Ex says I owe her half the rent deposit.

skinnycat

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help with this question.

An ex-girlfriend and myself used to rent a property. The rental details were in either both our names or my name (I can't remember this fact at the moment).

She paid the deposit because we needed to move quickly as she had changed her job.

During the time we were there, one of her cats stained the carpet and so the deposit was lost on moving out.

She now says she is going to take legal action to get half the deposit from me.

Can she do this ?? Do I really need to pay ??

RAS

Frankly, I would have challenged the landlord's deduction regarding losing the whole deposit. The LL is not allowed to benefit from damage, only replace like with like so unless the carpet was brand new and the damage extensive, the deduction seems unfair.

However, do you have any paperwork showing that the LL made the deduction because of the state of the carpet?

Timalay

I turn around and say it's her cat that caused the problem. Don't think she would get very far with legal action.

skinnycat

RAS wrote: »

However, do you have any paperwork showing that the LL made the deduction because of the state of the carpet?

I think I may have. If not, the landlord may have a record of correspondence. Most of the letters went through my ex-girlfriend.

They did the deduction for a carpet replacement so according to her my 'half' is around £680.

This all went on about a year ago but she has just sent me a text saying that she is going to get legal advice.

BitterAndTwisted

She's going to get legal advice? That will be money wasted. Her deposit. Her cat. Her expense.

I wouldn't even bother to respond to her empty threats, most especially texts. Serious people use proper modes of communication.

split_second

for the amount she wants its small claims court, going to anything higher with legal representation would cost her more than what she is asking for, she would have to be awarded everything she wants, plus costs to profit

did she keep the house on until recently?

change your mobile number, in fairness i think christmas is coming and she is a bit skint

skinnycat

split_second wrote: »

did she keep the house on until recently?

No she decided to end the relationship so we both moved out. I'd love to know the legal implications of this.

split_second

skinnycat wrote: »

No she decided to end the relationship so we both moved out. I'd love to know the legal implications of this.

law as far as i know is based on what is reasonable and what a reasonable person would do/expect

seems odd it has taken a year to get the deposit back/not, i stick by my original assessment, she wants the money for something, change your number and block her on fb :rotfl:

corbyboy

Did the landlord keep you whole deposit? Just for a stain on the carpet? Did you not challenge this at the time?

Judith_W

I don't understand - if you didn't get the deposit back this is a joint loss. Did you live there after she moved out? If you have paperwork to show the reason you lost the deposit is because if HER cat, then just ignore her. It doesn't sound like she has a case (she can get 30 min solicitor free so I guess this is what she is doing) but I'm no expert.

Judith_W

Just re-read the posts, unless there was some agreement that you would pay her half the deposit if you lost it I can't see what she thinks she can achieve. ESPECIALLY if it is showing as her cat that caused the issue