Return of deposit - how soon can I go to court?

sooz

I didn't phrase it correctly...something to do with the small person having a tantrum next to me.

However, if the carpet had been a quality one, estimated to last 10 years, and you'd been in for 2 and destroyed it, the most they could charge you is 8/10 of it's remaining life expectancy.

As it was about 15 years when you left (or 13 when you moved in), there was no life left in it anyway. Added to this that your inventory says it was stained & foot worn, they have no chance of trying to get you to cover even part of the cost of ANY new floor covering for that area.

Start the court claim now. If the agents are neither managing nor holding the deposit, don't bother having anything further to do with them. As for this 'Following on from our telephone conversation I have re-read the tenancy agreement and note that within clause 2 it states that the parties have a period of 90 days from the date of termination to reach agreement within this period either party may refer to mediation/arbitration/a dispute tribunal. After 90 days if the matter remains un referred then the disputed sum is to be paid to the Landlord and the balance to be paid to the tenant and the matter will be considered to have been brought to a close.

The purpose of mentioning this is that if you refer the matter straight to the court there is a chance that the judge will ask why you did not refer the matter to mediation etc prior to bringing it to court. This type of clause was specifically drawn up and encouraged by the courts to be included in agreements to try and keep the courts free of minor disputes between parties. I have used a dispute resolution service before and the lowest cost was £250 plus vat and expenses for each party. Well :eek: Id like to insert a swear word, but the filters won't let me. This is rubbish. Firstly, you say the deposit is with the LL - so how can this clause make sense that the disputed sum be paid to the LL?? From whom? The LL already has it. The agency is trying to put you off doing this, by mentioning the cost. If they'd put the deposit in a scheme, then the dispute service is free. I'm fairly sure ARLA used to offer a free dispute service too..

You have tried to be reasonable, & you've sent a letter before action. The LL is the one being unreasonable here. Start that action now.

Lady_Annabel_Aardvark

Incisor wrote: »

Hang on to your evidence - eg dimensions on the carpet quote. Never give away a cleaning invoice. Your cleaning guy sounds helpful, but a testimony of 7 hours cleaning might not be in your favour! Get the duplicate.

It was a large four bedroomed house with two flights of stairs and had dog urine (or some such) stains on one of the bedroom carpets when we moved in from the previous owners' pets. (As noted on our inventory 'yellow stains on carpet')

Lady_Annabel_Aardvark

Sooz: This afternoon she has emailed me a scan of Clause 2 which you quoted in red above. She had conveniently left out a sentence in quoting it in her original email - something to do with us not complying with clause 3.

Clause 3 I presume is the pet clause. We were given permission as per our contract to have two cats at the property. They are pedigree indoor cats. Late last year we emailed and asked permission to get a dog. They didn't reply to the email (they usually never replied to emails) so my husband phoned. She said we could get a small dog. We got the dog in December last year. The dog was never left alone in the property - she has come to work with me since we got her.

However, one day ast May the landlord turned up unannounced at the property just as I got home from work. They had a habit of just turning up rather than giving notice. As I had nothing to hide, I let him in as he said he'd come to see a problem with the window that was supposed to have been put right two years previously before we moved in. In the phonecall to me when he was aggressive he said we had gone against the contract as we'd had THREE cats and a dog at the property. I said we had only ever had two cats and later also a dog. He said he had seen three. I said that was impossible and if he wanted to confirm how many cats I had he could ring my vet! That was one of the points at which he swore.

Their agent said yesterday that they were aggrieved that we'd broken the terms of the contract which said we could have 'one cat and one dog' - she didn't bother to read the contract to see what it actually did say. I told her that the contract stated we were allowed two cats and later by word of mouth, one dog. I added that no doubt they would deny they'd ever said that but it was the truth.

I feel that they are going to argue that we kept pets in excess of what is stated in our contract and say that a dog was never agreed. Even if that was true, which it isn't, it has no bearing on them replacing an old carpet in the house but I fear that they will use that as an argument in court.

Lady_Annabel_Aardvark

poppysarah wrote: »

Not Ashford is it?

No but I am sure there are unscrupulous landlords like these everywhere and it's precisely because of people like them that the law regarding protecting tenants' deposits was changed last year.

sooz

Stop talking to the agents. They have nothing to do with you anymore.

One cat or two cats or two cats & a dog is fairly irrelevant here. Unless they'd specifically named & photographed each animal . You paid a larger than normal deposit because of the animals, & as agreed, professionally cleaned all the carpets at the end of the tenancy.

Focus on the facts.

You paid a large deposit.
Cat permission written into agreement.
The inventory specifically mentioned the carpets were stained & worn.
Estimated age of carpets, from previous owners was 13 years at start of tenancy, & previously suffered commercial traffic.
Dog permission later agreed.
Carpets cleaned as per agreement (get that bill!)
LL being unreasonable, not collecting mail, supplying false quotation, not taking into account any wear & tear & not communicating with you. There is no chance to go to arbritration (note...that clause says EITHER party may start this) when they refuse to communicate.

Start that claim, add on your costs of doing so (£150 I think). Then wait.

Soot2006

Good Luck!
Keep us updated

Lady_Annabel_Aardvark

Soot2006 wrote: »

Good Luck!
Keep us updated

I will! And thanks to all who gave advice!

sooz

Good luck too
As your LL is not collecting their post from you, send two copies of everything, one recorded, & one ordinary post with a free proof of posting certificate from your post office (you need to ask for a proper one, they try to fob you off with a receipt now).

enclose a copy of that last letter too, & any proof you have that they have not collected it.

MissMoneypenny

Why not put the letter in a small box and wrap it up like a parcel and send it special delivery? People like getting gifts. Just don't put your return address on the back of the parcel!

Lady_Annabel_Aardvark

Thanks for the sneaky ideas ladies!