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Old Landlady says she owes us money after moving out

Hi,

So my girlfriend and I were in shared rented accommodation in separate rooms paying £430 and £525 each per month for rent. Before moving into our new flat we eventually moved into a bigger ensuite room for only £700 between us. When we moved in we gave our notice and this meant that our last months rent upfront was going to be used for the £700 and we'd have £255 left over. Our move in date got pushed back, so we asked how much we owe her for the extra couple of weeks and she said nothing. We had to push it back another couple of weeks, so in the end we stayed an extra month after giving notice without paying her anything. We again asked her how much that would cost us and she then replied with she owes us £510. We didn't mention anything and thought we would leave without asking for the money.

It's been a month now since we've moved and she has sent us another text chasing us on the fact that she owes us £510 from her calculations. We never said we had paid her any extra because she said not to and this is was all done over text messages.

I don't want to take the money that isn't ours, shall we just reply saying from our calcs she doesn't actually owe us any money? or does that sound weird from her side seeing as shes just offered us free money?

Thanks for your help

Comments

  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    Could it be a deposit?

    ask her to explain why, it could be she just decided to charge you the bigger room rate and that's what she's declared
  • ST1991
    ST1991 Posts: 515 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    That's very honest of you.

    I would ask her to give you a breakdown of what month/rent she is repaying to you so you can check against your own calculations as you don't want her to be out of pocket.
  • jbainbridge
    jbainbridge Posts: 2,014 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    Talk to her and ask her to explain it!
  • I agree with Guest101. Ask her to show how she's worked out that sum so that you can see exactly where the discrepancy has come from.
    "The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    O do the maths yourself and send her a note inclosing your calculations. Not just as above but showing

    * dates of each month
    * owed by each of you for that period
    * amount paid by each of you for that period
    * cummulative over/under payment by each of you for that period
    * final rent over/under payment
    * addjusted to acount for deposit showing what she owes you or you oew her.

    Oh! And whether or not she does owe you, thank her very much. Rare these days for people to chase others in order to pay them......
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