Help! Landlord went mad during checkout

Soot2006

I would not be meeting up with a man that had previously acted aggressively or intimidatingly toward me.
If I did happen to go, it would be with some serious sidekicks to witness and/or prevent any inappropriate behaviour.

MISTYC

As long as your deposit is definately protected you will be okay. Have you checked that it is in a deposit scheme?

I am a landlord and I really appreciate people who pay on time.
Scuffs and marks on carpets are wear and tear so you will have no problems with that.

The garden if its not in the contract to do it, again you dont have a problem.

We send cleaners into our properties for 3 hours a week and a gardener twice a month.

Was it a house let or HMO property.?

If your deposit is with a scheme you wont have any problems.

ruggedtoast

Morter wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, in an email the landlord asked that we meet him again for a second checkout, I spoke to a solicitor at work and they think that it would be best just to go straight to the dispute service as the way he acted was very unreasonable and threatening - do people agree with this? Would it been seen as being uncooperative by the arbitrator? I really don't want to see him face to face again if it can be avoided!

You dont have to be there for the checkout anyway. Its just the point they are meant to make a record of the state of the property when you've gone. As with everything else its up to them to decide later if they want to make deductions because of something, and for you to complain if you think its unfair.

I only had to be present once for a check out and the only thing I had to sign was to agree that the meter readings were correct. The snagger spent about 45 minutes going over everything on her own and said that she would write a full report to the landlord and they would decide what to do based on that.

He's probably just going to try and bully you into signing something you dont want to so I would steer clear. You have vacated the premises as you were meant to at the end of your tenancy. He either has to release the deposit or come up with a good reason to the arbitrators why he shouldnt have to.

He has ten days to inform you of any deductions.

KiKi

I wouldn't go back for a second checkout - you don't know what he might have done to the place, since!

KiKi

may_fair

Morter wrote: »

The inventory doesn't list anything about the conditions of anything in the house and I feel he is trying to get us to restore the place to a better place than it was originally so I wrote down that I disputed everything he had put apart from 5-6 points (fridge drawers being broken and a couple of stains on the carpet).

If the dispute ends up being settled either via ADR or in the county court, the LL will have to provide evidence of original condition as well as condition at the end of tenancy. You are not liable for wear and tear - such as minor scuffs and marks to decor - only for actual damage. After a 3 year tenancy with 4 tenants occupying the property, wear and tear will be significant and the LL's attitude - expecting it back in exactly the same condition as 3 years ago - is wholly unreasonable.

Can he charge us an extra days rent as we haven't been able to get him to take the keys and because cleaners were still in the property?

Your liability for rent ends when the tenancy ends, and that is not dependent on return of keys. If you gave proper notice and moved out at notice expiry, that ends the tenancy.

If the garden isn't mentioned on the inventory at all can he force us to pay for a gardener

Unlikely, as he needs evidence of original condition in order to prove it was in worse condition at end of tenancy. Moreover, the LL cannot himself 'force' you - you'd only be obliged to pay if ordered to by ADR or the county court.

Again, with regards to cleaning all the windows can he force us to pay for this when they were not cleaned when we moved in and when they are not mentioned on the inventory at all?

Ditto, and you have no obligation to return the property in a cleaner condition than it was in at start of tenancy.

hazyjo

Sounds to me like he's purposely trying to intimidate you in order to keep your deposit and/or an extra day's rent. I always think it's best to stand up to bullies. I bet he's done this before. Have you googled his name? Maybe he's trying now to keep it out of court as he's tried it on previously.

Good luck.

Jx

Morter

Thanks for all the responses everyone, bit more reassured now.

He emailed again this morning to say that he was giving us one more day to come back and rectify everything and then he would be prepared to do another checkout on friday. He also added that he had now had professional advice and didn't want to go to dispute.

We replied and told him that we wanted him to email us a list of everything that he wanted us to rectify and that we were not prepared to meet him again in person. We are now waiting to hear from him so we will see what his next move is...

RAS

Morter wrote: »

He emailed again this morning to say that he was giving us one more day to come back and rectify everything and then he would be prepared to do another checkout on friday. He also added that he had now had professional advice and didn't want to go to dispute.

Of course he does not want this to go to dispute, because almost every item would be rejected and he has to hand the whole deposit back.

You really are being too lenient with this bully.

Soot2006

He also added that he had now had professional advice and didn't want to go to dispute.

I'll bet he doesn't!!!
PMSL -- tell him to accept your offer of liability for the one or two items you genuinely think you owe and to release the remainder of the deposit, as you would very much like to go to dispute please thank you.

prudryden

LOL The LL is doing his own check out. How stupid. It would never hold up as he is not a disinterested party and the date on a photo can be changed. I always have an independent check out company do mine.