Tenancy agreement and change of owner.

KingMob

I've recently moved out of an apartment I'd been renting for near six years due to issues with the landlord such waiting six months for flood damage repairs, inability to contact him and him constantly telling me lies. One excuse for the lack of repair was that there are were no plasterers available in East Belfast!

Now that I've moved he's refusing to return my deposit and claiming he can make whatever deductions he likes in order to get place fit for next tenants. I left everything on the inventory in a reasonable condition but seems he's using my money to cover the flood damage and ignoring wear and tear.

I'm going to contact the housing rights people on Monday but would be very interested if anyone has any thoughts on these or suggestions what to do next.

I originally rented via a letting agent in December 2004 for 6 months. At the end of that the landlord who owns/works in the premises below asked if I was happy to remain in premises. I said I was. I heard nothing more from landlord/letting agent so assumed contract had switched to rolling month. A year or more later I was informed that the landlord was selling the premises to his accountant, given a name and bank account number to change my standing order but told there would be no other changes. I wasn't given an updated rent book nor contact details and any issues still went through people downstairs. Can my tenancy agreement really be transferred to him without written acknowledge from me?

When I originally paid deposit I was told I would be given a chance after my tenancy ended to deal with any issues. I asked to be informed of when the inspection would occur but recently found out the accountant has had cleaners in and that the inspection was performed several days later. He now claims that I had my chance before I left but how I could deal with any issues without being told of them.

He seems to be refusing to take wear and tear and the flood damage into account. The original inventory listed several carpets/blinds as marked or damage and they were cheap/significantly old when I moved in. He's talking a minimum of £200 for cleaning of carpets/sofa which frankly wouldn't be worth close to that if sold. Also keeps saying that things have to be professionally done but the cleaning is being done by his family and redecorating for flood damage by the original landlords brother.

When I give him my notice I asked about deposit. He said he'd sort it out but never got back to me. I found out from the original landlord that he still had the money and had been informed he was to pay it back once the inspection was done. This has now changed and the original landlord is going to transfer the money to his accountant. Is this even legal?

I'm just glad to be out of the place but don't feel I should be paying for him to make repairs so he can rent it again especially since no maintenance was performed during the tenancy. This is his only property and he's shown he does not know the law, claiming I have to the exterior and interior professionally cleaned once per month. I believe something sketchy might be going on as he never gave me contact details until June and seems reluctant to provide documentation such as a rent book.

leftieM

I'm sorry that I can't be of any specific help but I'll be interested to see how you get on. Unfortunately here in NI landlords seem to regard the deposit as a bonus and and feel no moral or legal compunction to return it.
You are correct about your tenancy being a month-to-month tenancy. Your original tenancy agreement still applies for things like paying for professional cleaning when you move out although, as you say, this is open to abuse.
If you think it is worth your while I suggest you contact a solicitor to return monies. We had a LL a while back who withheld our deposit. He gave no reason, he just kept it and ignored phone calls. We sent a solicitor's letter and he returned the deposit pronto. You could also consider going to the small claims court which is a cheap option.
Don't be put off if the housing rights people are no help. I phoned them a while back about an issue (over the LL showing viewers around without our knowledge) and the girl on the phone just read information off their website. If you get her, ask for someone with a working knowledge of specific situations. You need to know about what happened to other people in your situation.
Good luck!

KingMob

From what I've been reading it does seem like things are stacked in the landlords favour in NI. I'm just finding this all extremely frustrating to deal with, the accountant has gone out of his way to not be contactable and when I do speak to him it's obvious he's making things up. The original rental agency no longer have records and while have answered questions don't want to get involved.

The fixtures and fittings were damaged and quite old when I originally moved in. Some items dating back to mid 80's. I feel I left the place in a reasonable state but this guy having never been in the property until last month just has unreasonable expectations. I would have happily resolved any issues but they were never communicated to me.

I haven't been able to find anything relating to the situation but I'm surprised that my tenancy agreement could be transferred from the original landlord to his accountant without my consent. He might call himself my landlord but without a rent book, contact details or any contact from him I find that hard to believe.

