During the exit process we were continually told wrong and illegal information regarding the inventory (what they wanted to charge us for) and the deposit deductions.
– The exit inventory was not cross checked against the one when moving in, resulting in false claims.
– We were told that we had to have the property professionally cleaned on exit – we had cleaned the property to a better standard than when we moved in, and according to the Office of Fair Trading advise in its specialised guide 'guidance on unfair terms in tenancy agreements' they, and another letting agent, advised that a professional clean can not be enforced (despite Belvoirs' threats and lies on this matter).
– We were given a 'ballpark' quote to cover the costs they wanted to deduct from the deposit - no break down, instead we were told 'that should cover it'
– When we asked for breakdown, the costs were then significantly increased!
THANKFULLY - we are landlords too and know the rights of tenants so we disputed all their points and cost deductions and when confronted, they conceded and released our full deposit (minus agreed deduction).
This was an incredibly stressful time for us, and many others in the same situation, may not know their rights - therefore we would not recommend Belvoir to tenants or landlords, as we seen correspondence where they incorrectly advised the landlord.
Reply from agent
Hi Michelle,
We are very disappointed to receive your feedback, particularly as we did the checkout over 7 months ago, so this is somewhat out of the blue.
I have spoken to the lady who completed the checkout and reviewed all the emails and documentation and I would like to reply with the following points:
1. We do not provide wrong or illegal information to anyone. You may not like the fact that your lease agreement requires you to have a professional clean completed, but you agreed to it and despite the changes to legislation it is legal and you did not have a clean carried out on the property. It is not legal to have clauses re professional cleans in new leases after the 1st June 2019 but your lease agreement was entered into long before these changes came into affect.
2. Our check out report amounted to some 24 pages with a lot of photographic detail and was compared with the opening inventory.
As we did not manage your property we were not in control of the entire conversation. Your landlord did provide you with a ball park figure for the repairs and clean but when we obtained all the individual quotes it came out at a higher level.
3. We advised the landlord of the items he could claim for if he wished to, including replacement bulbs, broken freezer drawer, damaged roller blind, weeding, professional clean etc. He requested that we raise these items with you which we did by email.
4. We advised the landlord that you would not agree to the deductions and he would now need to seek adjudication with the DPS. At this point it time he felt that the additional cost and time involved was not worth chasing and he instructed us to release the full deposit less £7 which you agreed for the two bulbs.
In our business we pride ourselves on fairness to all parties and we certainly abide by all laws and regulations. We manage 300 properties and deal with approximately 250 checkouts a year so we have the experience, knowledge and professionalism to carry out our business. As I mentioned at the start I am disappointed our service hasn't meet your expectation but in reality it is very difficult to see what we could do differently.
I wish you all the best in your new home and a happy New Year.
Kind regards
Brian Linehan
