Private landlord looking for nearly £1000 in damages

forestfan25

Morning,

I vacated my last property at the end of February. When I left the property the lanlord sent his wife to pick the keys up. It got into abit of an argument as I wanted the property checking out to see what they had a problem with. She wouldn't do it so I handed her the keys and left.

After 2 weeks had passed they then sent a letter out stating that they hadn't received a forwading address for me to my parents address as they were originally guarantors. They had then checked the property over and had found faults with the property as long as your arm. These were a mark on one of the carperts, alarm not working, garden not in the original condition property was rented out in, latch that had come off the back door of the property, cooker that needed cleaning out, windows need cleaning, also paint in the bathroom was on the toilet and mirror.

I would have agreed with a couple of the above being my fault which I would have agreed to take out of the original bond money but the quotes so far have come back at £130 to recarpet a small bedroom. £320 to remove paint off a toilet and mirror, although he came round a month before I moved out to price up a new bathroom suite! And £604.91 to returf the full garden which isn't that big. Total so far is £1096 so taking off my £500 deposit he wants £596 that's not including replacing the broken door latch, fix the alarm or professionally clean the house. If you take all that into account they are looking for an extra £1000!!!

Before Christmas I had a letter from them saying thanks for being fantastic tenants and looking after the property well. The main reason we moved out was due to alot of the jobs that needed doing in the house never got done. I had to get a friend out to fix a leak at the front of the house which I had spoken to them about a couple of times but they had kept me waiting for nearly 6 weeks and nothing had been done from there end they just said they were struggling to get someone out as everyone they were phoning was busy. The main problem with the property was the damp that was coming through in all rooms before I moved in they must have just painted over all of it because in the 3 years of me being there the damp just get worse and this was caused by them taking off all the rendering at the back of the house. They pulled it all off but never put anymore back on. They sent out a letter when I complained just stating that they didn't have surplus funds to dip into to get the work carried out. Also the boiler was 21 years old and didn't get checked for nearly 2 years. It was only me ringing them up in December 2009 that they decided to do it.

I'm just wondering where I stand. They have my parents as a guarantor so I think they are just trying to demand what they want so they are covering 2 months rent. Surely if you owned the property you would get it sorted and put back on the market straight away. I don't think I should have to pay any more money to them as they have my £500 bond still. If it was to go to court would they go in his favour or mine? Am I best writing back to him and stating my case?

Doozergirl

When did you move in exactly? Was your deposit protected in a scheme?

Was a full condition inventory carried out when you moved in?

They cannot 'better' a property therefore can't charge for brand new replacements of carpets, lawn(!) or bathroom items as some wear and tear has to be factored in. Just because your parents are guarantors doesn't mean that they can just request money to cover repairs and expect to receive it.

DVardysShadow

How much is he charging for the items you would put your hands up for and how much for the rest? And is he asking reasonable amounts for the things you agree with?

forestfan25

We moved in to the property on the 10th Feb 2007 and vacated on the 28th Feb 2010 so we have been in the property over 3 years and never missed a payment on the rent.

I would be quite happy if they had just said carpet in the bedroom needs replacing , cooker needs cleaning and door lock fixing on the back door which would be no more than £300. Even if they had kept the whole £500 I would have just put it down to experience.

The quotes so far are

Carpet @ 9.99 per square metre and £35 to fit. There is no way the carpet in that room would be £9.99 per square metre and no way that bedroom would have been 10 meters it was a small terraced house with just carpet in the small bedroom and on the stairs. I think from that he wants the stairs doing as well.

Garden - to cut back all plants in garden, replace edging stones (never had any to start with) relay path, relay lawn and regravel patio. He wants 9 metre of turft 7.99 a metre £71.91. 14 edging stones £45.50 and gravel 2.5 tonne at £162.50. Labour cost £325 total cost £604.91

Bathroom - to paint ceiling and woodwork in satin white and walls in magnolia. Clean grout and redo bath sealant. Although he came out a month before stating he would be getting a new bathroom fitted when I moved out anyway. Paint £65 Silicone sealant £15.96 and grout restorer £14.25 Labour cost £225 Total cost £320.21.

