How to avoid common errors

Our top tips on avoiding common errors when it comes to claiming for deposit deduction

CHAPTER FOUR

Suzy’s tips – avoiding common errors

Sometimes, landlords and agents lose disputes due to a lack of clear and relevant detailed evidence.

Remember that you need to paint a clear picture for an adjudicator so that they can establish if the tenant has broken any terms of the tenancy agreement and that the costs being claimed are reasonable. To make a successful claim, try to avoid making the following common errors:

Inventories that are poor quality or not sufficiently comparative
Invoices that are too generic with insufficient detail. This is necessary to show what work is being carried out the cost and that it is what the tenant is responsible for
Always consider fair wear and tear, and betterment as no item or area will be new or in the same condition as it was at the start

Tenancy deposit protection

Have you protected your tenant’s deposit?

If you’re a residential landlord who takes a deposit from your tenant on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) you are legally required to protect the deposit with a government-authorised scheme.

To comply with the law you must complete these two actions within 30 calendar days of receiving the deposit from your tenant:

Protect the deposit in a government authorised scheme, such as mydeposits
Provide the tenant with key information (called the Prescribed Information) relating to the scheme you have used

Landlords who do not comply with their legal responsibilities can face substantial fines and could face problems if they want to repossess their property at any time.

There are different laws and timescales for landlords and letting agents in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Jersey

Your deposit protection options

mydeposits is a government authorised scheme which is there to help you comply with the law across the UK.

Simply visit www.mydeposits.co.uk and

join mydeposits to set up your membership, then
use your personal online account to protect each deposit you take from your tenant(s)

It takes less than five minutes to protect a deposit and your legal prescribed information documents are created ready for your tenant once the deposit is protected.

We offer a free, award-winning dispute resolution service to resolve any issues between you and your tenant over proposed deposit deductions.