The more I hear the sketchier I'm starting to think things are. Up until yesterday it seemed the original landlord still had my deposit then I received a phone call to tell me he's transfered it to accountant. I thought this was legally still my money and I never gave consent for that.

I'd been given a similar warning about the Citizen's Advice Bureau not being very useful, so a bit worrying to hear the Housing Rights people might not be as much help as I hoped. If they can't help then I think I might just go to a solicitor.

tbs624

guidance here:

http://www.housingadviceni.org/paying-for-a-home/deposits/getting-your-deposit-back.html

KingMob

tbs624 wrote: »

guidance here:

...Housing Advice NI link removed...

Thanks, had read that page and found some more information on the NIHE and Department of Social Development websites but having trouble finding any further guidance or expectations of what should have happened. Doesn't seem to be any local sources of information and most sites on the mainland focus on england or scotland.

I had an expectation based on what I was told when I paid the deposit that inspection would happen once tenancy was over and I'd be given a chance to make any necessary fixes, if I didn't do this then deductions could be made. What actually happened was the inspection was done in secret, I haven't been provided any information and now being told I'll be given 5-10 minutes to inspect the work and come to an agreement. That surely can't be correct.

Even ignoring the question of who my landlord is, I amazed that I'm being expected to pay £200-500 for cleaning of a two bedroom apartment, in fact an estimate of £200 alone for cleaning carpets and a sofa. The original inventory had most of the carpets listed as marked and a flood caused by dodgy plumbing and recently repair work was never cleaned up. This has to be considered betterment as the accountant claimed for the flooding/repair work on his insurance months ago.

x12yhp

Small claims can also be your friend. If you can demonstrate that the flood damage was claimed on insurance and that you are then being charged for this then the landlord would probably be open to accusation of insurance fraud. If you know the details of the insurance company, you could use this as a threat because they will take it very seriously if they believe they have been asked to pay out for something when the damages had (effectively) been paid for by another party.

KingMob

I was thinking that might be the case, sadly I don't have any of the insurance details. I was surprised that no-one from the insurance company ever came to inspect place.

The whole thing seems very sketchy to me. The accountant has always went out of his way to not be contactable by me, even though he bought the place 4 years ago I was never given contact details and any issues I had were still reported to previous landlord. When the flood happened, a plumber was organised quickly as it leaked through to the commercial premises below but once that was sorted I was pretty much left to my own devices. An industrial dehumidifier was provided which I ended up paying to run and after getting go ahead I disposed of carpet in the main room affected as it was ruined. Was told the room would be sorted but nothing done until I gave my notice then several guys came out and fixed ceiling but nothing else. I've received one letter from the accountant and when I queried some of the more outlandish statements he told me he doesn't come across as he means in letters, used the same excuse the last time I spoke to him on the phone. He also claimed that he frequently would call at apartment but I was never in which was nonsense and why did he never leave a note? That was proof to me that I can't negotiate with him.

Do I need to watch 30 days before going the small claims court route?

I'm really kicking myself now, I quite liked and trusted the original landlord. The flooding issues weren't originally a problem and I went to a lot of trouble but now I've moved I'm getting screwed for my trouble. Fortunately, I learnt enough to not make same mistake again.

x12yhp

The mysterious behaviour makes me wonder whether the accountant is deceiving the tax man and attempting to hide it as well as possible...

KingMob

That's what I'm thinking, he recently told me he wanted to be a hands off/laid back guy and that's why he hadn't contacted me but I don't think it's acceptable that he's now sticking to the rules when he's neglected them over last 3-4 years.

I also got the impression that the repairs had not been done because he had to wait for the cheapest trademen he could find to become available and they might even be the kind of give him a decent receipt.

Going to contact Housing Rights and if necessary the Citizen's Advice Bureau this morning. Depending on the response from them will send one final letter and if not resolved satisfactorily will take it to the small claims court.