Landlord Suing me for £6,500!!!!

dgtazzman

Just wanted to add my 2 cents:

I do think some compensation is due to the landlord, but certainly not to the amount of an entirely new kitchen. I'd probably kindly ask for the cost of 2 cupboard doors and some kick board for this new kitchen and offer to pay for that and only that, as this is what your dog damaged in the old kitchen. The damaged door could have been sanded down and repainted, but considering a standard size inside door costs around £30-£40 pounds, I'd offer to pay something in this region + whatever it cost to have somebody fit it. I'd certainly not be expecting to pay £260 for this, so demand a copy of the receipts.

rmacnair

From ARLA :

Fair wear and tear - this means making an allowance for: -

• The original age, quality and condition of any item at commencement of the tenancy
• The average useful lifespan to value ratio (depreciation) of the item
• The reasonable expected usage of such an item
• The number and type of occupants in the property
• The length of the tenants occupancy

It follows therefore (and is an established legal tenet) that a landlord is not entitled to charge his tenants the full cost for having any part of his property, or any fixture or fitting, ".....put back to the condition it was at the start of the tenancy."

Beyond fair wear and tear - the principles of remedy

The landlord/agent has a duty to adopt the most reasonable and practical and appropriate approach to assessing remedy, and should keep in mind that the tenants' deposit is not to be used like an Insurance policy where you might get "full replacement value" or "new for old"


The appropriate remedies available to a landlord might range from or include :

• Replacement of the damaged item where it is either severely and extensively damaged beyond economic repair or, its condition makes it unusable
• Repair or Cleaning
• Compensation for diminution in inherent value of the item or the shortening of its useful normal lifespan

Remember, the landlord/agent has a duty to adopt the most reasonable and practical remedy.

kmmr

kmmr wrote: »

This letter is completely too long, and totally over emotive. If you call someone vexatious you will just make them feel like they have to respond. I suggest you completely tone it down, shorten it and be calm and polite. If this does go to court name calling in letters will only make you look bad.

Saying things like 'frankly extortionate', and accusing the landlord of trespass (unless that was proven in court) is a recipe for endless letter writing and agro. I'd also forget about historical gripes, like taking too long to respond to requests - they are irrelevant now.

RAS's version is much clearer.

As it happens I'm on your 'side', as much as there are sides. There may have been damage, but the LL should deal with it in a timely and transparent manner. Unless there is something else we don't know about this seems very late to be chasing costs. And offering silly low ball offers is as bad as their massively inflated costs. If you want to offer sometime, offer something reasonable, then the LL is the one who looks more vexatious.

rmacnair

kmmr wrote: »

Saying things like 'frankly extortionate', and accusing the landlord of trespass (unless that was proven in court) is a recipe for endless letter writing and agro. I'd also forget about historical gripes, like taking too long to respond to requests - they are irrelevant now.

RAS's version is much clearer.

As it happens I'm on your 'side', as much as there are sides. There may have been damage, but the LL should deal with it in a timely and transparent manner. Unless there is something else we don't know about this seems very late to be chasing costs. And offering silly low ball offers is as bad as their massively inflated costs. If you want to offer sometime, offer something reasonable, then the LL is the one who looks more vexatious.

Just on the trespass side; unless for an emergency (e.g. gas leak) it is trespass when he unlocks your house to gain access without permission or notice; something he actually apologised for and admitted to already.

I rewrote it and showed my own version of costs on the basis of a labourer at £120 per day. Overall this came to £420 (minus my £100 deposit already taken). However, i clearly stated that this is not the offer but I will look over his quotes for repairing the damage to the original condition + acceptable wear and tear

Kynthia

Wow you both sound like a tenant and a landlord I'd hate to have. :eek:

You don't need me to tell you that he clearly didn't keep the property in good repair, has waited far too long to make a claim and is clearly asking for extortionate amounts that he's not entitled to. However you clearly wanted him to do every little thing in the property instead of realising he didn't have to do some things and that behaving in a 'tenant like manner' means doing some things yourself, like dealing with slugs and getting a draft excluder. You seemed to think it was fine that your dog caused damage and left it that way. You have laughable ideas of how much the landlord is entitled to for your damage. This one really annoys me, you didn't pay the rent you owed even though your deposit was protected and the landlord couldn't even access it without your agreement until weeks later, once the tenancy had ended.

