Ex tenant/friend wanting deposit back - moral dilemma

rachbc

By bills I assumd you were holding onto the deposit to cover any outstanding utillities - whereas in fact you owe him

£250 unpaid deposit
£100 vets bill
6 months worth of cat food

plus 15 months interest on the above....

I fail to see where the moral dilema is - you owe a mate several hundred pounds, you pay him back

rachbc

ilesmark wrote: »

So it looks like I owe him - but he'll have some searching questions to answer when we sit down to work out the amount.

Mark

what searching questions does he have to answer -cash or bank transfer?

southoftheriver

None of that really matters though does it? Yes he could have approached you earlier, yes he should have removed his bike. But that doesn't change the fact that he kept to the terms of his agreement and therefore is owed his deposit back. Anything else is a reflection of your animosity towards him because of the breakdown of your friendship.

krlyr

ilesmark wrote: »

All right, lets see (starting from the basis that yes I do owe him something, lest anyone thinks I've posted just to ignore the advice)

- Why did he never sort out bills at the time despite me reminding him about it (as I did re the bike) numerous times during the 6 months, when it was still fresh in our memories?
- Why chase me now after he led me to believe in Aug 2010 it was forgotten about? In law that is called Estoppel and I could use it as a defence if he sued me.
- Why leave his rusty old bike cluttering up my garden for 3 years, which would still be there now if I hadn't prompted him;
- Why didn't he mention the matter when I contacted him re the bike in July 2011?
- Why is he only asking for the deposit now following me making contact about something else?

I think that's enough for the time being.

So really, the only question is "why wasn't this sorted earlier" - which he could ask of you, and you of him. You've both been a bit lazy to not sort it until now but it doesn't change the fact that you could have sent him his £250 months ago then sorted the bills for the cat stuff at a later date. Why do you feel you don't owe him the remaining £250 from his deposit?

Amanda65

As far as I can understand, sitting down and sorting out the bills is the two of you deciding how much you owe him on top of the deposit you witheld for cat food and vets bills.

You know you owe £250 outstanding deposit, I would add the £100 vets bill and £50 for food (if he's not bothered to let you know that seems fair), round it all up therefore to £400 and send him a cheque. I cannot understand what paperwork you would need from that time to sort that out? Surely he is the one who would need paperwork to 'prove' if he had spent more?

As for your questions:-

ilesmark wrote: »

- Why did he never sort out bills at the time despite me reminding him about it (as I did re the bike) numerous times during the 6 months, when it was still fresh in our memories?
Maybe it wasn't top of his priority list at the time ?

- Why chase me now after he led me to believe in Aug 2010 it was forgotten about? In law that is called Estoppel and I could use it as a defence if he sued me.
Perhaps he is skint and needs the money?

- Why leave his rusty old bike cluttering up my garden for 3 years, which would still be there now if I hadn't prompted him;
Because it's rusty and old and probably un- rideable and he doesn't need it?

- Why didn't he mention the matter when I contacted him re the bike in July 2011?
Perhaps he didn't need the money so much then and was embarrassed to bring it up?

- Why is he only asking for the deposit now following me making contact about something else?
Again, perhaps he is skint and needs the money?

onlyroz

When you talked about "the bills", and all of the lost paperwork, I was imagining all manner of complications around phone bills, sky subscriptions, council tax etc etc. But all we're really talking about is some cat food and a vet bill, both of which should be very easy to figure out. So do your sums, send the guy a cheque, dump the bike and move on with your life.

podperson

I think perhaps I'm missing something here.
1. Your friend fed and cared for your cat for 18 months while you were away - yes if he likes animals he probably got some enjoyment from it but that doesn't change the fact that he was doing it as a favour to you and if he hadn't done so then you would have had to pay someone to come in or put it in a cattery - both of which would be very expensive. In addition he paid a vets bill of about £100 for it. He doesn't seem to be asking for anything back for this.
2. He left a bike in the garden - now I admit this might have been inconvenient but if it really bothered you that much then why wait so long to ask him if you could get rid of? I would have been annoyed within a few months max and friend would have been told - pick up by x date or it's going. No legal system would uphold you charging 'storage' for this.
3. He paid a deposit of £750 - this was to cover you being out by damage caused or money owed from rent/utilities. It sounds like he left the house in good condition and was paid up to date. Hence he is owed the rest of the money back. This shouldn't be getting mixed in with other money - it was for a specific purpose - he kept his side of the contract so you need to do the same.

You do sound a little bitter about the break down of the friendship - yes it is sad but unfortunately it sounds like you are now at different places in your lives so perhaps don't have as much in common. This shouldn't affect what was essentially a contractual agreement between you. Because you aren't friends any more you don't know where he is in his life - he might need money at the moment which is why he has brought it back up after so long. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter because it is still owed.

JimmyTheWig

ilesmark wrote: »

I also need to clarify what I meant by 'bills' - all the utilities were in tenants name, so there is nothing owing by me or to me where those are concerned.

I don't understand, then, why you didn't give them the full £750 rather than the £500 at the time, with a view to sorting the rest out later.

ilesmark wrote: »

Aug 2010 - we met in a pub by accident. I said "you need to collect your bike and we need to sort out the bills" and went on to tell him what I thought of the way he'd tossed me aside. He said "I'll come round for the bike some time and I don't care about the money" and made some weak excuse about why he'd lost touch.

Maybe what he meant was he didn't care about the bills. I.e. didn't want to spend the time sorting them out. But maybe he did still want the deposit money back.

Teenie_D

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

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.

Totally agree, it should have been sorted straight away by YOU. I had a landlord who kept back part of our deposits for ridiculous reasons too, so unfair!

ilesmark wrote: »

All right, lets see (starting from the basis that yes I do owe him something, lest anyone thinks I've posted just to ignore the advice)

- Why did he never sort out bills at the time despite me reminding him about it (as I did re the bike) numerous times during the 6 months, when it was still fresh in our memories?
- Why chase me now after he led me to believe in Aug 2010 it was forgotten about? In law that is called Estoppel and I could use it as a defence if he sued me.
- Why leave his rusty old bike cluttering up my garden for 3 years, which would still be there now if I hadn't prompted him;
- Why didn't he mention the matter when I contacted him re the bike in July 2011?
- Why is he only asking for the deposit now following me making contact about something else?

I think that's enough for the time being.

Oh for goodness sake!!!:rotfl: If it bothered you that much you should have chucked it out!!

ilesmark wrote: »

Otherwise - thanks, you have probably summed the situation up the best.

Mark

What that you are bitter at the break up of your friendship so you are punishing him? Pretty mean IMO! Some friendships just don't last and yes that can be hurtful but that's life. Maybe if you had stopped going on about the blooming bike and pestering him about it, he wouldn't be asking for the deposit back now. Looks like you got a good deal with them moving in just pay what you owe them and be thankful it's all you have to pay back.

MandM90

ilesmark wrote: »

IMO the things I have mentioned DO matter as I would argue that it is an implied term of any contract, to give it business efficacy, that any outstanding matters arising under it should be dealt with in a timely manner.

Otherwise - thanks, you have probably summed the situation up the best.

Mark

Come on! Business efficacy? You want to interrogate him and withhold a deposit because he doesn't want to play with you any more! :rotfl: