Read enough deposit stories and a pattern jumps out. The landlords who won had dated photos from move-in and move-out. The ones who lost usually heard two words from the adjudicator: "wear and tear".
One landlord summed it up in three words that turned up again and again in the threads: photos don't lie. Another lost a claim for a stained carpet because there was no picture of the carpet on day one. Nobody could prove it had been clean.
Why it goes this way
When you dispute a deposit, an independent adjudicator from your scheme decides. They don't take sides; they look at evidence. The deposit is the tenant's money, so it's up to you to show the damage is new, and that it's more than normal use for how long they lived there.
Without a "before" picture, an "after" picture proves very little.
What adjudicators look for
- A check-in report with dated photos, ideally signed or acknowledged by the tenant.
- A check-out report taken the same way, room by room.
- The age and condition of items (a 9-year-old carpet won't be valued as new).
- Receipts or quotes for the cost you're claiming.
How to avoid losing it
The 20-minute move-in routine
- Walk the home in the same order every time: front door, hall, each room left to right.
- Take a wide photo, then close-ups of anything already marked, chipped or worn.
- Film a slow video as well. It's quick and hard to argue with.
- Photograph the meters, keys and any appliance instructions you leave.
- Send it to the tenant and ask them to reply "agreed" or list anything they'd add. Give them a week.
- Save it with the tenancy, named by date, not on your camera roll.
- Repeat at move-out, same order, same angles.
It's not about catching anyone out. Good tenants like it too: it protects them from being blamed for something that was already there.
How Lordease helps
Documents and reports are saved with each tenant now. Coming soon: room-by-room move-in photos, date-stamped and saved with the tenancy.