Deposits are a safety valve for landlords

From John Mattioli.
IN defence of at least 99.9 per cent of landlords, a deposit is the only tangible safety measure that landlords have to protect their properties from the many unscrupulous tenants.

Mr Le Gresley (JEP, 23 June) obviously has no idea of what some landlords have to contend with, and his referral to the 250 complaints to come down to a handful will most probably end up with many hundreds of disputes and litigations involving third parties as well. His two quoted complaints bear very little credibility as being submitted only by the words of the two tenants, apparently without the landlord’s version of the facts and with no investigation to find out the real truth.

To be verifiable, these complaints should also have been accompanied by a schedule of conditions with photographs and the signed agreement of conditions by both tenants and landlords with the inclusion of fair wear and tear wording.

Without considering the additional burden for extra manpower needed, if the deposit safety valve is taken away from the landlords, the landlord-tenant relationship will be badly disrupted if not in chaos. Consequences in the housing market may also befall.

Mr Le Gresley is also incorrect in relation to the average deposit of £905, if he included lodging houses, as most lodgers have two weeks’ deposit averaging £250 per unit or a maximum of £150 per person. Even with the exclusion of the tenants’ deposits, £10 million is a long way from the £600,000 that all the current 4,000 lodgers could only provide.

Would it not be a lot easier for all if Mr Le Gresley and CAB would consider concentrating more of their efforts in verifying the tenants complains, challenge the landlord in question and, if found at fault, request payment back to the tenants or expose the landlord to the media or to a higher authority if the culprit persists or does not comply?

I am sure that no landlord in Jersey would risk tarnishing his or her name in any way because all landlords are compelled to be fair with their tenants as they could not survive without them.
Greensleeves,
Bon Air Lane,
St Saviour.

Article posted on 30th June, 2008 - 2.58pm

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