Please help re flat deposit

prudryden

catewithers wrote:

I've just read every single post on this thread and I am overwhelmed by your courage and by the level of support and sense of community that is evident here.

My husband and i are currently looking for somewhere to rent after being separated for a year, partly due to financial problems and the impact on our marriage. I SOOOOO hope our future landlord turns out to be just a little bit nicer than yours was. But if not, I sure know where to come for help and advice!

Keep going. I am rooting for you.

Cate x

Very helpful, generally, if you are able to meet and deal with the LL directly, rather than just the letting agency.

EagerLearner

Thanks everyone - will call the court today and see what's what, will post as soon as I know anything x

Deb73

:eek: :eek: I just read this entire thread (such a good use of my notice period:rolleyes: ):eek: :eek:

I am so amazed that you have the courage and tenacity to stick this out and i really hope you win as there is no doubt you are in the right.

I had a similar problem when the letting agancy I used claimed it cost them £160 to clean a one bedroom flat that I had left sparkling. Apparently I forgot to wipe down the top of a doorframe and the entire place then needed cleaning.

On top of that they retained 3 weeks of rent despite the fact that I had given full notice a month in advance as required by my tenancy agreement saying they had already paid the landlord his money and couldn't pay me until he gave it back.

Sadly I did not know about MSE and did not have the gumption to check my rights and let it slide and as a result was about £600 out of pocket, money I could have done with as I took on a mortgage and got married last year.

Thank you EagerLearner for inspiring me to stand up for my rights in future.

In fact I am currently in dispute with my soon-to-be-ex employers as I was told in December I would get a payrise effective 1st January. For a whole host of other reasons I handed my notice in on 8th January and - quelle surprise - my January pay has no increase... Needless to say I'm furious but thanks to you will stand my ground on this one!

Hmm a bit long winded - sorry about that:o

sassy165

lynzpower wrote:

Eager learner- Ive been where you are now, and its landlords like this that give others a bad name.

Instead or even as well as CAB, you might want to talk to these chaps http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c308 the private lettigs officer at my council was sterling, and knew the law backwards about what was reasonable and not. My old landlady tried to do us for an potted plant that karked it. I wonder if we were both letting off the same witch? Probably not, there seems a few too many bad apples in the letting game trying to make themselves an unlawful few notes.

You are in the right, you just need to the small claims court to order so. Any letters and particulally phone calls should be noted from her on in and can be thought as stressful, add these to your claim for stress.

Hi
My son had a similar problem, he rented with 3 other people, 1 left and got back his share of the deposit. When my son was leaving he was blamed for wallpaper coming off the wall etc. One of his friends let him back into the house and he took photographs and took her to the small claims court. He did not need a solicitor (sometimes I think they give you more leniency if you do this) and won. During the dispute she sacked her solicitor who was telling her to just pay up! Her solicitor telephoned my son (naughty naughty) and gave him some free advice.
It took a while and when she handed him the cheque she was very nasty but hey ho never mind!!!!
Regards to all

EagerLearner

Welcome Deb & Sassy - only just noticed this post was featured in Martin's weekly e-mail - had no idea! It's because I only get my e-mails on Thursdays for some reason...

I am glad this post has inspired folks - it means that in future less and less people will be able to get away with unfair deductions on deposits, or employers being unfair as Deb is now having to fight her corner.

