Do I owe this? (Long)

UKTigerlily

Ok apologies in advance as this is long & may be confusing!

To cut a long story short, my ex b-f & I were renting a semi from a private landlady which we moved into after we split up as housemates (Seperate bedrooms etc). In time he decided he wanted to move out as he had a new g-f & wanted time living alone before moving in with her & felt it was time we went our seperate ways, which I agreed with.

I didn't have anywhere to go & decided i'd like to stay where I was & see if I could get Housing Benefit, we informed the landlady (The ex gave the required notice), she came round & was quite happy for me to live there alone, provided a new tenancy agreement in my name only, which she hadn't signed but I did, didn't get time to return it though.

Next thing I know the landlady visits with a two month eviction notice, saying I wouldn't be able to get Housing Benefit for the house & although we'd been brilliant tenants & she couldn't fault us it was to protect them. The ex then decides to stay another six months to give me time to find somewhere to live which the landlady agrees too, no new tenancy was drawn up, so we had the original joint one + one in my name only, signed by me but not her.

I start to look into new places, I put myself on the councils housing list, contacted several HA's, looked into renting privately but couldn't afford anything alone in my area & wasn't able to find shared with my cat (Plus i'd rather not have lived with people I didn't know & i'm mentally ill so it would be difficult on them too due to how I was). Anyway I would've rented a room IF anywhere would have taken my cat & was close enough to work as I don't drive, but at the end of the 6 months I hadn't found anywhere & not through lack of trying.

My ex b-f moves out, in with his g-f right off & i'm left alone in the house, the landlady agrees to one more month as my ex'd paid for that month & she agreed to me using the bond for the months rent left. I got onto the council, told them I was definitely being evicted, got my Psychiatrist to back up that I was vulnerable etc to get extra points, everything. While living alone I couldn't afford the £395.00 a month rent (As I couldn't move out after the agreed one month extension due to making myself voluntarily homeless or something + nowhere to go) & I also had the normal bills, electricity/gas/water rates & council tax, food etc etc I also wasn't able to work due to the stress of not knowing where to turn to & the thought of being homeless & I didn't get company sick pay.

Anyway, finally I get a council tenancy & move out. The landlady does her inspection & found a huge list of problems, some of which my ex said were in the inventory when we moved in (he was there for that as he found the property, I didn't go there until we moved in). The problems included:

A stain on my ex's bedroom ceiling from where he squashed a spider

The gas heater not working which we never used & didn't touch at all

The fridge hadn't been emtied which I meant to do but didn't remember until we'd posted the keys back through the letterbox & I admit should've been done

A new back door as agreed because we installed a cat flap, but we objected as she'd already said she was selling the house & would be having new doors & double glazing anyway whether we had the cat flap or not

A broken window catch which I assume was wear & tear & her responsibility & would've taken two seconds to fix

Shelf in the bathroom had come down (This was after my ex left & was only held on by slotting the holes over the screws but I just couldn't get it back on & they did it in seconds.

Dirty carpet in living room which was when we moved in

Cat pee in the corner which couldn't have been as they never once peed anywhere but the litter tray & outside, this was on the carpet which she was going to charge us for, surely counts as carpet damage?

Holes in the bedroom wall, she said we'd put a shelp up, they were listed when we moved in & no shelf was ever put up

Paper coming off the ceiling in the lounge, they said we'd had a leak which we hadn't else she'd have had to send a plumber round & there was no stains or signs of a leak, who papers a ceiling?

Anyway on & on. She came to my new place with the list & her brother, saying he was a barrister etc but I don't believe her as the tenancy agreement wasn't even right apparently.

So, i agree to pay x amount & ask her to send me a list of damages & costs etc & we'd set up a repayment plan, the ex refuses to pay & she chases his Mum as she was guarantor & says she'll take her to court. I thought if one of us was agreeing to pay it couldn't go to the guarantor. Anyway the ex didn't want her chasing his Mum so paid the landlady £1,500ish instead of the £3,000 she asked for. I asked him NOT to pay but to send her to me as I wanted to sever ties with him & he was horrible with money & controlling & I wanted shot of him not to be repaying him for years.

So now he wants £1,500 from me & I don't want to be paying him forever, would rather pay through a court if I can, haven't even seen the itemised bill from the landlady & despite her saying she'd sell the place she didn't & rented it again & tried to charge us for three months rent as that's how long she says it took her to get it fit to rent out again, we know this isn't true as the neighbours said so & she'd also witheld the ex tenants bond for ages.

To anyone still reading this, where do I stand? I've been told I don't owe him & I asked him not to pay. I didn't have a choice to stay in the property for longer, I had to & obviously couldn't afford rent, would she have had insurance to cover it? Now I dunno whether I owe him or not though I do agree to his half of the bond being paid back. It doesn't help that I don't have the money spare to pay him anyway. Sorry for the huge post

Xbigman

OK. The issues with renewing tenancies, staying on and rent paid is slightly confusing. From what you have said you do not owe any rent other than the 3 months the landlady is claiming for the property being void. If this three months is covered by the solo agreement you signed, but she didn't, then she might have a claim on you in theory. As there were other verbal agreements made subsequently and you BF's mother was still held to be guarantor and your BF held partly responsible for the alleged damage she cannot claim to also hold you to a single tenancy agreement.
I don't think you owe this money and I advise you not to pay it.
If this 3 months is not covered by your solo agreement then you do not owe it (full stop).
Worse case scenario, they go to court and you state your case and lose. You then ask the court for time to pay and set out a plan. Do not pay until its in court, which I don't think it ever will be.

As for the money for damages. If a landlord/lady keeps your deposit or bond its a git but thats how the game seems to be played these days. If they come to you with a 3k bill then the first step is to ask for an itemised costing and refuse to pay until you get it. If you have an inventory (I assume you have it) that covers some of the damage then you can dispute part of the bill. If you disagree about anything else you can dispute it anyway.
You have however, moved beyond that. You BF has paid a bill that you have disputed (I assume the landlady is now happy?). Quite honestly that is his problem. You do not owe him anything. If he keeps pursueing you for the debt through the courts he will find it tough going, and you can always make an arrangement to pay if he should win in court. If he keeps bothering you for the debt in person then report him to the police for harrassment.

In summary. Don't pay anyone anything, you don't owe it.

It looks to me like your landlady is trying it on and your BF is a wimp.
Regards



X

PandaPants_2

She sounds like a nasty piece of work! :mad:

Contact your local Housing Rights service and see what they say. If your boyfriend paid up then thats his problem, you owe him nothing! :rotfl:

Have you found a place to live for now?

James&Shell

Just wanted to say good luck and i hope it all goes well in the end

UKTigerlily

Thanks all, yeah i've now been renting with the council for almost a year & everythings great except the ex nagging! Yep, the landlady is happy & out of both of our lives, just the ex wanting £1,500, which I don't have. I have told him to take it to court as I was sick of him texting & phoning asking when i'd pay when I was off sick & on SSP & didn't know. I told him as soon as I knew i'd let him know. Anyway, I understand he paid due to the landlady chasing his Mum & Dad, he went to the CAB & they told him she could choose either of us to chase, but I don't think they'd have been taken to court seeing as I was willing to set up an arrangement with her & she never even sent me an itemised bill. I'm mad he paid though cause I didn't want to be paying him back for 4 years +. Think i'll leave it until he goes to court if he does. He keeps saying it's for his wedding in April but that ain't my problem he should've thought of that !