Landlord problems... He now wants to sue me!!

G-McDog

Hi,

I put up my original question and got some great and helpful answers. Basically my flat was inspected on the last day of our tennancy by the landlords representative. He said everything was great and there were no issues.

Since then the landlord wrote saying the flat was in the worse state he'd seen any place in 40 years. He said he wanted my comments before he consults his solicitor. I wrote back refuting all his claims, answering his questions and telling him if he did not refund my deposit I will claim it back through which ever goverment approved protection scheme he has used, hoping that he will reply and say fine take it, it's not worth the hassel!!

However, there has now been a development.

In his reply he has added further claims regarding other items in the flat. Which he did not mention in the first letter (all of these are also false). He also has made some other statements which made me realise how dodgy this landlord is.

He has admitted to not putting my deposit into a government approved security scheme. However, he has said that he will refund me my deposit but then take me to court and sue me for the damages!! How can he refund my deposit and then sue me for damages? That seems weird. If he thought there was any damages then surely he'd take it out of my deposit and I'd fight to get it back!

He also has admitted to breaking the lease agreement by entering the property when we had not agreed him to do so. He did this to take pictures of our birds in their cage. He's pictures were to prove that we had budgies. We did have budgies, but there was nothing in the lease agreement to say we weren't allowed pets. When the inspection was made (2 months before we moved out) the landlord said they were lovely and he had no issues with them being in the flat. He said he really liked them.

My main questions are:

Can he refund my deposit then sue me for "Everything I've got"? or even sue me for anything!!

The representative said the flat was fine on the day we left. He thanked us for taking such good care of the place. He also said we would definitly get our deposit back. Does this count for anything? We refute all his claims. The flat was cleaned to an even better condition than we found it.

Is it unreasonable for the landlord to expect the flat to be left in a better condition than what we found it in?

Thank you

G_M

Too complicated esp as you say there's a previous thread.

Add you query to the original thread for continuity.

prudryden

Personally, and I may certainly be wrong, I think that the act of refunding your deposit is an admission that he has no claim on any purported damages. He may be scaremongering, but do get other advice.

BitterAndTwisted

He can't sue you for "everything you've got". If he takes you to court the onus will be on him to provide proof of his position, not on you to prove otherwise. Is there any way that you could get the agent to give you a statement in writing confirming that the property was left in an appropriate condition?

I think this landlord is flying a kite

G-McDog

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

He can't sue you for "everything you've got". If he takes you to court the onus will be on him to provide proof of his position, not on you to prove otherwise. Is there any way that you could get the agent to give you a statement in writing confirming that the property was left in an appropriate condition?

I think this landlord is flying a kite

The problem is the landlords agent is his son in law. But I think he would be honest. Also in the landlords first letter he says...

Michael informed me that everything with the flat was fine. However, I can not agree that everything was fine.

So he has admitted that the agent has said everything was fine.

BitterAndTwisted

He's just trying to frighten you. I wouldn't respond directly to any of his threats. Just write to him stating that as far as you are concerned you left the property in the same condition at the end of the tenancy as it was at the start. If he wanted to have any documentary evidence of his spurious claims he would have ensured that there were proper detailed inventories at the beginning and at the end of your tenancy. I think you said in your other thread that there were not. Is that correct?

Hoof_Hearted

My son had a similar problem, although his deposit was in a protected scheme. The landlord wished to withold his full deposit. There was a stain on a carpet, which my son was willing to replace, the other minute issues were wear an tear and a lack of ventilation in the bathroom. The flat was inspected and deemed OK by independent person (except for carpet). In the end son said he would go to the adjudicator with the evidence of the leaving report. However, the letting agent negotiated and (I presume) told the landlord that he would lose. A settlement was reached with son paying £200 to replace the carpet and the rest returned. Some landlord's try it on.

I would get my deposit back and let him sue. If you have written evidence that the flat was fine when inspected on leaving, I don't think he would win his case. Once you have your deposit tell him to go F himself.

Ally

Have a read through the following information about DPS.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Tenancies/DG_189120

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/deposit_protection_schemes#5

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/getting_an_unprotected_deposit_back

HTH

may_fair

G-McDog wrote: »

He has admitted to not putting my deposit into a government approved security scheme. However, he has said that he will refund me my deposit but then take me to court and sue me for the damages!! How can he refund my deposit and then sue me for damages? That seems weird. If he thought there was any damages then surely he'd take it out of my deposit and I'd fight to get it back!

I suspect that he isn't aware of the recent court of appeal judgment ruling that T has no claim, after the tenancy ends, for the 3x deposit sanction for failing to protect the deposit. So, he's perhaps saying he'll refund the deposit to stop you (as he thinks) from claiming.

My main questions are:

Can he refund my deposit then sue me for "Everything I've got"? or even sue me for anything!!

He can refund the deposit then bring a claim against you for his alleged losses (e.g. due to alleged damage, etc). He would need to submit evidence to support his claim, including evidence of condition at the start and end of the tenancy. Without such evidence, he's unlikely to win the claim.

I recall that in your other thread the LL's claims appeared to be either invented or highly exaggerated, and it seems the same goes for his style of threatening legal action; he can't sue you for "everything you've got"; the most he could possibly be awarded is a sum covering his actual, proven, losses.

Note that, in the unlikely event that the court found against you, if you paid the CCJ within a month and obtained a certificate of satisfaction, this effectively cancels the CCJ and it would not adversely affect your credit rating.

The representative said the flat was fine on the day we left. He thanked us for taking such good care of the place. He also said we would definitly get our deposit back. Does this count for anything? We refute all his claims. The flat was cleaned to an even better condition than we found it.

In a court claim, while it'd obviously help if you had evidence which undermined the LL's allegations, the onus is on the LL to prove his claim, rather than for you to disprove it. (Mind you, it's unlikely the LL's agent would agree to be a witness for you, as the LL is his client). [Edit: just noticed you say it's LL's son-in-law and you have a letter from LL saying he said it was 'fine' - this is unlikely to help that much, as LL is denying in the letter that all was 'fine'].

Is it unreasonable for the landlord to expect the flat to be left in a better condition than what we found it in?

Yes, it's unreasonable. You are only obliged to leave the property in the same condition in which you found it, less fair wear and tear (dirt is not W&T, so the property must be left as clean as it was at the start of the tenancy).