Often the only choice, and you have to be careful to make sure it doesn't bite you... (Renting a Home)

Member Name: SapphireSunflowr

Product:	Renting a Home
Date:	04/02/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy, can get a lovely property in a nice area, and some landlords are alright!

Disadvantages: Unscrupulous landlords trying to take everything they can when you leave

I currently rent a flat, having moved from a rented house, both of which I lived in with my partner. My current experiences of renting this flat have been positive, particularly as I deal directly through my landlord (ie not through a managed agent). My experience of living in and leaving the last house was, however, not so positive, and I would like to share my experience as I have learned a lot of bitter lessons and have only recently closed a very stressful chapter in my renting life!

When we left our last property, we cleaned it from top to bottom over the space of two days, only being unable to mow the garden as the tools provided were not suitable, and we had barely used the garden as we lived there over the winter. Expecting all or most of our deposit back, we were dismayed to find it blocked as we entered into a debate with our managed agents and landlord about the installation of a phone line which we had been given permission for but he denied, and wanted paying for it. First lesson - if you get permission to install anything or do any work to the property, get it in writing!

Once sorted, a few weeks later I received our deposit letter. Except, instead of giving us our money back he was demanding a multitude of extra charges for services such as cleaning, sofa cleaning, gardening and even charges for items which were not in the property! Thank goodness the itinery backed us up on the last of these points, but our landlord really was out to get as much as he could. Frustratingly, we had taken photos of the beautifully clean property we left, but the memory card was locked and none had saved. We also had failed to take photos when we arrived in the property, so could not prove the state we found it in. Luckily, I was able to find a few photos taken of us in the property that showed our use of sofa covers and existing wear and tear to the sofas, but without these candid photos we would have lost a lot more money than we did. Second lesson - photograph and record EVERYTHING.

After a long battle through the deposit resolution service, we finally settled with loosing only money for gardening, which although extortionate I guess we deserved, and cleaning, which we certainly didn't. We were lucky given the lack of evidence we had, but so unlucky to have such a ruthless landlord and a rude managed agent who was acting on his behalf and withheld evidence (videos of the property we moved into) when requested to put forward to the dispute resolution people.

In our current property we went through the itinery with a toothcomb, noting down everything - even wall cracks - that could possibly come back to bite us later. We've also made a point of calling the landlord for every little problem, and kept the communication open and frequent. Luckily he has so far proved very helpful and reasonable, and I fully intend to take him round the property with me as and when we do leave so we can find out anything he is unhappy with before it gets to desposit-taking time! You have to be so careful when renting, and I have learned not to rely on people using common sense and telling the truth but instead keeping everything recorded and keep dialogue open with your landlord.

My conclusion? Good luck, and get contents insurance....

Summary: Photograph, photograph, photograph