I have some work today so will only be able to call court lunch-time x

scarpetta1982

wow. i just stayed up all night reading the whole of this thread! i cant believe it hasnt been resolved already and your slimy landllady hasnt paid up!!
it does indeed seem to be a habit of landlords AND letting agents not paying up, glad to see there are some good ones on here though!!
In 2004 i had to move out of my property, as after losing my job and my partner leaving me and being pregnant and having a 3 year old to look after (i was very ill during my pregnancy and could not work)the landlord would not accept housing benefit so gave me notice. I scrubbed the place from top to bottom , and our insurance was covering an accidental burn to the carpet, the deposit was due to be split 50/50 between me and my ex, the letting agents were also managing agents, so they dealt with the checking out though did not offer me an opportunity to be present, they did not give back any deposit, and did not provide a breakdown as to works that needed to be doing or anything, every call i made was blanked, with the birth of my child i let it slide, as i did not have the time, my new partner moved out of his property and did not receive his deposit either, his landlord is resident in BELGIUM, and has not provided a phone number, i have contacted the landlords solicitors but so far have heard nothing, i fear we may soon be in the same situation AGAIN.
i am in a private rented and my landlord had not been too good to say the least, i have had repairs issues that have stayed outstanding for a very long time, after moving in and giving birth to my second child a leak started, which gradually got worse, a plumber did come and call and said they fixed it, which indeed they hadnt. the leak got worse and an emergency plumber was called, half the ceiling was ripped down and it stayed that way for SIX months, exposed damp wood and spores and not to mention the dust and the smell, and it STILL leaked!there was damage to the laminate flooring which i STILL trip over as it is a really cheap inferior laminate flooring and it was badly damaged by the leak, but the landlord says there is no need to replace it as it is not essential!! the hole in the ceiling was finally fixed, but the leak still continued and now we have a smaller hole. also there were issues with the outside, the fence fell down in high winds and the landlord secured it with ROPE!!! it leaned over so far onto the public footpath, and some panels were not even fixed!! the landlord NEVER gives us 24 hours notice of coming round, he had some dodgy workmen TURN UP on day to do things to the house exterior and the fence and garden (this is after i contacted the private sector renewal team and had him served papers forcing him to make the repairs) they took over my garden used excessive amounts of water without compensation(i am on a meter) they complained when i turned off MY ELECTRICITY (to my garage, its at the end of the garden and has a cable running to it) as i had not been offered any compensation again for what i class as excessive use of my electric. they completely disrupted my garden, and stopped me coming in and out of the garden through my gate (i have only one means of access to my house, by then i had baby number three and had a tandem pushchair) i was stuck in the house for SIX hours before i could get out!! they asked me for keys for my gates, which i provided assuming i would have them back at the end of the day, they kept them, they also assumed they could just use MY garage for storage and MY parking space for their van, things that i pay my rent for. my dad could not get his car in the garage for all their junk (tools and things they could easily have stored in their truck) they assumed it was their divine right and when i started to say no they couldnt they got funny, one day the workman was on the front lawn and he left MY(they were padlocks I bought to secure the property and they were not giving me notice of when they were going to come round they would just turn up when they felt and help themselves to whatever they liked) keys on my wall, within my property so i picked them up and brought them indoors, he didnt even mention the keys to me, but you could see he was pieed off they were gone. the landlord came round one day when they were here and said to pay for the works, the workman were extending the garage into a double (thus cutting half of my garden) and that i would no longer have the garage as instead of paying them he was letting them have MY RENTED GARAGE, when i was looking for a property i specified to the letting agent i NEEDED a garage, the landlord did not offer me a reduction in rent for halving the garden or for the loss of my garage. a few weeks later after not having seen the workman for a while,(they suddenly turned up one day and did a flit with their tools after some very shoddy workmanship all round, some of which was purely cosmetic, painting the exterior of the house, how does that benefit me?!?!?also part of what the landlord was having trouble paying, they got paint on the windows and when they creosoted the fence on the pathway) i turned up home to find my gate wide open, and my garage wide open (padlocks off) and no-one in sight. next thing i know i hear my doorbell going (i have one on the gate)) i was in my the bath, it went a few more times, and then i hear BANG BANG BANG BANG, it was the workmen trying to breakin the gate!! i confronted them and said they were not authorised to be there as i had not had any notice and that this was innapropriate and i would call the landlord, they scarpered VERY quickly. i contacted the landlord and he did not know they were meant to be there, and the only works outstanding were on the front garden for the upstairs property,my mum later noticed a fresh perfect circle cut into my window, as if they were trying to gain access to the property!! i called police but there was no forensic evidence, just a perfect fresh circle!! despite all this i have not been compensated for disruption over my whole tenancy to my quiet enjoyment or for any of my utilities used!! my water bill was HUGE when it came in and imsure they contributed, they were meant to put wood chippings down in the garden because of my kids, and the landlord agreed this with me verbally, but they put shingle down (which the neighbourhood cats LOVE to do their business on). anyway, i recently had an reassessment of my housing benefit (this landlord was ok with HB when i moved in) and they asked for a letter from landlord proving rent or they would suspend my claim, contacted landlord who as usual was not able to get hold of, left a message, other day got a letter saying my HB was suspended due to lack of proof of rent, contacted landlord and left a message saying as such and awaited response. that evening after shopping got home to the letter AND my notice seeking possession section 21. the landlords reasoning is another tenants claim was suspended by HB and now he is going through court with her, it was his negligence that led to my claim being suspended. and its not whether i get housing benefit or not as to whether i can pay the rent, i have a guarantor and family that could help temporarily whilst my claim was sorted. i phoned him and asked if there was anyway i could stop this, he said if i had my HB paid directly to him that would stop things and he would withdraw his notice, though how that stops it being suspended and being a problem i dont know, also i pay my rent monthly, and i get HB four weekly, everymonth i make my HB upto the full rent amount, which i am due to get back in my 13th payment of HB when it is unsuspended(i pay 12 rents in an annual period, but get 13 HBs which make up my rent) so the 1st rent he would get is the one I am due back for myself for the shortfall payments i have made each month to top up my HB!!! . i still dont see how direct payment would help anything, i always paid my rent on time, in full. and i have never caused him a problem though he caused me one, i had to move out for six weeks whilst the hole in the ceiling was being fixed!! I dont know what to do now, i have a young baby,a toddler, a 6 year old, and the day we are meant to move out is the day before we have booked our wedding, im sorry to have taken up so much space! some landlords are so much hassle!!!

