - that seems to us and to adjudicators at the independent dispute resolution services to be a superbly efficient way of removing any reason for later dispute at the outset. So, we have evidence of ingoing condition, and evidence of the damage that has had to now be put right, including part redecorating after you, and repair to your breakages. We have no issue with placing these before the adjudication service if required - again, this will prove these are not "inventions". I'm bound to wonder why an educated man would have signed the documents (which are just the standard tenancy items) and the photographs if you didn't actually believe them at the outset - a very strange thing to do. So, although the landlord is looking for recovery of 42% of your deposit to pay for your dilapidations (again, not "most of your deposit" as you exaggeratedly claim), if you disagree then I suggest using the proper dispute handling channels, not airing your (literally) dirty linen in public. Very disappointed to have to defend my hard-working team against wholly untrue distortions of this sort. From: Andy (owner)