N208 claim lodged - landlord lying claiming I was a lodger. Need advice!

Guest101

qa87 wrote: »

Guest101: I was never given or even shown ant inventory to sign. I signed a contract and the estate Agent signed it as a witness before I was given the keys. They told me they would give both copies to the landlord and then he would sign them and give them to me. I thought this was odd but I was desperate just to move in. I was doing a 2 hour commute to work each way! I have however, managed to get a copy of the contract signed by me and the estate Agent! The landlord is claiming this was given to me in error. - Then the LL's complaint is with his agent, you have a tenancy agreement, you are a tenant, not a lodger. The lack of inventory is perfect, anything they claim for was their when you moved in!

Reply above in red

qa87

Thank you for all responses. I have filed a claim against him n208 for not protecting my deposit. He's claiming I was a lodger in his house and therefore the deposit did not need to be protected. I need to prove he did NOT live in the house because he did NOT and I was not lodger but in fact renting with other people.

How else could I prove eh did NOT live there?

penguingirl

qa87 wrote: »

How else could I prove eh did NOT live there?

Look him up on the electoral roll in the public library (or in the phone book if he's really daft) and see what address he has registered? Has he had any post delivered to your house? I'm guessing he would be pretty hard pushed to prove his address (through bank statements etc) if he hasn't done this.

I'm confused about the council tax- he must have told the council which property was his main residence so it might be worth speaking to them to check who was on the council tax (AFAIK even if it wasn't you paying, you should have been named)

RAS

You do not need to prove he was not living there.

You have signed rental agreement.

And even if you were a lodger, he still cannot deduct money from the deposit without proof that you damaged the property.

letter before action, first class with proof of posting, to the address listed in the rental agreement for the serving of notices.

DaftyDuck

RAS wrote: »

You do not need to prove he was not living there.

You have signed rental agreement.

And even if you were a lodger, he still cannot deduct money from the deposit without prrof that you damaged the property.

letter before action, first class with proof of posting, to the address listed in the rental agreement for the serving of notices.

This, put simply and clearly, is all you need to know!