Be warned
In over 30 years of renting in the private sector I has never lost a single penny in my deposit - until having the misfortune to rent a property through this agent. (Initially as Executive Lets, now known as Martin & Co.). They have just lost their case, through the DPS resolution center, in a bid to charge me for professional cleaning of an oven, which had not been cleaned by the previous tenant!. I had to buying oven cleaner and cleaned the oven myself, thankfully I had emailed them with these details, so had proof the oven was dirty, and had also marked the oven as "dirty" on my incoming inventory. I would never use this letting agent again. And all I can say to someone who uses them in the future - be very careful.indeed!!!
Reply from Martin & Co Plymouth: Dear Karen,
Thank you for taking the time to talk at length this afternoon regarding your tenancy deposit. As I outlined, we absolutely respect the evidence-based system that exists in the case of disputed tenancy deposit claims.
We try to do all that we can to avoid deposit disputes by ensuring that accurate inventories are recorded at the point of move-in and allowing both the landlord and tenant the opportunity to comment on any elements contained within the inventory. A similar check-out process occurs at the end of tenancy, thus ensuring that we hold detailed images of the condition of the property both at the start and end of tenancy. This is to the benefit of both landlord and tenant and ensures that disputes are kept to the absolute minimum as they should be quantifiable and supported by evidence.
We hold tenant deposits within our government-approved custodial scheme on behalf of our landlords and take instructions from our landlord clients at the end of the tenancy as to whether any deductions should be applied. The recommendations that we make are always evidence-based. In the vast majority of cases landlords accept the advice that we offer. In some instances landlords wish to pursue a deposit regardless. This is very much an individual choice and we will take our landlords' direction accordingly.
In this instance, your deposit went to independent arbitration, where it was found that there was insufficient evidence for the landlord to retain the deposit. As such, it was directed that the monies should be returned to you in full. Whilst there is no perfect system for the management of deposit returns at the end of tenancy, we are proud to fully support the government-approved scheme of which we are a member.
I accept that this process has been frustrating for you, but the outcome has been the one that you believe to be correct. We have no complaint with this as the case has been independently arbitrated based on the evidence provided.
I hope that you accept that our role as managing agent is to ensure that our landlords’ wishes are followed in line with due legal process. You will also understand that we have no vested interest or financial motivation in making unfair or unsupported claims from security deposits.
Regards,
Chris Whitaker
Managing Director
Chris Whitaker