Dead landlord and rent deposit

davidc557

I'd like some advice please with a flat which we just moved out of. We lived there for 2 years and the boiler was faulty and kept breaking down. This went for over 10 months, from April to Feb and on two occasions during the winter we had to stay in a hotel for nearly a week each time as there was no central heating and no hot water and the bathroom/kitchen sinks were blocked so the flat wasn't livable.

The landlord always said it was our fault because we didn't know how to use the boiler controls, but he instructed 3 different plumbing firms and all 3 said the same thing, that the boiler was very old and needed replacing. Eventually, a new control circuit was fitted to the boiler and it worked perfectly after that.

We had to buy 3 electric heaters and it was not easy living in the flat as we had a newborn baby and a toddler.

When we moved out, we hadn't heard from the landlord for about 6 months, but the estate agent told us at the check out that the landlord had passed away and that his wife was now the owner.

When we moved in, the previous tenant had not cleaned the flat and it was very dirty, there were rubbish bags in the living room, the floors were dusty and the kitchen was very messy. We had not paid for a professional cleaner so we just cleaned up ourselves.

When we moved out, our deposit of £2150 was kept entirely by the new landlord, even though we had spent a whole day cleaning the flat. They said as we had not professionally cleaned the flat, they had had to hire one and we were being charged for it. The carpets were also very old and dirty and had several areas of damage. The landlord has replaced the carpets and taken the amount from our deposit saying we were responsible for the damage. But the carpet must have been at least 10-15 years old. When we asked for the deposit back, she said we owed the landlord more money and we were lucky we were not going to be chased for it.

My main questions are:

- Can we claim back any money for all the disruption and costs caused by the faulty boiler? I have about 40 emails I wrote to the agent during the 10 months complaining about it. I assume the agent or the landlord must have paperwork from the 3 plumbing firms to show the work they did but not sure if they will provide any as evidence. I have the 3 firms' names.

- Because the landlord died, can we claim against his surviving widow? She took the deposit from us and has threatened us (through the agent) to charge more for damage to the flat. There were several areas of structural damage to the walls and windows which were already there when we moved in. We did ask the landlord to repair them but he had refused. But I have email correspondence to prove that the damage was already there and that the landlord refused to repair it.

The widow doesn't seem to be aware that the damage was there before. When we complained initially to her husband, he instructed a surveyor who came and inspected it. The surveyor told us that the damage was very old and needed to be repaired but the landlord must have ignored his advice.

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

David

BitterAndTwisted

Was there an inventory when you started this tenancy?

No matter how foul and damaged the carpeting may have been at the end of your tenancy the landlord cannot claim the entire cost of replacement out of your deposit.

jamie11

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Was there an inventory when you started this tenancy?

No matter how foul and damaged the carpeting may have been at the end of your tenancy the landlord cannot claim the entire cost of replacement out of your deposit.

Absolutely, if the carpet was old as that it would be condemned on wear and tear alone, even good quality carpet has only a limited life. I believe you should not be even charged a percentage for it.

If you were only there for two years then your deposit should have been protected in one of the three government approved schemes, was it?

If it was then raise a dispute immediately, if it was not protected then come back and we will advise what action to take to get it back.

clutton_2

if there is no check in inventory and no check out inventory then the LL and his widow cannot prove that you did any damage at all..

Write a short polite letter asking for the return of your deposit in full. also ask which deposit protection scheme your deposit is lodged with. Head the letter Letter BEFore Action . Say that if the money is not returned within 7 days you will commence legal action to recover it. Whilst you are waiting... check out moneyclaimonline.... that is what you wil have to do in 7 days time...

let us know how you progress

bw

G_M

Is this England/Wales? Or Scotland - different law?
Did you move in afetr 2007?
Did you sign a check-IN inventory?
If so, how did it describe the parts under dispute?
If Eng/Wales and after 2007 - which deposit protection sceme was the deposit registered with?

Assuming Eng/wales, post 2007, no scheme registered and no inventory, the landlord (widow is now your landlord) has not a leg to stand on.

