05 Apr How On Line Property Services can Help You

As a result of the new legislation the government is expecting an in- crease in disputes over tenant’s deposits. The tenants have noth- ing to lose to contest any deduc- tions.

In view of the heavy penalties in- volved, many landlords have de- cided that they do not have the time or expertise to deal with de- posits and possible disputes effec- tively. They have decided that it better to employ On Line Property Services to manage their proper- ties. We have over the last 13 years developed systems to han- dle our managed properties to keep deposit disputes to a mini- mum.

Whether this is your decision or not, we need to stress the impor- tance of a properly constructed in- ventory and schedule of condition. Any deposit disputes at the end of the tenancy will be resolved by pa- per evidence sent to the Alterna- tive Dispute Resolution Service. They request the inventory & schedule of condition, tenancy agreement, move in and out checklist to be sent to them along with any other relevant docu- ments. Recent case studies prove that a professional inventory has caused the dispute to be resolved favouring the landlord whereas any lack of paper evidence gener- ally favoured the tenant. On Line Property Services have trained staff for the preparation of inven- tories with costs starting from £75, a small price to pay to prove that a tenant needs to replace a £500 carpet, for example.

OnLine Property Services have joined The Dispute Service Ltd. Therefore for all properties we let we shall be authorised to hold de- posits. Our landlords may find this reassuring as it provides more control over the deposit.

Some landlords may prefer to join one of the schemes themselves. If this is the case they need to ar- range to collect the deposit from the tenant and ensure that the proper procedure is followed.

If On Line is holding the deposit we shall serve the tenant with the pre- scribed information within the 14 day deadline and we shall also provide the tenancy details to the scheme provider to comply with the 2004 Housing Act. This will cost £20 for administration but provide landlords with peace of mind that they will not incur any penalties.