Paid a deposit and he wont give it back,,,

toniwilliams

Hi, i was recently looking for a new place to live. I sent emails to lots of landlords online through Gumtree stating my situation. I have a cat and one of the conditions was that i was looking for somewhere with the cat which was stated in the email i sent to ALL the landlords. Lots of people got back to me and i veiwed a few places. I liked one and i wanted to take it. He agreed the cat was fine although didnt tell his tenants as this was a flat share. I paid a £250 deposit and then the next day he said the cat wasnt fine and that i would need to get rid of the cat before i moved in, this wasnt an option. I asked so many times for him to tell the tenants in there already and he said if there were any problems keep the cat in my room. Now i cant move in and he is refusing to give the £250 deposit back as i agreed i would move in for 5 months over an email, the same as he agreed the cat could move in over email. What can i do to get my money back?

Premier_2

http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

jenny74

I would write him a letter enclosing copies of the E-mails and tell him if he doesn't give you the deposit back you will take him to the small claims court. He has broken the agreement you had.

toniwilliams

Yeah ive already done this. he says i have no claim at all as i agreed i would move in and he was renting ME the flat and not the cat. Which is true. Its allr eally petty.

jenny74

toniwilliams wrote: »

Yeah ive already done this. he says i have no claim at all as i agreed i would move in and he was renting ME the flat and not the cat. Which is true. Its allr eally petty.

But you said he'd agreed the cat was ok in an e-mail. If this is correct, then you have written evidence of this agreement. Just do what P suggested and start a small claims action.

toniwilliams

Yeah im doing that online now!

Yes he did agree over email!

Thanks

Toni

pinkshoes

toniwilliams wrote: »

Yeah ive already done this. he says i have no claim at all as i agreed i would move in and he was renting ME the flat and not the cat. Which is true. Its allr eally petty.

He's bull sh*tting!

Send him one more letter (RECORDED DELIVERY), giving him 7 days to return your £250.

Tell him you've spoken to a solicitor, and if you don't receive the £250 by <insert date>, then you'll start the small claims proceedings and claim the money through court, where he'll also have to pay costs.

MrMonkey

Once you get your money back, you will consider it a near-miss. Any landlord that useless is not one who you would want being responsible for where you live. If he is that bad about returning a deposit after changing the terms of the agreement, how bad will he be when the heating packs in / toilet breaks / ceiling leaks?

toniwilliams

He offered half the money back deducting £125 from me as i cant move in now. I am also pregnant and was going to buy the pram i wanted that weekend as its £500 and was £250 for that weekend only so im really peeved about that too. He was really nice though at first and seeing as this is his mistake as he agreed i could move in with the cat i just thought he would give me the money back. The ladies at work even suggested i should call the bank and cancel the deposit going over as itook three days to get there but i thought that would be a bit mean as i didnt see any reason why he would keep it.

I have spoken to a solicitor direct now and she has advised exactly the same thing as it isnt in a written contract that i would move in and its all an agreement over email which also included the cat.

Innys

He's bluffing.

He knows that he agreed to the cat in writing and is hoping to make a quick 125 squid out of you.

Have you sent him the recorded delivery letter? If not, do it now, asking for the full amount. If you have sent it, send him another saying you have declined his offer and restating the (original) date that you intend to commence proceedings.

Steer clear of landlords like him - they give us a bad name.

toniwilliams

I know. I have also called a few estate agents, and apparently if i go into an estate agents and we have an agreement i would sign a pre tenancy agreement, if the land lord changed something and i back out i can get my full deposit back. I did not sign anything, i can prove i sent him the money because i have it on my bank statement. They said if i have not signed anything, that is my money.