Slightly stupid T, really stupid LL?

~moneysavingnovice~

I'm having a dispute with my ex-LL. We're both in the wrong, but he's more in the wrong I think!

Bit of a back-story:
We moved in on 10 August 2009, rent ~£15k per year. Signed an AST agreement, which looks like it's been printed off the net. LL lives in Spain.

Things I think he's done wrong:
-Didn't protect our deposit
-Didn't give us a gas safety cert
-Hasn't got LL's insurance
-Hasn't got permission from lender to sublet
-Hasn't been paying tax on his rental income (I am aware that as he lives abroad, this is my problem too)
-He has refused to fix the oven, washing machine, dishwasher and sky+ box which have all broken (not through our mis-use) since we gave him our notice- he says he'll "get them fixed for the next tennant"

Things we've done wrong:
-Told him to use our deposit as last 6 weeks' rent (given that it wasn't protected)
-We were meant to move out on 28 July (mutual agreement via email to not coincide with end of rental period- deposit perfectly covered rent to 28 July) but we actually left on 25 July, so stopped paying c.tax, utilties etc.
-We didn't meet him to do the check-out inventory. Our AST states that we have to return the flat to the condition we received it in, which by and large I think we did, but I admit it wasn't as clean as it could have been (Inventory complete, no damage, just dirt)
-We just posted the keys through the letterbox on 25 July and emailed him telling him what we'd done.

LL is now saying he will take us to court for costs of professional cleaning+lockmiths. Bit worried- is he likely to win??

Sorry for the essay, just thought I'd give as much info as poss!

~moneysavingnovice~

Also, the address to service notice at in the AST was the address of the rented flat- but luckily I found his address in Spain.

AST states that flat must be returned to same condition as when moved in, but makes no mention of professional cleaning.

Oh and when we gave him our notice, we showed prospective new tenants round for him on 12 separate occassions (block viewings) so feel we were more than accommodating.

theartfullodger

Shame you left, you'd have had more power staying: (eg rent ain't due is there is no address to serve notices in Engerland & Wales).

I'd gently suggest you are worried you should tell HMRC about the rental - but would he like to return all your money 1st??

As long as the place was returned as-it-was but with "fair wear and tear" then that's OK. OFT have ruled not fair to demand professional cleaning. (Google OFT, tenancy, unfair)

Cheers!

Lodger

theartfullodger

Any court would throw the book at him: I'd say "see you in court" if he gets tough... He's broken so many of the rules & laws...

Landlord's like this give decent ones a hard time..

Cheers!

Lodger (LL since 2000)

BitterAndTwisted

If you admit that you didn't return the property in the same clean condition as at the start of the tenancy why do you think that your LL shouldn't charge you for it to be professionally cleaned?

Is your LL attempting to charge you for a locksmith because you didn't attend a check-out inventory or make arrangements to hand the keys back in person so they had no way of regaining entry?

~moneysavingnovice~

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If you admit that you didn't return the property in the same clean condition as at the start of the tenancy why do you think that your LL shouldn't charge you for it to be professionally cleaned?

Is your LL attempting to charge you for a locksmith because you didn't attend a check-out inventory or make arrangements to hand the keys back in person so they had no way of regaining entry?

It was generally in the same condition- it wasn't filthly, it just wasn't spotless (but it hadn't been professionally cleaned before we had moved in).

And yes, that's why he's saying he wants to charge us for the locksmith. I'm not asking whether he should or should not do that, I'm asking if it went to court, given all the other info, does he stand a reasonable chance of winning.

N79

Since you can't launch a claim against the LL as you lack an address in E&W I would call your LL's bluff. Point out that if he is stupid enough to take you to court then you will simply counter the claim with a claim for non protection of the deposit.

You could also point out that you will report him over the gas safety and to HMRC (report him over the gas certificate anyway).

clutton_2

how can you possibly know that he has no landlords insurance......

""which looks like it's been printed off the net."" - what exactly does a net AST look like then ?

""Hasn't got permission from lender to sublet
-Hasn't been paying tax on his rental income""

unless you have been opening his mail.. how do you know these things....?

what arrangements did you come to about the keys and surrendering the tenancy.. did he instruct you to put the keys through the letter box ? if he did not then he is perfectly entitled to claim the costs of a locksmith from you - how else will he get into his property .

poppysarah

clutton wrote: »

if he did not then he is perfectly entitled to claim the costs of a locksmith from you - how else will he get into his property .

Don't they all keep spares so they can sneak in and move things around to make the tenants think they're going mad?
;-)

~moneysavingnovice~

I didn't really want this to turn into a debate about whether he should be claiming these things (nor an inquisition in to how I know the things I've listed in my original post).

All I want to know is if he goes through with the court action, does he stand a reasonable chance of winning (given the info above).

I admit in the first sentence that we're both at fault, there's no need for a T persecution from some of the LLs on here.

BitterAndTwisted

Given the info you have supplied then yes, I do think the LL has a fair chance of giving you spanking in court. Just as long as they can come up with invoices or quotes to prove their claim