I was having coffee last week with a Landlord from Chancellors Park who had some issues with a deposit for a property that he managed himself and he wasnt awarded all the dedcutions from the deposit.
I explained that all residential tenancy deposits must by law be protected by being lodged in a government-recognised scheme,such as the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), which is evidence based.
This means that the decision to either return or withhold a deposit at the end of a tenancy is made by considering any differences between the condition of the property at the beginning and the end of the tenancy.
For example, whilst the lease may have a clause stipulating that the property must be returned in the same condition in which it was initially taken, how can this be proven without a schedule of condition?
There are several other reasons to have an inventory prepared apart from the obvious one relating to identifying missing contents. Perhaps a tenant has broken something and has replaced it with an inferior substitute – possibly one that does not comply with a landlord’s legal obligations, such as a non-fire retardant sofa.
An inventory also prevents tenants from requesting repairs or improvements to things that were actually evident at the time of letting. Additionally, when a tenant knows that every item and its condition has been recorded, they are more likely to treat the property with the respect it deserves.