Use the Small Claims Court.

may_fair

davidc557 wrote: »

My main questions are:

- Can we claim back any money for all the disruption and costs caused by the faulty boiler? I have about 40 emails I wrote to the agent during the 10 months complaining about it. I assume the agent or the landlord must have paperwork from the 3 plumbing firms to show the work they did but not sure if they will provide any as evidence. I have the 3 firms' names.

Disrepair claims are not straightforward, and you should get legal advice. If the claim for disrepair damages is over £1,000 it will not be allocated to the small claims track, in which case it would be essential to hire counsel to represent you.

- Because the landlord died, can we claim against his surviving widow?

It depends on whether she became your legal landlord before the tenancy ended (the agent may have described her as the 'owner' but it may not have been finalized even though she stood to inherit). If not, and the title passed to her after the tenancy ended, then I think your claim would be against the estate of the deceased.

davidc557

Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Yes, the tenancy was in the last 3 years and in London so was protected by a government scheme. However, it seems the agent can keep the deposit without needing any consent from me as I was never contacted about it. I only found out that the new landlord had taken all of it when I asked for it back.

I think the previous landlord died about 6 months before the move out, I wasn't given an exact date and it was a bit awkward to ask. But I do know that his wife took over so she must have been taken over immediately as I know that between wife and husband property passes without needing any formalities.

We did sign an inventory and sent it back to the agent (Foxtons) but they were fired by the landlord a year into the tenancy and the new agent does not have it. I recall that at least some of the damage in the flat was listed by the check-in agent. When we moved out, there was no check-out conducted by an independent agent. The new landlord's agent went over the flat with us and there seemed to be no problems. She seemed quite happy with the state of the flat then but now she wrote to us saying the flat was left in a terrible state and we should consider ourselves lucky that they do not sue us for further money.

I really want to avoid a court action as it will be expensive, but I don't think I have any choice now.

Does anyone have any experience of the small claims court for disputes such as this? Or will they always be moved up to the more expensive county court?

Thanks again

SuperBOB

Perhaps you should also investigate as to why you were not notified that the landlord was taking the deposit out.

may_fair

davidc557 wrote: »

Yes, the tenancy was in the last 3 years and in London so was protected by a government scheme. However, it seems the agent can keep the deposit without needing any consent from me as I was never contacted about it. I only found out that the new landlord had taken all of it when I asked for it back.

With the insurance-based schemes, the agent may hold the money during the tenancy, but if there's a dispute they must lodge it with the scheme. If no dispute is raised, then both LL's and T's consent are required before releasing it to one or the other.

I know that between wife and husband property passes without needing any formalities.

I would check that as I cannot believe no formalities are required. A rental property might well be bequeathed to a son/daughter; it's not a 'given' that the wife inherits absolutely everything.

If the title passed to the wife during the tenancy, then you should have been served with notices advising you of the change of landlord. If you weren't, then I'd claim against the estate of the deceased and the wife as co-defendants and let the court decide who's liable.

I really want to avoid a court action as it will be expensive, but I don't think I have any choice now.

Check with the deposit scheme that it's not too late to raise a dispute. Court fees in the small claims track are not expensive. If you don't make a disrepair claim, and claim only for return of the deposit, you don't need legal representation.

Does anyone have any experience of the small claims court for disputes such as this? Or will they always be moved up to the more expensive county court?

There is no 'small claims court'. All civil claims are dealt with in the county court and are allocated to one of three tracks: small claims track, multi track, or fast track, depending on the type of claim.

If you claim for the deposit only, and assuming the value of the claim is less than £5,000, then it will be allocated to the small claims track. If you also claim for disrepair, and the value of that part of the claim is over £1,000 then the whole claim may be allocated to one of the other tracks, where court fees are a lot higher, and you need legal representation.

davidc557

Thanks very much for all your help.

I will check if I can raise a dispute through the government scheme and gather all the correspondence and evidence I have showing the damage which existed before we moved in.

We never received any notification about the landlord passing away. There was only his name on the lease that we signed but the agent told me that his wife was the new landlord when we moved out.

I will make sure I report back how things go.

Thanks again everyone

PPPingu

All the best with this one, looking forward to hearing the successful resolution!