Elevation Estate Agents
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Beware of over-deduction of rental deposit by landlords and Elevation Estate Agents (MK)
I would like to share my experience of renting a flat in MK for the reference of those who have rented or are planning to rent a flat in MK. I rented a flat in MK through Elevation (MK) in November 2022, and returned the flat one year later in November 2023. It took me 10 weeks from the time I returned the flat to the time I got back the deposit from DPS (Deposit Protection Service) yesterday. If I had not argued my case, it would have taken even longer to get back the deposit and the landlord would have succeeded in his unreasonable claim. The role of Elevation (MK) as an accomplice in the whole process is chilling. First of all, at the time of repossession, the manager of the letting department, praised the flat as being in very good condition, so I would have a chance to get my deposit back in a week or two. However, a week later I received a report with photos of her work, picking up on dusty wall studs, water stains on the taps and stains on the carpet at the entrance. It transpired that the only purpose of this nitpicking was to give the owner a good excuse to get a cleaning company to do a major cleaning and renovation for him, and to put the responsibility and cost of his work on me by claiming a deduction of over £600 from the deposit to the DPS. I have no objection to paying a reasonable cleaning cost, but when I tracked down the cleaning company's receipts, I was surprised to find that the cost of moving the landlord's furniture to another location had also been included in the bill. The cleaning company hired by Elevation also purposely split the bill into two and charged the same item again for almost £100. Why do I think Elevation is an accomplice? First, the manager of the letting department did not respond to my emails or even my phone calls until I wrote a strongly worded email and called her, but then she continued to use all sorts of stalling tactics in the hope that I would get impatient and give in. In any case, I insisted on reasonable arguments and did not show any weakness, and finally the other party agreed to remove the items that I should not be responsible for. However, even at the last minute, Elevation still did not keep its promise and did not inform DPS that an agreement had been reached and that I could get my deposit back, not until I raise my objection to DPS the initial landlord's claim. All in all, I was deeply disappointed with Elevation, an estate agent acting solely for the interest of landlords and put the tenants aside.