A woman was left horrified when her landlord demanded that she leave his property completely clean when she left – but he rented it out to her with many gross flaws
Moving house is a huge task when you’ve been renting, as you’ll need to ensure that the property is in the same condition as when you first arrived – but what if it was a dive to begin with?
One woman was left seething when her landlord sent her a message saying that he required the property to be returned to him “in the same clean condition it was rented […] in” – but she pointed out that there were so many issues with it when she chose to live there.
She said that she wanted to know whether it was unreasonable to respond to him and detail the things that were wrong with the property when she arrived – and she even had “photos to prove this”.
Taking to Mumsnet, the woman wrote: “I’m moving out soon and my landlord has sent me a message about returning the property in the same clean condition it was rented to me in, with no rubbish for him to dispose of, including oven and carpet clean.
“I’m really not worried as I have photos to prove this but I really can’t believe the cheek of him. When I moved in it the property was filthy, the toilet was filthy, the skirting boards were filthy, the garden was overgrown and had rubbish in the grass, one carpet had a big stain and they were all threadbare, the oven wasn’t cleaned at all, it was filthy. As well as the hob. I feel like replying back about the state the house was in.”
Some people said in the comments that how she reacted to his cheeky depended on whether she “wanted her deposit back”. One said: “Don’t respond. Just ignore it, you want your deposit back and he’s a cheeky f**ker. Don’t goad him.” Another pointed out a loophole., sharing: “Does your contract say you have to return it in clean condition or you have to return it in condition it was when you moved in?”
Someone else replied: “Was there an inventory done when you moved in, which shows how bad it was? In any event, I wouldn’t refer to actually how bad it was, I’d be more oblique in my reply and say something like ‘I’ll leave it in no worse a condition than it was when I moved in.’ He’s not stupid, he knows it was s**t. If there was no inventory signed by you, he has no evidence either way as to its previous condition, good, bad, ugly or otherwise.”
“I’d send those pics to jog his memory”, someone fumed, with another agreeing, penning: “Reply and say great thanks, I still have all the photos of the condition of the house when moved in so I will ensure to adhere to those same standards.”
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