STUDENT LANDLORDS - HOW'S YOUR ORGANISATION?

I have recently read that mydeposits.co.uk has warned landlords that they should have good evidence before withholding tenants' deposits.

Are you still taking a deposit? I've addressed in a previous blog how you can legally charge non-returnable fees to students and how you can successfully recover monies for damage and lack of cleaning at the end of a tenancy by creating separate guarantor agreements, instead of taking a deposit.

If you must take a security deposit then it appears that tenants are receiving all or part of their deposit back in over 90% of disputed cases, because landlords have failed to provide appropriate evidence.

You have to prove the case, in order to withhold all or part of the deposit. That's where you will benefit from good organisation. We keep a simple daily log of all communication with the tenant:

Sat 17th Jan Tenant X, emails to report shower broken

Ring back to confirm contractor will look at shower tomorrow

Sun 18th  Jan Contractor repairs shower

Tenant emails to thank for speedy repair

Mon 2nd Feb Landlord emails to confirm rent is late...and so on

Further improve your organisation by:

• Copying all emails and paste to file. 
  
• Storing exchanges of letters. 
  
• Keeping bank statements to confirm late payment of rent.
• Creating detailed inventories with photographs of the garden, every room and key objects such as the inside/tops of cookers and then both parties sign to confirm the condition of the property at check-in.  
• Keeping receipts to confirm repairs and replacements. 
  
• Keeping Post Office receipts to confirm posting of letters. Proof of posting.
  
• Visiting the property three or four times a year and writing a log of the visit, signed by tenant and landlord and left with the tenant (keep a copy), to confirm any issues that the tenant needs to address. Photograph your visit if, for example, the cooker is dirty, rooms are excessively untidy or the garden is full of weeds.
  
• Devising a House Handbook to be left at the property containing detailed information on the operation of appliances, what to do in emergencies etc, to demonstrate your duty of care.
  

Most landlords will avoid disputes, because good communication will stop issues developing out of hand. 

If there is a dispute then the record so far suggests, that unless you can produce good evidence to justify retaining the deposit the tenant will walk away with the deposit and in a genuine case you are likely to be out of pocket.