landlord won't refund full deposit, help please

jeffy22

I have recently moved flats (my tenancy was up and i didn't want to stay another year) but the landlord has sent a letter stating he is going to take about £85 (his words) off my deposit as the flat wasn't clean enough. he came round when i handed over the keys and said it was ok but now he states that the woodwork needed wiping (it was fine i checked) the oven was dirty (it was like that when i moved in and would not clean for love nor money) and the tiles in the bathrooms needed doing and the carpet on the stairs up to the entrance needed cleaning (it was yellow..who puts a yellow carpet up to a main entrance?!?)
now the main reason i left the flat was of the mold.. one entire wall was just a sheet of mold, my clothes went moldy in the wardrobe, there was mold behind the bed and the bathroom was pure mold and cleaning it did nothing, it just grew back straight away. i even had to go to the doctor twice with asthma attacks which he said was caused by the mold.. the whole place needs completly repainting due to mold damage on the walls so i find it cheeky he is charging me for damage. the agency has told me to put my complaints in writing but i don't know how to start..

does anyone have any good points, phrases, legal jargon i can put in as i'm not very good at letters like this..

thank you for any help

jeffy22

btw.. i kept the window open constantly and the heating on... but the mold was rife, obviously just painted over before i moved in. we told the landlord about it and just told us to keep the condensation down to a minimum. I have photos as evidence to how bad the mold got

clutton_2

is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

jeffy22

clutton wrote: »

is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

i assume so, we rented through a reputable agency

RAS

Were you given the required letter telling you which scheme the deposit is registered with? if not check al three.

Did your landlord have a full and proper inventory done when you moved in, dual signed?

clutton_2

""Did your landlord have a full and proper inventory done when you moved in dual signed"" and when you moved out ?

mcc100

I was in the same situation two years ago when my landlady witheld £250 of my deposit because of damp in the main bedroom.

There had been an issue with this from the moment I moved in four years earlier.

To cut a long story short I took legal action through the small claims court and less than 2 weeks before the court appearance I received a cheque from her for £250.

neverdespairgirl

You don't need or want legal jargon. Just write a clear, simple, factual letter. Post it here if you want us to have a look at it.

tbs624

jeffy22 wrote: »

i assume so, we rented through a reputable agency

Don't just "assume so" - check for yourself by googling dps, tds and mydeposits.co.uk ( if the property is in Eng or Wales & your deposit was paid on or after 6 April 2007) Get confirmation in writing.

If it *has* been registered then you have a choice of whether to use the court or the scheme's arbitration process if you and the LL cannot come to an agreement.

If it hasn't been registered, then you have something with which to bargain, as you may take your LL to court for non-compliance and he'd run the risk of having to return the deposit in full, plus a penalty of 3x the deposit amount, plus court costs.

Check that bit first and then the letter can be put together.

jeffy22

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

You don't need or want legal jargon. Just write a clear, simple, factual letter. Post it here if you want us to have a look at it.

is there anything i can quote about the mold though legally? i've had to throw away clothes and books

clutton_2

jeffy FIND OUT ABOUT THE DEPOSIT FIRST .. then come back and tell us what you found....