Landlord Refuses to Return Full House Deposit Because of Single Pea in the Freezer

A college student turned to social media to express her grievances after a landlord refused to refund her full house deposit for some unbelievable reasons, including a pea in the freezer.

The debacle between landlords and tenants has prevailed for centuries, especially as the rental market grows more packed up. Most of these arise from the landlords' reluctance to return the full deposits to tenants at the end of their tenancy.

Often, these landlords seek out non-existent faults in the property and label them as the reason behind the no-return policy. One such squabble between a female university student, Matilda, and her landlord, went viral after she leaked the story on TikTok.

The college undergrad revealed that her landlord had failed to return the sum amounting to £210 (almost $300) to her and her flatmates at the end of their tenancy.

She listed a handful of insane reasons for the landlord's decision to charge them exorbitantly for damages, which sparked social media outrage.

In the video, which has garnered over 700,000 views, the student shared a blurry photo showing a single pea in the refrigerator, rating it 6/10. She jokingly added: "Must have been hard to clean that up."

Next on the list was a Febreeze bottle, which someone left in their room, showing their attempt to leave the space clean and fresh. She rated it 4/10, adding that the landlord probably hated the smell.

Another image showed a dehumidifier which the student claimed belonged to the owners, who failed to pick it up all year. She joked:

"Seven out of ten. You're right, that's our fault babes."

The university student also showed a small piece of paper lying on the carpet, joking that the owners must have needed an entire crew to clean it up since they ranked it nine out of ten.

Following Matilda's pitiable revelation, several TikTokers expressed outrage over the questionable behaviors of landlords while sympathizing with the student's plight. A user wrote:

"It's illegal for them to refuse to give back the deposit unless there is actual damage. And then they can only take the exact amount a professional charges."

Others encouraged the student to appeal the case, as the landlord was clearly trying to rip her off. One of the comments read: "Appeal it. There is no legitimate loss there that the landlord can claim for!"

A second user agreed, adding that if Matilda appealed the case, she could get thrice the deposit, especially if the landlord had no deposit protection scheme.

Some commenters recounted similar incidents of landlords trying to swindle them out of their deposits and how they handled the situation.

One TikToker wrote: "When we moved out, our landlord took half our deposit for deep clean for COVID purposes. Cuz COVID was definitely our fault."

Another recalled getting charged £600 (about $830) for finding dust in the apartment when the owners inspected it three weeks after they moved out. Some even recounted incidents of professional cleaners showing up to clean on the landlord's orders, only to find no stain or dirt.

However, some seemed to back the landlord's decision, pointing out details that prove that Matilda and her fellow students did not clean the place properly as she claimed.

One person wrote: "What you're not getting here is that yes, it is pea. But why is that pea there? Because it means it wasn't cleaned. So there is a cleaning cost there."

The majority of the commenters maintained that whether or not the students left the place pristine, none of the faults pointed out by the landlord could accrue a damage fee of £210.