(Some)Top Tips on Evidence

(in 10 minutes!)

Maldwyn JonesAssistant Director of Dispute Resolution

What’s the TDS line…

On photos?

Specially Negotiated Clauses?

What’s the line on photos?

A well written check-in and check-out report provides a level of detail and understanding that is hard to match by reliance on other methods such as photographs.

However photographs can be useful as supplementary evidence when: Contemporaneous Clearly referenced Able to be used to provide a ‘before and after’ comparison.

What’s the line on photos?

What should they be?

Dated ReferencedScaledFocussed and ClearVideo – at what time in the video is the relevant item?

What’s the line on photos?

Carpet burns

Dust on carpet?

What’s the line on photos?

What’s the line on…Specially Negotiated Clauses

In deciding any claim the adjudicator has regard to the tenant’s obligations and deposit clauses set out in the TA.

Adjudicator cannot find that a tenant is in breach of an obligation not contained in TA or make an award not covered by the deposit clauses.

Specially Negotiated Clauses

However, unless negotiated separately as a ‘Special Clause’, not sufficient for landlord to rely solely on an obligation in the main body of the TA

If a landlord makes a claim based on the tenant’s breach of an obligation in the main body of the TA the landlord must support the claim with objective evidence

Specially Negotiated Clauses

The adjudicator would generally uphold an obligation specified in a ‘Special Clause’ if this had been: separately negotiated agreed by the parties not an attempt to relieve the landlord of

any statutory duty

Specially Negotiated Clauses

Applying this approach means an obligation in main body of TA is not absolute as it is dependent on the landlord presenting evidence to support the claim

By contrast a ‘Special Clause’ in which the tenant agrees to have say the property professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy regardless, is viewed as absolute

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