deposit dispute:charged 40 pounds for slamming front door twice!

Patricia14

Reporting abuse: landlord charging 40 pounds from deposit for slamming the door twice!!

Hello,

I need to report a story which happens to me yesterday and which can only interest you so insane the fact is.

I was moving out and so was expecting my deposit back from landlord;
He charged me several items which are very questionable for the vast majority of them. But the weirdest one is the following one and if you do not believe me I have the written confirmation from the landlord himself!!(After persistence from my part, he finally gave me something in writing for all charges; and you can have a copy of it.)

He subtracted 40 pounds from my deposit for slamming the door twice!!
Of course I said this is completely insane but he did not want to heard anything at all even when I said I will seek a solicitor.
His scenario is the following: when one slams the door of his house it does shake the whole foundation!!
How more bad faith can it be!! Anybody can tell where are the damages? Can he give me a proof of it?
For one thing he was not in the house the whole time to assess how many times i slammed the door or only God knows how much more he would have charged me.
Another thing is I never checked how many times he slammed the door himself!! Besides, as his family was invited a couple a times, I heard the door was slammed on some occasion.
I do not really believe he charged them for doing that!!
he gave me the written confirmation for this non sense charge so i have all the leverage to sue him.
He justifies himself on paper as follows (be ready for a good laugh):
2x slamming front door (estimated damage to bricks, frame, glass):40 pounds

I forgot to mention as well the house is a terrace house: meaning he has 2 next-door neighbours on each side. So every time they slam their own front door, we should fairly assume it will have some repercussions on his bricks, frames and glass!! So why he does not charge them as well!! Maybe he should set up some device at their door to record how many times they slam their door and be able to charge them the relevant amount!!

I been to the citizens Advise bureau and Housing service at the town council, but they have been useless. It really looks like a landlord can charge anything even the most ridiculous and unjustified charge without being worried.

So please all your suggestions are welcome, the more I receive the better,

Best regards,
Patricia Troncin

Tassotti

I remember you posted this before and I asked if you signed an inventory when you moved in...Did you?

Tass

clutton_2

haven't you already posted this earlier on ? i am sure i have read this already ......

hjb123

Hi,

Your landlord sounds pretty petty to charge that much for slamming a door! I would check out the following links and use the search facility on this site as there are others in similar position to you:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-3007.cfm

tomstickland

That made me laugh!

How about a local paper story "tenant charged £40 for slamming front door twice"?

Patricia14

Tassotti wrote:

I remember you posted this before and I asked if you signed an inventory when you moved in...Did you?

Tass

thanks for your reply.

No there was no inventory signed at the start. on lodger agreement it just mention the Shared areas like Kitchen, Bathroom, etc;

So i am not sure in what way the existence of inventory may help or not.

regards,
Patricia

Tassotti

Are you a lodger or a tenant?

Anyway, if there was no inventory signed, the LL CANNOT deduct anything from your deposit.

Visit

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

If it goes to court, you will win and the LL will have to pay back your full deposit and court costs.

Tass

clutton_2

Tass - if she is a lodger, as opposed to a tenant, surely an inventory would be very difficult to use as evidence for or against, as both parties share the same space, and so the landlord could have done the damage ? i suspect there may be different rules for lodgers.

Tassotti

Hi Clutton

After re-reading the post, I think Pat is a lodger. I am not sure whether the rules differ for lodgers.

However, it is up to the LL to prove any damages were caused by tenant. With no inventory, the original condition of the property cannot be determined. Therefore, LL has no proof.

I would think a judge would side with the lodger.

Hmmm..you have me doubting myself now......

Patricia14

clutton wrote:

Tass - if she is a lodger, as opposed to a tenant, surely an inventory would be very difficult to use as evidence for or against, as both parties share the same space, and so the landlord could have done the damage ? i suspect there may be different rules for lodgers.

thank you for your reply.

I was a lodger and he was the landlord; and we signed a lodger
agreement.

Patricia14

Tassotti wrote:

I remember you posted this before and I asked if you signed an inventory when you moved in...Did you?

Tass

just want to let you know i have been able to publish my story on the Manchester Evening News on page 3 6 of september, on nearly the full page!!