Landlord Owes Me Money

conbee70

I rented a one bedroom flat a year ago and sign a 6months contract. When I viewed the flat there was a very strong smell of damp in the living area and the bedroom. I asked the agent and he assured me that it was because the carpet has just been cleaned the flat was close up for a while. I still inspected the walls but didn’t seen and kind of mould poking out behind the pain or on the skirting boards ect.. When I finally sing the contract with the estate agents I ask them over and over again if they confirmed with the landlord that there was no damp in the property. They told me yes. I have the whole conversation recorded on my phone because I have had a bad experience before so I always secretly record any conversation with estate agent and landlords.
Getting to the point now, the property was on an economy 10 electric usage. After two months of living in the property my misses came to live with me. she was pregnant at the time so while I was at work she was able to leave the windows and doors open to help the damp smell. I will admit that did seem to help because smell in the house cleared up. The next month water system failed so in order to get hot water I had to keep the boiler switch on. First electric bill I got after four months which was up to August living in the property was £267.35. Ok the boil failed not her fault even though the response to fix was slow. We continued to live in the property and in September our baby came that’s when all hell broke loose. We can no longer keep the windows open during the night and the weather began to change. There was only one heater in that entire flat which was in the living room so I made the living room the bedroom. All of a sudden mould started growing everywhere on the walls in the roof of the shower around the windows everywhere.
You might ask why I didn’t move at this point and the reason is the closest flat that was on the market in the area we can afford was a long way from work and it was on a 12 month contract. I couldn’t take this because there reason I moved to the area was because I was offered a job with a 12month contract and I already worked 5 months. Also the stress of moving and with a new born baby it would have been difficult. The landlord was very cooperative at this point she brought us two extra electric heaters for the bedroom and asks us to wipe down the windows and walls on a daily basis to help which I did. That helped for a while but the weather started getting worst and the mould started getting worst and she came around again. She apologised over and over and said because of the baby she is going to buy a dehumidifier to help. Now in September with the running of these two new electric heaters I got a bill of 231.78 then in December I got a bill of 207.29. Then the humidifier in December and I began to run this thing. It’s unbelievable the amount of water that this thing sucked out of the air. She insisted we ran it at least 8 hours a day until there is no more water appearing in the dehumidifier. I had to run this thing for about three weeks for 8 hours a day to get all the water and moist out of the building. I informed her and she said ok that’s fine
I cooperated with this landlord from day one in this property. Then my work contract ran out I give her two months notice that I am leaving. So I contacted eon and they sent me a bill from December to march of £804. I know for a fact that this humidifier caused this bill to be so high so I asked the landlord to assist towards this bill. That’s when the monster in her came out. She said she is not paying anything towards the bill she said she don’t care if it was the humidifier. I reminded her that she insisted that because of the baby and to keep the property in a liveable condition I must run the dehumidifier. She said thats too bad and I should have left the flat is not her problem.
What can I do? In the 11months I spent in that 1 bed ground floor flat the total in electric is £1505. I paid all bills up to December and now I have this bill of £804.73 to pay for the period of 16 of December to the 30th of March. Surly the land lord should foot some of this because running a 1000w dehumidifier for three weeks 8 and sometimes 10hrs a day caused this bill to be so high? Please Help!!!!!!!!!

00ec25

if you do not have a written agreement from the LL that she would contribute towards your electric bill then you have no proof on which to proceed. Your tenancy contract will presumably clealry state you are responsible for the utility bills
if you have one of your secret recordings where she verbally agrees to fund it or instiructs you to use it then I'm not sure that would be admissible in court if you try to sue, although presumably the fact ythe LL hired/purchased a dehumidifier would support your case as obviously people only provide this for a reason so the fact you bills were high could be linked circumstancially to the provision of the extra electrcial appliance, but then again hopw would you prove you actually used the dehuimidifier, as the counter arguement could be your electric bill is high becuase you were doing something else which ran it up - how would you counter such an accusation?

you have my sympathy but not sure what else you can do now

catfish50

conbee70 wrote: »

What can I do? In the 11months I spent in that 1 bed ground floor flat the total in electric is £1505. I paid all bills up to December and now I have this bill of £804.73 to pay for the period of 16 of December to the 30th of March. Surly the land lord should foot some of this because running a 1000w dehumidifier for three weeks 8 and sometimes 10hrs a day caused this bill to be so high? Please Help!!!!!!!!!

It sounds very unfair to me. Wish I could advise you but I can't. You might be able to get advice from Shelter (http://england.shelter.org.uk/). I would act quickly, as damp flats are so so bad for a baby. Good luck.

conbee70

@ catfish I have already moved out two weeks ago. Also Its very depressing that I might have to foot this bill. Surely the landlord is responsible for providing adequate living conditions remember I signed a contract. She insisted in using the dehumidifier she purchased it. Even if i can get my money back for that I can take her to court for my mattress, pillows, suitcases, bags and clothing that all got mildewed in her flat?????????

catfish50

conbee70 wrote: »

@ catfish I have already moved out two weeks ago. Also Its very depressing that I might have to foot this bill. Surely the landlord is responsible for providing adequate living conditions remember I signed a contract. She insisted in using the dehumidifier she purchased it. Even if i can get my money back for that I can take her to court for my mattress, pillows, suitcases, bags and clothing that all got mildewed in her flat?????????

Have you spoken to the local authority about this landlord? She should not be allowed to get away with bullying her tenants into using a dehumidifier at their own cost, rather than doing the repairs needed to stop the damp. I think the LA have the power to make her do the repairs, on the grounds of health and safety. Although you're no longer living there, in the process of reporting her to the LA you might be able to get information as to what action you could take, if any, to recover costs you incurred as a result of her neglect of the repairs. (Cost of running the dehumidifier, damage to belongings, etc) Again, I think Shelter could advise you on this.

Sorry, that's all I can think of to suggest. I hope you get some satisfaction.

ladymarmalade1970

I have had a similar problem in one of the properties i rent out. We have had it investigated thoroughly and like you were told just to keep the windows open if we could - to increase ventilation. I felt bad as also, like you, my tenants had a baby and mould can be FATAL to children. There didn't appear to be any solution other than the constant wiping it down. If i had thought of a humidifier i would have contributed to the running of one definitley!
I think your landlord is being unfair and she should contribute but how you will get her to do this i have no idea.

catfish50

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

I have had a similar problem in one of the properties i rent out. We have had it investigated thoroughly and like you were told just to keep the windows open if we could - to increase ventilation. I felt bad as also, like you, my tenants had a baby and mould can be FATAL to children. There didn't appear to be any solution other than the constant wiping it down. If i had thought of a humidifier i would have contributed to the running of one definitley!
I think your landlord is being unfair and she should contribute but how you will get her to do this i have no idea.

I'm sorry but I don't think feeling bad is enough. Damp flats are not fit to live in. I know it can be difficult to cure damp but dehumidifiers are not a solution, even if the landlord pays for (not "contributes to") the cost of ruuning one.

ladymarmalade1970

catfish50 wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't think feeling bad is enough. Damp flats are not fit to live in. I know it can be difficult to cure damp but dehumidifiers are not a solution, even if the landlord pays for (not "contributes to") the cost of ruuning one.

It hasn't got damp! We have had the damp people round and they said the only thing to do is to keep the flat well ventilated and don't put wet clothes on the radiators to dry. If i had damp i would get it fixed straight away.
Apparently this is a very common problem. I haven't had any complaints from the current tenants so it could have been that the old tenants WERE putting wet clothes on the radiators.