Getting some Rent deposit back

troyster00001

I was renting privately from 15.05.07 to 4.10.08
We finaly decided to hand in 1 months notice on 5th September as required due to leak in the ceiling ,which the landlord looked at pulled away some of the ceiling to reveal the boards then said in just needs to dry then went ,it continued to get worse so we had enough phoned the agency and handed in the notice .We told them we would not pay anymore rent (I realise that i legally can't hold rent and should have got council involved but was just trying to get them to do something)
as we think that the landlord has not been taking proper care of the property and has not been fixing any of the problems that occurred despite us letting him know on a numerous occasions.
The problems include: damp and mould in the bathroom, toilet, both bedrooms; tiles in the bathroom; fully damaged ceiling in the small bedroom; door draft; mice.
Due to the damp problem we had a lot of our clothing, documents and photographs pressures to us severely damaged and we have them as evidence.
The agency sent back a letter saying that they will speak to him to see if he will agree to take the shortfall if not they will take from the deposit.
2 weeks before we due to move out the agency came around to assess the damage and said nothing major just has to replace the ceiling and went.
A few days after that the Landlord came around said his sorry we are leaving and said would give a good reference ,then went and painted over the mould in the bathroom then left.
We phoned the agency on the day of moving to ask if anyone was coming and was told no ,I mentioned about the keys and she said if you can't come today you can post them, when ask about the deposit which was £710 she said all of it was being kept for the rent ,though we paid up to the 15 sept ,so only owe just over 2 weeks rent. We ask how she worked it out and she agreed to send the workings out to us.
2 Weeks after we moved we received a letter to say that saying we owe £466.89 ,this includes 5 days on to when they received the keys ,to me it seems they are trying anything to bump the cost up to make it as close to the deposit.
I read that it was law that the landlord or the agency put the deposit into Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme as we moved in after 7th of April 2007 is this correct?

The landlord is also saying that there are crayon stains on his new carpet(1 year and 5 months new) ,and holes in his wall where I put up some shelf’s which were filled in.
Neither the landlord nor our agency arranged to do a final walk-through of the rental property, comparing the original property condition inspection report to the current condition of the unit and assessing any repair costs that may be withheld from your security deposit. So he could make things worse ,he could rip up all the floor boards and blame me.
Finally I would agree to pay the shortfall in rent ,but I think they are trying to squeeze money out of me they’re not due.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Incisor

troyster00001 wrote: »

I was renting privately from 15.05.07 to 4.10.08 We finaly decided to hand in 1 months notice on 5th September as required due to leak in the ceiling, which the landlord looked at pulled away some of the ceiling to reveal the boards then said in just needs to dry then went, it continued to get worse so we had enough phoned the agency and handed in the notice .We told them we would not pay anymore rent (I realise that i legally can't hold rent and should have got council involved but was just trying to get them to do something) as we think that the landlord has not been taking proper care of the property and has not been fixing any of the problems that occurred despite us letting him know on a numerous occasions.

The problems include: damp and mould in the bathroom, toilet, both bedrooms; tiles in the bathroom; fully damaged ceiling in the small bedroom; door draft; mice. Due to the damp problem we had a lot of our clothing, documents and photographs pressures to us severely damaged and we have them as evidence. The agency sent back a letter saying that they will speak to him to see if he will agree to take the shortfall if not they will take from the deposit.

2 weeks before we due to move out the agency came around to assess the damage and said nothing major just has to replace the ceiling and went. A few days after that the Landlord came around said his sorry we are leaving and said would give a good reference, then went and painted over the mould in the bathroom then left.

We phoned the agency on the day of moving to ask if anyone was coming and was told no, I mentioned about the keys and she said if you can't come today you can post them, when ask about the deposit which was £710 she said all of it was being kept for the rent ,though we paid up to the 15 sept ,so only owe just over 2 weeks rent. We ask how she worked it out and she agreed to send the workings out to us. 2 Weeks after we moved we received a letter to say that saying we owe £466.89, this includes 5 days on to when they received the keys, to me it seems they are trying anything to bump the cost up to make it as close to the deposit.

I read that it was law that the landlord or the agency put the deposit into Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme as we moved in after 7th of April 2007 is this correct? The landlord is also saying that there are crayon stains on his new carpet(1 year and 5 months new) ,and holes in his wall where I put up some shelf’s which were filled in. Neither the landlord nor our agency arranged to do a final walk-through of the rental property, comparing the original property condition inspection report to the current condition of the unit and assessing any repair costs that may be withheld from your security deposit. So he could make things worse, he could rip up all the floor boards and blame me. Finally I would agree to pay the shortfall in rent, but I think they are trying to squeeze money out of me they’re not due.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Fixed your post [did you cut and paste from a word processor? I would be interested to know why this happens sometimes]

troyster00001

Hi Incisor
Yes i cut it a pasted in Word 97
Thanks for sorting it out for me


Regards

Troy

Incisor

troyster00001 wrote: »

Hi Incisor
Yes i cut it a pasted in Word 97
Thanks for sorting it out for me

No probs sorting it out - I suggest you type directly into the edit window - or if you do cut and paste, try pasting into a text editor such as Notepad in windows, before cutting and pasting again.

Now, concerning your real problem, you can only give notice to finish on a rent day and you must give it on or before the previous rent day - in your case notice to quit on 15 October must be given by 15 September. So you gave notice on 5 September - your quit date is 15 October. So you owe a full months rent. Fortunately, the keys seem to have arrived before 15 October, which has stopped you being charged for another month. As it is, I think you owe 1 full month's rent.

Your deposit should have been put in a scheme, as your tenancy started after the relevant date I believe. As for the walkthrough, you should have arranged for this before hand and got the agent to agree an appointment. You might like to consider whether the time a ceiling was down or the damage to your property offsets the damages to the carpet when trying to work out how much is due.

troyster00001

Is that a standard thing that you have to give a months notice from when your rents due as in the contract it doesn't mention that .

If the landlord didn't protect the money and he is oblidged by law ,what happens then?can or should i take that further?

Also my contract ran out with him November last year as i refuse to renew as there was the mould problem,does this affect my rights or possition at all?

So if there was no walkthrough at the end of tenacy ,the law would automaticaly rule in his favour it whatever damages and problems he can come up with?

thanks

Troy

Incisor

Arrangements for month's notice are standard. You might be able to pursue LL in court and get 3 times deposit, but there is some doubt over that.

As for no agreement since Nov, your tenancy became 'statutory periodic' which changes things a bit, but not relevant here [I think].

In court, any dispute over the deposit would be settled on facts rather than 'law'. Unfortunately, as you did not finish the tenancy properly and you have no paperwork showing thta you invited the agent to walkthrough on a particular date, it does not look good for you. As Agent did not make arrangements for you either, it doesn't look clear cut for them either.