Urgent advise required please.

Boobydoo

Please could anyone comment and advise on my situation please?

This week I have received an invoice from our Ex Landlord for the sum of £3000.00. The letter from his Solicitor was dated 12th October 2012, but the invoice attached was dated April 2012.

This is the background info.
In February 2009 I took on the rental of a house from a private landlord. We knew each other so I didnt have a contract or schedule of condition. When I moved in the house was in a real mess. There were no carpets.
In 2011/12 the Landlord sold the house to a new Landlord. I was asked by the old Landlord to sign a contract which I did as he couldn't sell without it. He also let me off rent for doing this.
In Feb 12 we received a letter to say the house was going up for sale and we had three months to move. We did this and left the house in good condition.

In the last few weeks I've had to provide a statement to a local person who is in conflict with the new landlord. This is against the most recent Landlord. Now I've received this huge bill and being told I have until this Friday to pay before it goes to Court.

As yet I have not replied to the letter and really feel that I need some good advice from you guys.

My thoughts/questions are:

The new landlord didnt have a schedule of condition and didnt view the house or grounds before purchase so how would this be viewed in Court?

I didn't receive my £1500 deposit back as I paid it to the old Landlord.

How would a Judge look upon the fact that this issue has only just cropped up. They have obviously back dated the invoice or just never sent it to me in the first place.

I'm worried about the situation as I don't want a CCJ for £3000. I havent got that kind of money. What I am confident about is that the house was left clean and tidy. I'd cleaned the carpets before I left, cleaned the windows, mopped the floors and left no rubbish.

I can obtain statements from a few people to say what the place was like inside and out before I moved in. There were old cookers and kitchen equipment left outside, dog pooh up the walls in the kitchen, the shower was running green water for a while and had to be replaced. The list is endless.

Please can someone advise? I'm sure I will have missed bits as I'm so worried and trying to remember everything.

RAS

Please can you tell us which landlord is suing you?

And for what he is suing you?

Boobydoo

It's the second Landlord (the one who bought it from the first).

He says its for clearing the property.

RAS

Was an inventory taken at any point in the second tenancy?

claire21

Who has your deposit, did the old landlord pass it to the new one and why didnt you get it back when you left or when the property was sold between landlords?

G_M

OK - clarify your tenancy (forget the landlord changes for a minute):

* when did you last sign a tenany agreement?
* what date?
* what period (eg 6 months) or what end date?
* At the time you signed this last tenancy agreement, were you given an inventory? Did you sign/return it? What did it say (eg description of condition/cleanliness of property)?
* Are there any rent arrears?
What is the LL claiming for? Please qote exactly what it says about the £3000? Is it on the invoice or letter?
*Did you (ever) pay a deposit? Who to@
* was it registered in a scheme? Which one?
* Did you get it back when you moved out?
* what date did you move out?
* were the keys handed back/accepted?
* was anything said at the time about the condition of the priperty?
* do you have photos, evidence (eg a cleaning company receipt) or witness for the condition of the property when you moved out?
* OR when you moved in?

Answer the above and we'll advise you!

Boobydoo

Hope this helps a little

G_M wrote: »

OK - clarify your tenancy (forget the landlord changes for a minute):

* when did you last sign a tenany agreement? October 2012, but it was backdated to July 2012
* what date?
* what period (eg 6 months) or what end date? Six Months
* At the time you signed this last tenancy agreement, were you given an inventory? Did you sign/return it? What did it say (eg description of condition/cleanliness of property)? No inventory at all to either Landlord
* Are there any rent arrears? No
What is the LL claiming for? Please qote exactly what it says about the £3000? Is it on the invoice or letter? It's not broken down, just costs of clearance
*Did you (ever) pay a deposit? Who to@ Yes £1500 to first Landlord
* was it registered in a scheme? Which one? No
* Did you get it back when you moved out? No
* what date did you move out? 31st March 2012
* were the keys handed back/accepted? Yes
* was anything said at the time about the condition of the priperty? No
* do you have photos, evidence (eg a cleaning company receipt) or witness for the condition of the property when you moved out? No, cleaning and shampooing of carpets were done by me.
* OR when you moved in? Yes, but I don't think I have too many photos

Answer the above and we'll advise you!

Boobydoo

claire21 wrote: »

Who has your deposit, did the old landlord pass it to the new one and why didnt you get it back when you left or when the property was sold between landlords?

As above. The very first Landlord. The new Landlord said they knew nothing about it and was the old Landlord's problem. At the time of moving out, our newborn was undergoing open heart surgery so I just wasn't in a good place to start argueing about it.

Boobydoo

RAS wrote: »

Was an inventory taken at any point in the second tenancy?

No Inventories were ever taken bu either Landlord.

Fire_Fox

Boobydoo wrote: »

In the last few weeks I've had to provide a statement to a local person who is in conflict with the new landlord. This is against the most recent Landlord. Now I've received this huge bill and being told I have until this Friday to pay before it goes to Court.

How would a Judge look upon the fact that this issue has only just cropped up. They have obviously back dated the invoice or just never sent it to me in the first place.

What statement, to the police? If so contact them about witness intimidation. See what they say about letting the landlord's solicitor know about the statement you gave and the strange timing, he may advise his client not to go to court.

Your deposit should have been transferred, the new landlord took on all the rights and responsibilities. It's not your problem if that did not happen. Also your deposit should have been protected in one of the three schemes but I will let G_M get into the detail of that. Try not to worry, it looks to me like you have a decent case.

Boobydoo

Thanks Firefox. My statement was for a Court Case and it wasn't to the Police, just for the person making the Claim.