I didn’t miss that. They are asking us for advice, right? 
Agreed, that’s what we’re looking for too, just whether or not it’s being kept up. As the entrance is into the kitchen we can usually tell everything we need to know right away. But if the kitchen is dirty then I have a peek in the other rooms too. For instance, one time there was half a sandwich on the floor so … 
Did you think that I meant that we were checking the bedding? That’s not what I meant. Quite the opposite really, that it’s best just give up the sheets and towels but make sure that the price is covered in the rent.
However, we did have some tenants that were pretty nasty (both as tenants and as people, lol) and they were using the pillows and duvets without the covers/cases on them and the bed without any sheets on it so I snapped a few pictures (without touching them) of that to have proof for later when I would inevitably have to charge them for the pillows and duvets and mattress pads being stained. Using those items without their covers is considered negligent use and makes it not reasonable-wear-and-tear. And they were well aware that it was a pre-move-out inspection (they had a year lease), they just didn’t care. It’s no different than taking pictures of damage to a wall. The furnishings are as relevant as the walls in a furnished rental.
I imagine what I said sounded harsh but we learned the hard way that it’s best to get some eyeballs in there in the beginning so we know what we’re dealing with. All of the cleaning stuff is in the lease though it’s also part of state landlord-tenant statutes anyway. If we haven’t seen the apt after the first month for some other reason (like a backed up toilet) then we just say we have to check the smoke/CO detectors, which is true, but we don’t make it a big intimidating inspection. But if it’s really bad in there then they are confronted and they do have another inspection. It rarely goes that direction but the 2 times that it did certainly saved us damage. And it’s much easier than cleaning the apartment for them and doing their laundry. They can hire a cleaning person if they want that.
Thanks Jefferson. I’m not part of the deposit scheme, which is voluntary. And as he was my last lodger I don’t think I do have any reading ahead of me. Also in the UK, the courts don’t use this tactic of fining like that, so fortunately that’s not a concern of mine. We did have a contract, but nothing specifically regarding mattress covers.
It sounds like you are clued up on your local laws, but I was just wanting some simple opinions on ethical behaviour.
1 Like
Ah in that case ethics does not come into it. You are running a business.
.
He is an adult who did NOT hold up his end of “return it as you found it, minus reasonable wear”. So … charge him something appropriate against the used value of the mattress.
I’ve been waiting to read this sentence. I’ve read all the comments and my thought all along was, well, what did the contract/agreement or whatever document you have say about this? Not mattress covers specifically, but the general wear and tear and upkeep rules. If you have nothing…then you got nothing, as the saying goes. In that case, if it were me I’d tell myself I missed it and probably just move on. Or at least see if they would be willing to pay a portion of the replacement cost.
1 Like
.
That is probably not true at all. State/Country laws apply regardless. So, even without specific language in the contract, it is very likely that the UK has a standard of “wear from normal use”.
.
We could do a month-to-month tenancy on a handshake and there is LOTS of stuff at the National and State level that apply. I bet the same goes for UK.
It’s not YOUR failure. It was the lodger’s failure to change sheets. KEEP THE DEPOSIT.
2 Likes
Debthecat thanks for your feedback.
No, I didn’t notice his linens were not being changed. He lived on a separate floor from me and I didn’t like to intrude on his privacy. Now I know better than to trust people like that and to put their privacy ahead of the risk involved for me. That said, it doesn’t say anywhere on our contract that I had a responsibility to check that he was washing his sheets, therefore I am not sure that I agree with you. As I see it, it is only all on me if I failed on a responsiblity that is in the contract. Not just simply because I didn’t check up on a grown man when I never promised to do so!
I do not get the logic here at all!
‘we have a contract but nothing specifically regarding mattress covers’, is not the same as ‘nothing’. I didn’t say I had ‘nothing’, and indeed said I had a contract, so of course information included re damage. It says guest should replace damaged items from deposit, as surely any contract would.
When I said ‘nothing relating to mattress covers specifically’, I meant that it didn’t say whether guest should still pay for damaged items that I could have protected, but failed to do so. Thereofre lack of info re mattress cover in the contract to me means quite the opposite of how you have interpreted it. It means that I did not have such a responsibility in this regard, and therefore he is still liable.
I don’t think wear and tear comes in to it as this falls well out of that category
Okay I am goin gto do this thanks
but no amount of reading is going to cover every scenerio, right?
Thanks for this good idea will keep in mind in case i go back to lodgers. For now have reread contract more carefully and believe that the majority on here were right, as in remiss of me as it may have been to not provide a mattress cover, he will still need to cover the costs of the used mattress
If I’m honest, I reckon you’ve been overthinking this whole issue.
Take from his deposit what you see fit to replace the mattress, replace any bedlinen that is beyond salvation and return the rest together with receipts etc. If need be, send him photographic evidence of the damage.
Irrespective of what is specifically mentioned in your contract, if he disagrees and decides to do a Small Claim, he’d have to prove that you acted unreasonably by withholding part of his deposit to replace items he damaged.
The fact you didn’t have a mattress protector is irrelevant, as a lodger he has a duty of care in respect of what you rented to him, as in furniture, bedding and so on.
Unless he’s a 6’6" bodybuilder on steroids, with lots of similarly sized mates, and now living round the corner from you, I wouldn’t overly worry. He’s probably been down this road before, i.e. having deposits retained because he’s a manky fecker.
Keep the money and move on.
JF
6 Likes
Maybe this can help?
.
https://www.justanswer.co.uk/property-law/8llop-lodger-refusing-pay-damaged-mattress.html
Thanks but this doesn’t cover my situation as the landlady did provide a mattress protector
I expect that the basic concept of negligence applies, along with the proposed guideline for 10% per year of expected additional life against cost, etc? With or without a mattress protector, they were responsible for using it with reasonable care.
.
I totally feel your pain. I actually just did an exit walkthrough for a tenant who had been with us for 3.5 years (it was just me and my camera - she was not here).
.
There will definitely be charges against her deposit: 9 of 10 blinds are missing. One screen window entirely missing (like WTF). One broken storm window.
What??!! How does that happen? Did she have animals that trashed them?
I had 2 people in my LTR for 1 YEAR and had to keep all of their deposit PLUS they owed me. I told them I’d write it off if they never contacted me again. Done. They knew what they’d done.
Mind blowing. ESA (yep, had the papers to “prove” it) dogs peed on and chewed up baseboards all over the house, layers of dog hair and dust (in the refrigerator, too!!!). Bashed in an interior door, retexturing required in multiple places. Don’t get me going on vaping/weed funk. I’m seriously 
over that experience.
My neighbors just got back from a couple years away in Canada (the only reason they were gone that long was her needing knee replacements, coupled with Covid travel restrictions).
The renter they had there for the past year had the audacity to claim he left it cleaner than he found it, which is absurd, because she actually flew down for a week before he moved in to make sure it was all in good shape and clean after the previous renter had moved out.
The place was filthy. The patio umbrella was wrecked, the outdoor seating cushions were disgusting, both of the fridges were not working at all, there’s a leg broken off the sofa, all of her nice sheets and towels are missing, the oven was gross, the microwave was gross, the coffee machine was gross, cobwebs and dead bugs everywhere, and that’s only a small part of what they came back to.
The guy is definitely not getting his damage deposit back.
.
Doubt it. It was every blind in the LR (3) and BR (6). Entirely missing. Perhaps she is thinking we will only charge the cost of the blinds, and not my handyman to handle the whole thing? 
Sounds like the deed of people-puppies (children) to me.