Help - nasty landlady won't give back deposit

Gosia

Hi advice needed please.

This is a bit of a complex scenario.

My friend rented out a room in a houseshare. The landlady who showed her around lied and told her the house had internet etc. It now turns out it doesn't and is rat infested too.

Friend is moving out today but landlady want's to hold her to 1 months' notice (all of a sudden) despite lying about the house share and misrepresenting the facts. Friend is all packed up and ready to go and Landlady hasn't shown up with the £500 deposit although she knows that she's hoping to move today!!!

I've told my friend to find seperate tenants and rent the room out to them and if she can get someone in this weekend then at least she can get her 500 quid back that way.

It's not entirely fair I know but what else is there to do - the landlady has been playing games, no one knows where she lives and on top of that she only returns / answers the phone / messages whenever it suits her.

Please please can someone help :mad::mad::mad:

Oh and we've explored the option of small claims court etc but not only does it cost to lodge a claim, we would need her address, it takes time etc etc Friend just wants deposit back today so she can move away and get on with her life away from this sh*t hole of a house which has been making her ill with stress.

Fire_Fox

Is the deposit lodged in one of the three deposit schemes? Has your friend put her complaints into writing to the landlady, or has she not been given an address on her tenancy agreement? Has the rat problem been reported to Environmental Health?

Your friend has signed a legal contract so she needs to give one month's notice in writing starting on a rent day. The complaints are largely a separate issue, the only way she is going to able to get out of her notice period is if the council deem the property uninhabitable. Your friend can't simply get another tenant in without the landlady's permission as this is subletting and probably breaches the tenancy agreement.

lynzpower

Is this a HMO? Ie each person on a seperate tenancy without being "JOINTLY OR SEVERABLY LIABLE.

daska

assuming that your friend is leaving before her tenancy expires, leave a personal item in the flat so that the move out isn't complete - the LL isn't allowed to relet. take pictures of the state, pref with video camera, including a copy of today's paper (verifies date) ring the local council for advice re the deposit being lodged in a scheme and get them to come and inspect, they have much greater powers than they used to. Doesn't mean she'll get the deposit back but LL might back down if she realises that the council can prevent her from re-letting the property if there are serious issues.

Enfieldian

daska wrote: »

assuming that your friend is leaving before her tenancy expires, leave a personal item in the flat so that the move out isn't complete - the LL isn't allowed to relet. take pictures of the state, pref with video camera, including a copy of today's paper (verifies date) ring the local council for advice re the deposit being lodged in a scheme and get them to come and inspect, they have much greater powers than they used to. Doesn't mean she'll get the deposit back but LL might back down if she realises that the council can prevent her from re-letting the property if there are serious issues.

How does a copy of today's paper verify the date? Will it still verify the date if I use it in two weeks?