Ex tenant/friend wanting deposit back - moral dilemma

ilesmark

Wanted to delete post, but site won't let me.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Did they do anything that could be seen as forfeiting their deposit? Breaking something, destroying something?

If not, then refund the remainder of his deposit.

You can't withhold it as punishment for finding himself new friends after you'd beggared off travelling for 18 months.

BitterAndTwisted

They looked after your flat and your pusscat for a long time. Eighteen whole months when anything or everything could have gone wrong. And presumably treated your home and your possessions with respect. You have fulfilled your purpose as they have fulfilled theirs and now they have no further need of you or you them.

Agree whatever it is that you owe them and pay them. Then, you'll ever need to speak to them again.

Annisele

I agree with Jojo. You were friends, sure, but you also began a business relationship when he became your tenant.

As for your list, I'd say:

a) I've already paid most of it; Irrelevant - the bank doesn't care if you pay "most" of your overdraft!
b) we never sat down at the time to sort out bills; Again, irrelevant. If you thought he owed you something, you should have sorted it out back then. (So should he - but you were the landlord).
c) his rusty old bike has been cluttering up my garden for 3 years and would still be now if I hadn't prompted him; If you wanted it shifted, you should have asked before.
d) in Aug 2010 I prompted him about the bills and he said "I don't care about the money"; Well, now he does.
e) he's only asking for the deposit now following me making contact about something else. Because you've reminded him that you owe him money!

Depending on exactly when the tenancy started, he could potentially take you to court for failing to properly protect his deposit. You're only talking about £250 or so; unless you genuinely don't have it you should pay the man. If you don't have it, you should come up with a realistic plan to pay him asap.

victory

The money owed neither you or ex tenent know how much?

PasturesNew

They were tenants. You should have paid their deposit into a Tenant Deposit Scheme. As you didn't it's irrelevant now as they can take you to court for 3x the monthly rent.

Dilemma over. You lose.

ilesmark

Deleted post

Money_maker

PasturesNew wrote: »

They were tenants. You should have paid their deposit into a Tenant Deposit Scheme. As you didn't it's irrelevant now as they can take you to court for 3x the monthly rent.

Dilemma over. You lose.

Suggest you pay the balance and move on.

BitterAndTwisted

PasturesNew wrote: »

They were tenants. You should have paid their deposit into a Tenant Deposit Scheme. As you didn't it's irrelevant now as they can take you to court for 3x the monthly rent.

Dilemma over. You lose.

They could try but the OP could pay the deposit into one of the deposit-protection schemes online five minutes before the court appearance. Problem sorted!

No need to frighten people. These were supposed to be friends. They don't do things like that to each other.

mummyoftwomonkeys

ah i should just chuck his old rusty bike away, not get in touch with him again and chances are he wont either and will forget about it lol, just say "oh yeah, we will get round to it " if he does lol

rachbc

Pay him his deposit back plus the vets bill. If you left the bills in your name whilst travelling you are liable for them anyway. I wouldn't get silly about bike storage costs or he could always charge a cat sitting fee which would bee a lot more than the rent reduction!