Landlord keeps stonewalling over deposit

nealnomoney

MrChips wrote: »

Hello X,

Thank you for finally sending the breakdown - I was beginning to worry I would never see the money ever again!

Dont put that in the email, keep it professional

MrChips

Well, we did send off the letter from all three tenants on Saturday. We also sent the email as written at the bottom of page one, minus the "unprofessional" first line, and also requesting a 7 day turnaround. The money he sent turned up a couple of days ago (£315 as opposed to the full £650 deposit).

Today we got this reply.

Mrs Chips,

I am most surprised that you are querying these small amounts.! It was for you to have had the curtains cleaned, including removing, washing and ironing the nets.! The carpets were cleaned (which were filthy).! Looking back I remember now that you refused to!pay £3 per week toward the weekly house cleaning, perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised.! If you doubt that the curtains and carpets were cleaned please speak to the new tenant who had to wait!4 hours for me to finish cleaning the room and the carpet before she could move in, I finished at 10pm.! If you would prefer to pay more I will instruct a firm to do the work and send you the additional costs - it's not too late. If you think that you are being ripped off,!I can assure you that you are not. I am more!than fair with all my tenants.

Mr X

Not quite the receipts we asked for. Nor has he addressed the council tax issue, and as for "small amounts" - he has taken over half the deposit

I guess the next step is to formally ask for the information. Any other ideas?

Regarding the cleaner that she "refused" to pay for, that isn't the whole story. When my girlfriend moved in, there was already a cleaner who came once a week, which the landlord specifically told her was included with the rent when he was showing her the room. That cleaner quit and when, after several weeks, she was replaced the landlord said from now on the tenants had to split the cost for the new cleaner. My girlfriend only queried the fact that the landlord had gone back on his "sales patter" and did pay her share every week!

liz545

Ah, ok. He's going to maintain that you were unreasonably dirty, and therefore he's retained the balance. If I were you I would write again, just restating that you'd like to see receipts for the deductions, and a statement from the council tax within 7 days, or you will have no option but to file with moneyclaim online. Don't address any of his petty squabbles in the letter; he can't ask you to pay any more or get new cleaners in, as he has now got a new tenant, and if the property was not professionally cleaned, that would be betterment. I'm afraid to say that it looks like this guy is stubborn, and you may end up going to court. OTOH, court papers could convince him you're serious and scare him into returning your money.

liz545

Just re-read the earlier posts - as you've already written to him informing of your intention to file with the court if he doesn't pony up the receipts, you may as well file now. Asking for a receipt from the council is not unreasonable, and you're within your rights to know if he's actually paid the bill or is just keeping your money. Do you have an inventory from check in and check out? If so, then I'd write off the cleaning costs as you risk the judge awarding those to him, but if not you could maintain that it was fair wear & tear, and the house was in the same condition that you received it.

MrChips

There was no inventory - in my opinion this guy is a complete amateur.

Besides the issues raised on this thread there are a few more examples of him being generally unrealiable over the whole tennancy, including furniture he promised but which never materialised. To cap the whole tennancy off, he agreed to come and collect the keys on the night she moved out. We were both waiting there for him at the agreed time of 8pm. When it got past 9pm and he still hadn't showed, we called him and he apologised and said he wouldn't be coming after all because he had been caught in a queue at the supermarket We strongly suspect he never intended to come at all as my girlfriend was due a small refund (for leaving the room 7 days early) and he had hidden a cheque for her under the phone in advance - why do that if you are planning to come along and deliver it personally later? Because of the delay, by the time we had driven her stuff to the new flat and unloaded the car, it was after 1am.

Anyway, back to the point in hand - we have photos from the day she moved out showing the room looking very presentable. We admit the carpets were a bit dirty and are happy to pay something towards this. But the landlord doesn't seem to want to say how much the machine cost to hire (if he hired it at all - I don't think he did, in which case I guess we should pay some minor depreciation costs and soap costs) nor how much he charges per hour for labour (and we know he spent nowhere near 4 hours on it, more like 90 mins).

So, I think the best plan is to reply politely to his email apologising if he thought we were implying he had ripped us off, but asking again for the receipts to check the deductions are reasonable. Keep the same seven day deadline.

If nothing happens after this then we'll threaten court action.

lynzpower

why are you dragging your heels? the guy is purposely ignireing and batting back your attempts to get thge money bac- jsut take it to court!

MrChips

Shouldn't we give him an opportunity to produce receipts - most specifically council tax. I know we have already asked for them but that was only a couple of days ago. Surely it will look best if we are completely reasonable and offer him another five days to provide such receipts. Then get the court involved.

Believe me, I am getting very impatient and would love to file a claim! But I want to make sure we play everything by the book and don't give him any cause to call us unreasonable, or unwilling to negotiate.

Guy_Montag

MrChips wrote: »

Shouldn't we give him an opportunity to produce receipts - most specifically council tax. I know we have already asked for them but that was only a couple of days ago. Surely it will look best if we are completely reasonable and offer him another five days to provide such receipts. Then get the court involved.

Believe me, I am getting very impatient and would love to file a claim! But I want to make sure we play everything by the book and don't give him any cause to call us unreasonable, or unwilling to negotiate.

I'd at least start working out exactly what you need to do to take him to court. He is being obstructive, you've already warned him what to expect, now go through with it.

Meatballs

If you ask him for receipts and cost of his labour he could just say £100/hour.

Ask him for the quotations from cleaning companies that he should have collected. His cost for doing it himself should at least match the lowest quote or be lower.

MrChips

Thank to everyone for the very helpful advice so far.

I've drafted this email to be sent later today. Any comments?

Dear Mr X,

Thank you for your reply to my queries. I confirm that the money (£315) you sent arrived a few days ago.

I assure you I am not trying to imply that I have been ripped off. I merely wanted to check the amounts that you charged were reasonable because the £335 deduction you have made is a lot of money to me.

With that in mind, could you therefore please address the queries I raised in my previous email. I expect the council tax receipt should be easy to get hold of. If cleaning receipts don't exist, please indicate this and instead indicate how long was spent on each item.

I will need this information by Friday 18 May. If it is not received by then I will have to assume that you can't justify such deductions and commence legal proceedings to recover the money, together with interest and any legal and administrative costs involved in pursuing this route.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Chips