Please help re flat deposit

irishjohn

Just one more point Eager - anyone who is not a British citizen, or a citizen of any EC country or any British Commonwealth country cannot go onto the Electoral register so if she is not in one of those categories there would be no point in looking there for her.

John

barnaby-bear

EagerLearner wrote:

Hi all - I have spoken to the legal advice line (0845 456 6815) again and they pretty much said there is nothing we can do now as we don't have her new address so we can't proceed with Warrant Of Execution (Bailiffs) or Third Party Debt Order (re LA and the money she gets each month for rent).

We can't do a charge against her property as the claim is under £1k and the court would almost 100% sure not do it according to the legal helpline.

There is some discretion where although a smaller claim if upholding spirit of law because trying to avoid being traced then a charging order is seen as appropriate as the property not hiding.

barnaby-bear

irishjohn wrote:

Just one more point Eager - anyone who is not a British citizen, or a citizen of any EC country or any British Commonwealth country cannot go onto the Electoral register so if she is not in one of those categories there would be no point in looking there for her.

John

If she's bought another house in the same area rather than sold to rent it will have probably completed on same day - I tracked someone in Oxford down who'd moved from Cambridge because I found their old house on houseprices.co.uk and found the 5 houses sold the same day in Oxford narrowed it down to 2 in right price range and sent two christmas cards. Just an idea....

EagerLearner

Thanks all - irishjohn - she seems British, never really talked about those sorts of things though but her parents left her the 3 apartments in the building we were at.

Barnaby - I have no clue as to whether she has bought again or what - so frustrating!

Thanks for your PM's - anyone else wants to have ago just PM me and will try to answer later tonight.

EagerLearner

Also she has another property in Shoreham that she rents - if anyone wants that address too let me know.

Mutton_Geoff

EagerLearner, this is one of my bookmarked threads on MSF and I wish you well. One thing you really need to assess though is the value to the quality of your life of the £700. Yes, I know principles are important. I have been to court a couple of times feeling 100% confident but the final outcome has not been what I expected when I started the process.

Although it's a shedload of money and £700 is £700, how much is this affecting your life? When it gets to this stage, it seems that the only people winning are the lawyers and the crooks (ask anyone who has been through divorce proceedings and they will agree).

At some point you should do yourself a favour and set a "bottom line". Galling though it may be, there is some point that you need to put this to bed and get on with your life.

Sorry, but I just wanted to bring a reality check up here.

(Mutton hates to lose but has had to take it on the chin a few times!)

barnaby-bear

Mutton_Geoff wrote:

One thing you really need to assess though is the value to the quality of your life of the £700.

Now I see it as a positive experience at the start of the thread she was a dippy airhead (no offense) who was willing to handover silly money for a stain on a radiator and was dealing with the landlady via text messages and it was all chaotic and incompetant. As a result of this experience she seems confident, competant able to construct professional letters, follow complex legal documents and research issues... most distance learner useless courses charge more than £700 to gain those skills....
Maybe she won't get the £700 but down the line I think the skills will pay it back several times over...

*I sound like a patronising w&*ker*

prudryden

Have we broken 600 post yet??

Anyway, at the risk of being condemmed to the streets under the Embankment tube station, I would like to offer a few more comments which I hope will be constructive.

Landlord has "estimated over £800 in costs" but, as yet, hasn't claimed for that. That means she is willing to settle for the deposit.

Stained carpets: You already stated "additional stains" after you moved in. What kind of stains? Wine? Chocolate?
Landlord has offered to split the cost of replacing. You said "she wanted to replace the carpets months ago and they were old and had years of wear and tear." She will deny she said that and even if she doesn't, it doesn't mean she was going to. Old with wear and tear. (Irrelevant if still acceptable)
£200 seems reasonable depending on size of room and, understanding, that it isn't just a matter of buying the carpet - but removing the old carpet,and laying the new one.

Cleaning: £75 The contract probably read professionally cleaned. This is a common problem. From experience, there is quite a difference between how a professional company cleans and the layman no matter what we think.
e.g. they will not leave one grease spot in the oven nor one speck of lime scale in the washingmachine/dishwasher. Depending on what had to be "re-cleaned" - £75 is probably reasonable.

Radiator Grill: I can offer no comment on this. If the grill can be replaced, £300 seems a lot, but I don't know prices for storage heaters or their parts.

BLIND: If they are stained and not nice to present to new viewers. Then they have to be replaced, if unable to get the stains off. £45 -reasonable for larger sized window with installation.

WINDOW CLEANING: £35 - Depends on number of windows. You or your checkout agent should have been present at the time of inspection. If you were not given a date and time of the inspection and invited to be there -then the letting agent has something to answer to.

PENCIL MARK: Not sure what that means and what damage that constitutes. £10.

PAINTING: Most scruffs, unless the paint is oil based/washable and can be wiped off, will only make the walls worst if you try to scrub them off. The whole room will generally have to be repainted. £150- At that price, sounds like the landlord is only charging for one room and not the entire flat.

You may not be on a winner here - but, you should be given a complete breakdown. You should be prepared that if it goes to court, she will counterclaim for the full damage estimate of "over £800".

If she wins and gets a judgment for the full amount plus costs, you have to pay. If you don't, it could affect your credit rating etc.

The main problem, as I see it, is in not having two separate checkin/checkout Professional Inventory Agents.

Should I go down to the Embankment now? Anyway, just an impartial reading and may have missed some posts which explain other things.

Bobbyssqueeze

Brighton is NOT a City - go to the CAB, and they'll sort it for you. Bottom line.

EagerLearner

Mutton_Geoff wrote:

At some point you should do yourself a favour and set a "bottom line". Galling though it may be, there is some point that you need to put this to bed and get on with your life.

Sorry, but I just wanted to bring a reality check up here.

(Mutton hates to lose but has had to take it on the chin a few times!)

I know - and it's been on my mind alot in the last 48 hours, trust me! I knwo what you mean and will only give it so much more time as otherwise I risk losing sanity...