falconmidas

Just finished reading the entire thread. EL, I'm so proud of you. If you had just let this go, "£600 odd just isn't worth the hassle" then you'd be forever regretting it, and you'd get someone else trying it on again, except they'd be bigger and meaner. You'll need a thick hide being self-employed and this is all great 'practice'.

I suspect my current landlord will also try it on when I leave next week, which seems much less daunting now after seeing how you handled it. I've learned that you can't live in fear, and that if you let someone take your power that you'll have to fight twice as hard to claw it back. It's not just money you're fighting for, it's your dignity and self-respect.

GO EL!!! Fight!!! Fight tooth and nail, fight to the last man, then fight some more, and then win!

Cazza

Wow! What an epic! I too have also just read the entire thread, it took three sittings and many cups of tea! EL, hats off to you for the guts and determination in seeing this through! I'm now on tenterhooks for the next installment, good luck and hugs for the tough bits!:grouphug:

clutton_2

scarpetta - whilst i really sympathise with your situation, may i kindly suggest that you start a new thread of your own ? If you cut and paste and copy your above post into it - and please put in lots and lots of paragaphs !! it is extraordinarily difficult to read as it s.

scarpetta1982

sorry, i really tend to ramble, came on here to wish EL luck and i end up filling a whole page nearly!! didnt reallyh realise quite how long it was til after sorry i really do hope everything goes well EL, my hubby to be was quite annoyed i didnt come to bed last night! it was such a gripping read, i really hope that the RIGHT solution comes at the end and the ever evasive Mrs D comes up with the goods AND more, surely for all your distress you should be compensated. for all your time and efforts for getting back what is SO rightfully yours to begin with and should never have been withheld in the first place. She should be liable for something if it is found in your favour?? (again!) i would go to the docs and tell them how much stress you've been under, you've had headaches and tummyaches, document this, get proof from them, if she can claim she's had troubles due to supposed "illness" surely the fact she's been making YOU ill counts for something!! Good luck, and sorry for the above post, when i start i have trouble stopping!