Ex Landlord being a right pain in the bum! Help please..

elkay115

Right I will try to explain all this as best as possible. Any questions then please ask.

I have a few issues with my previous landlord.

I moved into the property on 6th April 2011 and moved out on 16th March 2013.

1. I never received an AT5 from him before I moved in, I didn't realise till after I had moved in that I should have been provided with one.

2. I paid £100 deposit when I moved in. I thought being in Scotland meant there were no deposit schemes here, but found this link a couple of days ago which seems to not be the case anymore. So if I am reading this correct then my deposit should have been paid into a scheme?

http//www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privaterent/government/SGTD1

3. My rent for the first year of my tenancy was £400 pcm and after a year it went up to £420 pcm.

I gave my months notice to my LL and kept asking when he could make arrangements to come and inspect the house, handover of keys and return of my deposit. He completely ignored me regarding this. Stupidly I texted him the day before I moved telling him I had changed the lock barrels when I moved in so he would need to make arrangements with me to get the keys, I thought this might make him get his finger out and at least reply to me. I didn't actually change the locks so may have shot myself in the foot saying I had. A few days after I moved out a woman called to say she was working on behalf of LL and arranged with me to meet at the house. The day we were supposed to meet she called and cancelled because her car had broken down. Couple of days later she sent me a text telling me to get in touch with LL because he was going to deal with it.

Got in touch with LL and he said he would send me out a spreadsheet of rent paid etc. He sent this but had calculated it all at my rent being £450 pcm (I do have my agreement here with £400 and the letter when he put the rent up to £420). I got back in touch and told him he had calculated it wrong so he sent out another spreadsheet. The first year is fine, he has calculated that at £400, but the second isn't because now he has calculated it at £420 at 12 months but I was only there 11 months and 2 weeks. He also insinuated on the letter that he still believes my rent was £450 so I owe him money still. As it turns out I worked it all out and still come to the figure that he owes me around £300. I have not received my deposit back either. He said that I can take him to court but he will countersue for the "full" £600+ I owe him. Only that £600+ figure comes from him working my rent out at £450 both years! He has also now added £150 to my bill for change of locks!

Please help someone. What can I do or not do regarding all this? I have been trying to word a letter to him to send but am struggling to make sense when writing it all down.

Bear in mind folks that I am in Scotland. Thanks in advance for any help

olly300

Let him keep the £100 and ignore everything else.

OR

Send him a letter NOT an email or text.

State that you can prove the amount of your rent due to having bank statements, state that he didn't do the check out immediately after you moved out , state the locks are the same as when you moved in, state that you clearly left the property in a good condition as he isn't asking for money for any damage and then finally state that unless he pays your deposit of £100 back you will take him to court for it.

In the letter don't get to an argument about his claims. Also if you pay rent monthly and over pay due to moving out during the month the landlord gets to keep the full months rent.

elkay115

I haven't overpaid any money due to giving him a full months rent and moving out. He has been paid extra money over the two years I was there and he owes me over £300 plus my deposit, so I am not going to let him keep the £100 and leave the rest.

I have all the figures here. In a hurry to go out just now but will post the figures up later when I have time.