Still waiting for him to send through the other quotes but I think with this he is just testing the water. The other issue I can see is all 3 quotes are from the same company and just down the road from the witness who signed the original tenancy agreement which is obviously someone he knows.

<sebb>

Your landlord is taking the mickey!

Have a read of this site

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/getting_an_unprotected_deposit_back

There are sample letters you can use to negotiate with your landlord here

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/getting_an_unprotected_deposit_back/negotiating_on_deposits

Oh and you shouldnt have to pay for the whole carpet, you are allowed to deduct a proportion depending on the age of the carpet. He also cannot replace it with a better quality carpet and charge you for it.

tbs624

forestfan25 wrote: »

We moved in to the property on the 10th Feb 2007 and vacated on the 28th Feb 2010 so we have been in the property over 3 years and never missed a payment on the rent.

Paying your rent is what's required under the contract, ie its expected. No extra points for that one.

forestfan25 wrote: »

I would be quite happy if they had just said carpet in the bedroom needs replacing , cooker needs cleaning and door lock fixing on the back door which would be no more than £300. Even if they had kept the whole £500 I would have just put it down to experience.

So are you saying that you damaged the carpet, that you left the cooker dirty, and that you damaged the lock on the back door and/or failed to report it?

forestfan25 wrote: »

Garden - to cut back all plants in garden, replace edging stones (never had any to start with) relay path, relay lawn and regravel patio. He wants 9 metre of turft 7.99 a metre £71.91. 14 edging stones £45.50 and gravel 2.5 tonne at £162.50. Labour cost £325 total cost £604.91

What state was the garden when you moved in? As Doozer says, the LL can't seek betterment at your expense.

forestfan25 wrote: »

Bathroom - to paint ceiling and woodwork in satin white and walls in magnolia. Clean grout and redo bath sealant. Although he came out a month before stating he would be getting a new bathroom fitted when I moved out anyway. Paint £65 Silicone sealant £15.96 and grout restorer £14.25 Labour cost £225 Total cost £320.21. .

Did you leave the tiling/grout/walls/woodwork in a dirty state? Did you allow mould to grow on the sealant ?

You have to hand back the property in the same condition as when let, save for fair wear and tear, but fw&t does not mean that damage or dirt is acceptable. The amount charged to you will depend on how long it is since something was decorated or bought and how long it would reasonably be expected to last. You can dispute the list that the LL comes up with, if you think you have clear grounds to do so, and try to negotiate or refer for arbitration via the deposit scheme or court.

gauly

Clearly these charges are totally unreasonable. First thing I would say is that he needs more than one quote for each job.

- Carpet: he can't charge you to replace an old carpet with a new carpet - then he would be better off. Assuming a bedroom carpet lasts 5 years say, then it must have been at least 3 years old by the end of your tenancy. If it was brand new when you moved in then he could charge you for 2/5th of a new carpet because it should have had another couple of years left in it.

Garden: I believe it is generally hard to demand that a garden is returned in its original condition - after all plants do grow. He would also have had to supply you with all the necessary tools to keep the garden, I believe. Where does he imagine the edging stones and gravel have disapeared to? Presuming that the garden and grass is merely overgrown then I would dispute all of this charge.

- Alarm: its hard to imagine how a tenant would damage an alarm? If its broken I think you could argue that it isn't your fault.

Not sure about the rest. I think that the landlord will be able to charge you for the work to the bathroom even if he has considered replacing the bathroom suite - the old one should still not have been damaged.

lizzielondon

do you have a dual-signed inventory showing the state of the property when you moved in?

you say you lived there for three years so you moved in before april 2007? have you signed a new contract since then? if so was the deposit in a scheme?

if there wasn;t an inventory you ex-ll will have a hard time proving the state before the tenancy- however you should still pay for any damage you have caused