
Ways to Challenge Your Landlord for Refusal to Return Your Down Payment in Full
As your office lease is about to end, you hope that you can settle everything soon so that you can move the entire office to the new space and leave everything behind. You’re grateful for the chance to have leased the space for a few years, but it’s now time to move on. Besides, your business is already growing, and you can’t stay in the same place.
The final step is for you to sign the documents saying that you finished the contract and you have no more obligations to the landlord. In return, the landlord will give you back the deposit or bond that you provided when you first moved into the place.
If everything goes smoothly, you won’t have any problems at all. However, if the landlord tells you that you can’t have your entire deposit back, it’s going to be a problem. These are the things you need to do as soon as your landlord tells you that you don’t have the right to claim the entire deposit back.
Reread the terms and conditions
You need to know what both parties agreed on at the beginning of the process. If you felt like you didn’t violate anything that would constitute a deduction from the deposit, you need to tell your landlord about it. You can sue the landlord for deducting the down payment without showing any evidence that you violated a clause in your contract.
Ask for help from a cleaning company
One of the reasons why you might not get the money back in full is that the landlord will need to spend on cleaning services. You can do the job yourself. Seek help from specialists in end of tenancy cleaning London offers if your office is in the area. They can make the place sparkle and look new again. You can also look for an affordable cleaning company instead of letting the landlord find one.
Repair all the damage
If you damaged some parts of the office, you can ask someone to fix it. Be careful, though, when repainting or removing fixtures. Your contract might indicate that you can't do those things. If you deal with the repairs yourself, you can contact someone who will provide affordable services; otherwise, the landlord might say that he will get someone to repair the damaged parts and deduct a considerable amount from the down payment.
Talk to your landlord
There are instances though when the landlord doesn’t intend to give back the full amount. By talking directly to your landlord, you can settle the differences right away. You don’t need to make a huge issue out of it since you want to start a new life in your new office without any baggage from the past.
Take legal action
If you still can’t resolve things with your landlord, it’s time to consider taking legal action. Speak with your company lawyers to determine the next best step. It’s not something you want to do, but you might have no choice.
Find a way to resolve these matters soon since you will still have to face a lot as you move into your new office.