Please keep your communications factual and avoid emotive language. Make a realistic offer without prejudice in order to avoid court. If it looks like legal action will be taken then get professional advice from a solicitor knowledgeable in housing law and tenancies.

BobQ

rmacnair wrote: »

I've sent a letter to the solicitor, with a cut down version of what I had before and various comments from other posts. The rest I have included as Appendices for further clarification of my points.

It seems a bit divided as to what the outcome will be of this; whilst some people seem to think the LL doesn't have a leg to stand on others think I should pay substantially more than I have offered.

I've given the solicitor's 2 weeks to reply (as this is the time they gave me to respond) and hopefully an agreement will be made. I'm confident that I won't have to pay anywhere near what the LL is claiming, but I am now prepared to pay him relevant compensation for the damages caused by myself. Fingers crossed that will be around the £300-£400 I had originally expected.

It does not matter what posts here say. Your letter will either have the desired effect or it will proceed to court.

My opinion is that you are in danger of shooting yourself in the foot. Your long post at the start contains enough information to identify the landlord concerned, so he may witness your posts and see that you cannot separate what is important and what is not.

From the above you have sent a long letter with appendices. For heaven sake you need to understand that a brief response saying what you admit and what you refute without prejudice is all that was needed. As it is you may have given further evidence for him to exploit.An initial letter to a solicitor is not the place to lay out all your cards.

G_M

Kynthia wrote: »

Wow you both sound like a tenant and a landlord I'd hate to have. :eek:

You don't need me to tell you that he clearly didn't keep the property in good repair, has waited far too long to make a claim and is clearly asking for extortionate amounts that he's not entitled to. However you clearly wanted him to do every little thing in the property instead of realising he didn't have to do some things and that behaving in a 'tenant like manner' means doing some things yourself, like dealing with slugs and getting a draft excluder. You seemed to think it was fine that your dog caused damage and left it that way. You have laughable ideas of how much the landlord is entitled to for your damage. This one really annoys me, you didn't pay the rent you owed even though your deposit was protected and the landlord couldn't even access it without your agreement until weeks later, once the tenancy had ended.

Please keep your communications factual and avoid emotive language. Make a realistic offer without prejudice in order to avoid court. If it looks like legal action will be taken then get professional advice from a solicitor knowledgeable in housing law and tenancies.

:T


Landlords like this give other landlords the reputation we periodically hear about on this forum.

Tenants like you do likewise. I would hate to have a tenant like you.

I certainly wouldn't be claiming £4600 for a new kitchen, but equally if a tenant offered me £16 I'd make damn sure I got as much as I possibly could from him for taking the p*ss!

time2deal

rmacnair wrote: »

Just on the trespass side; unless for an emergency (e.g. gas leak) it is trespass when he unlocks your house to gain access without permission or notice; something he actually apologised for and admitted to already.

Great - so it's over and done with. Why mention it again? What has it got to do with claims relating to damage in the property?

rmacnair wrote: »

I rewrote it and showed my own version of costs on the basis of a labourer at £120 per day. Overall this came to £420 (minus my £100 deposit already taken). However, i clearly stated that this is not the offer but I will look over his quotes for repairing the damage to the original condition + acceptable wear and tear

Are your costs also based on formal quotes? Anyway - best of luck. Sounds like you have a fight on your hands, which seems to be what you wanted.

Tancred

I cannot believe that the OP would even consider paying anything to this conman of a landlord on the basis of his wildly exaggerated estimates. I would tell him to get lost and look forward to a court case with eagerness.

The best thing is to have an independent expert look at any damage caused by the dog and get him to come up with a fair costing, which I'm sure would be much less than the nonsense from the landlord. If the landlord refuses then sort it out in court.

Looking at it from the landlord's side I would never accept a tenant who has a pet, especially a dog or cat. He made a rod for his own back here.

ivavoucher

G_M wrote: »

:T


Landlords like this give other landlords the reputation we periodically hear about on this forum.

Tenants like you do likewise. I would hate to have a tenant like you.

I certainly wouldn't be claiming £4600 for a new kitchen, but equally if a tenant offered me £16 I'd make damn sure I got as much as I possibly could from him for taking the p*ss!

I totally agree.

Quote from OP "The £100 was what was left over and I simply didn't have the appetite to contest anything so I just let him have it."

That is so very good of you. :mad: