Ex tenant/friend wanting deposit back - moral dilemma

Caroline73_2

ilesmark wrote: »

That's another reason I think it's a bit rich for him to suddenly raise it after all this time. I genuinely don't have a lot of the records from that long ago, especially as in Aug 2010 he led me to believe it was forgotten about - in law that is called Estoppel and I could use it as a defence if he sued me.

Annisele and others - by way of clarification I should point out that during the 6 months after I came back, I did remind him multiple times about the bike and the need to sort out ££ and the response was always 'oh yeah, we'll get round to it'. After contact ceased, I suppose yes there was a standoffishness, a distance, that stopped me from continuing to press him about it - and him me.

For a 2 bedroom garden flat in West London, £750/mth was about £150-250 below the market rent - this was in recognition of the fact that they were looking after the cats. And no, they didn't damage anything.

Re the friendship while I was travelling, we did have a lot of email contact during this time and he and his girlfriend were all set to come out and join me for a couple of weeks, although it never happened in the end as my own itinerary changed thanks to visa issues.

I've a good mind to work out a daily storage fee for the bike and offset it against the deposit

You cannot use "i don't have the records for that long ago" as any kind of excuse. Surely you should have them for tax purposes?

dirtysexymonkey

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.

you need to check your facts.

thats only the case if the shorthold tenency started on or after april 6th 2007.

19lottie82

I don’t really understand, what (in an ideal world), you want people to say regarding this one?

OK, maybe your ex friend could have handled things differently, but you still owe him the cash. Work out how much you owe him, pay it and move on.

vintagebrighton

I agree with the general consensus. There isn't really a moral dilemma is there? You owe him money he doesn't owe you a friendship. Just pay what you owe and move on then there'll be nothing to drag up.

peachyprice

Lets be realistic here, you must have a vague idea whether or not he left with outstanding bills that you would have had to have paid.

You'd have been more than a little miffed if there was a £100 phone bill, £130 council tax, a £50 gas, a £75 gas etc. etc., that you had to pay because they hadn't paid up to date before they left, no?

If there were no unreasonable bills outstanding when they moved out you're talking about £10 here and £10 there but he paid your vet bill of £100, so pay him his £250 you owe and call it quits.

As for bike 'storage', that's just being petty.

claire16c

If he paid your £100 vets bill, and you never paid him back for that, it seems really mean not to pay him back his £250. If he had run up massive bills Im sure you would have noticed. And surely feeding the cats would have cost a fair amount over 18 months too?

Acc72

ilesmark wrote: »

So - anyone have any thoughts?

And you still seem surprised thst these people no longer want to be friends ?? ..................

Lotus-eater

Acc72 wrote: »

And you still seem surprised thst these people no longer want to be friends ?? ..................

+1 tbh

I thought exactly the same thing.

I just can't believe the OP has moaned so much about a rusty bike.

pinkshoes

You're being really petty!

You returned £500 of a £750 deposit.

Deduct the outstanding bills from the remaining £250 you have, and a small amount for having to dispose of the bike, then return the rest.

Did you pay them for the vets bill?

Gordon_Hose

You didn't NEED to sit down with him to work out the bills, you could have done that yourself.

Sounds to me like you're making excuses. As someone who has been on the receiving end of a landlord who wouldn't return my deposit for all sorts of ridiculous excuses, I'm with the consensus here in that you should return the remaining money ASAP.