Urgent advise required please.

Fire_Fox

Was the statement to a solicitor or is it now a matter of public record by being given to a court? If so tell the solicitor or court that you have had repercussions. If you do this by telephone follow it up in writing enclosing a copy of the letter you received.

Kynthia

Who owned the property the day you moved out? That person should have returned your deposit unless you agreed any deductions. No LL will be able to successfully sue you unless they gave prove you owe rent or didn't return the property to them in the same state you received it less fair wear and tear. Without an inventory it is unlikely they can prove you did this. Maybe take all your paperwork, exact dates, letters, etc to a solicitor experienced in housing law or the CAB for advice.

Boobydoo

Thank you all so much for taking the time to look at this and reply.

Should I ignore the Solicitor's letter and wait to see if they take it to Court or should I reply?

andy.m_2

The statement given was to benefit somebody else against this landlord.
That is why he is coming after you in this way.

paulmapp8306

Just to clarify - contract dates?

You say you last signed a contrct in Oct 2012? but it was backdated to July 2012? yet you moved out in March 2012?

I dont understand this - it appears (to my untrained eye) that you singed a contract after you moved out.

Just so im clear as Im following the thread.

Boobydoo

The Original Landlord never asked me to sign a contract and I went without one for a few years. Then one day he turned up in October 2012 and asked me to sign an agreement which he had backdated to July. He said he needed this to hand over to the new Landlord.
The sale of the property went through in Dec/Jan to the new landlord. We didn't receive an agreement from the New Landlord and had to badger them for account details to pay the rent into!
New Landlord then sent us a letter saying he was selling up and that's why we moved out at the end of March.

Does that clarify it?

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Just to clarify - contract dates?

You say you last signed a contrct in Oct 2012? but it was backdated to July 2012? yet you moved out in March 2012?

I dont understand this - it appears (to my untrained eye) that you singed a contract after you moved out.

Just so im clear as Im following the thread.

Boobydoo

Sorry! October 2011 is when the Landlord got me to sign a contract and it was backdated to July 2011........it's an age thing!

embob74

Do you mean he turned up October 2011?

Cross-post!

Fire_Fox

Boobydoo wrote: »

Thank you all so much for taking the time to look at this and reply.

Should I ignore the Solicitor's letter and wait to see if they take it to Court or should I reply?

No definitely do not ignore it. Wait for G_M or one of the other knowledgeable regulars to reply, I suspect you will be able to 'threaten' to counter claim for your original deposit plus a penalty for not lodging it (up to three times the deposit! :T) particularly since you signed a new AST. Even if you didn't your old contract transfers to the new landlord and that includes the deposit AFAIK.

Was there gas in the property BTW, and did you get a landlord's gas safety certificate each year?

embob74

Why would you sign a backdated contract?
You probably thought there was no harm in it but I was once asked by an ex employer to sign a P46 form and she had backdated my start dates. I corrected the dates before I signed.
I could not think of any honest reason why backdating was necessary.