Landlord Suing me for £6,500!!!!

virtuallyfree

- What are people's opinions? Damage is damage.
- Should I offer more or less? Offer less.
- Should I take it to a small claims court? Yes.
- If it does go to court what would be the likely outcome? Up to the court.
- I think he may have had the kitchen fitted and repairs done thinking he could claim it on his insurance and the insurance have said no so he's clutching a straws trying to file a lawsuit against me. Is that likely? Speculation, wont save you any money.

Of the long list of problems with property except the lighting not all are the landlords responsibility. The landlord is responsible for the building, lighting and plumbing. The tenant is responsible for everything else, the LL can exercise discretion of course. Why did you rent it if it was so unclean and bad? We have to take some responsibilities for our choices.

rpc

thequant wrote: »

The other thing which is solicitor should have told him, that to process a claim of this size will cost in excess of £500 in court fees.

Why is that? This claim is below the £10k threshold for using the small claims track.

Mylo_The_Moggy

Surely anyone with an ounce of sense would have sorted the damage to said kitchen before they left???? After all, it's the tenants fault at the end of the day.

If it was only small areas of dog chewing, it wouldn't have been that difficult to patch up before you moved out?
Ok it may not have been up to standard, but at least it would've saved all this agro.

I agree the total he is claiming for is very much over exaggerated, but your dog caused the damage so therefore your responsibility.

If it were me, I would've sorted it before I even handed the keys back. I wouldn't dare leave a kitchen with dog-chewed doors etc........I wouldn't have even batted an eyelid at getting it sorted before end of tenancy, it's second nature.

Henman_Bill

rmacnair, thanks for your very interesting and informative post. And well done for being so polite in defending yourself against the blatantly unfair and exaggerated abuse you're getting. Sadly, that is the reality of the internet. Doesn't make it right but it is what it is.

Yes, you obviously made a mistake in not fixing the damage. I am sure in retrospect you wish you'd repaired it but nobody's perfect, you can hardly have expected this, and you probably felt it was fair game after everything he did.

On balance - and I'm assuming your account is full and fair (we haven't heard his side of the story) I would say he is basically trying to extort money from you. Legally that isn't the case, but morally it is. Would you really feel right letting him get away with it. If you do, that also encourages him to try it again in the future. I would offer low to mid hundreds, negotiate in the mid to high hundreds range if necessary, but no higher than that. This is coming from a point of no legal expertise whatsoever by the way.

Don't let him get away with it. His conducting is appalling. Good luck. I hope you win.

rmacnair

Mylo_The_Moggy wrote: »

Surely anyone with an ounce of sense would have sorted the damage to said kitchen before they left???? After all, it's the tenants fault at the end of the day.

If it was only small areas of dog chewing, it wouldn't have been that difficult to patch up before you moved out?
Ok it may not have been up to standard, but at least it would've saved all this agro.

I agree the total he is claiming for is very much over exaggerated, but your dog caused the damage so therefore your responsibility.

If it were me, I would've sorted it before I even handed the keys back. I wouldn't dare leave a kitchen with dog-chewed doors etc........I wouldn't have even batted an eyelid at getting it sorted before end of tenancy, it's second nature.

I imagine you've browsed the posts rather than read them in their entirity, which I can understand as there is quite a few. But, as I've mentioned in a few posts, I hold my hand up and take responsibility for the damage caused, though not to the amount the LL is claiming, and yes in hindsight (which is a wonderful thing to have) I should have fixed the damage myself before leaving and would in the future. In my new house I have already, filled, sanded and glossed a bitof skirting which i chipped carrying in a cabinet.

Dimey

Sounds like you are more than capable of defending the action if he takes you to court.

You have eloquent, reasoned arguments. You just need to obtain estimates from tradespeople to support your cost claims.

I haven't read all the posts so forgive me if you've mentioned but do you have photo's when you moved in and when you moved out together with the signed snag sheet in and out?

Do you have witnesses? Where does the letting agent stand in this. They presumably signed you off so you might be able to call them as witness.

If the Landlord does go for small claims, you have the right to request the hearing be heard in your local court. Most likely it will get passed to an arbitrator first where you'll get the chance to offer what you think is fair and the arbitrator will try to broker an agreement. If he can't then it will move on to the judge at a later date.

camptownraces

jason78 wrote: »

also if you are renting then you should be liable to cover the damages, do you think its fair that your landlord should pay for the mess you've made??

Jason
Always read all OP's posts.
The dispute is about being billed for damages OP did not cause, and nor did the puppy.

Mylo_The_Moggy

rmacnair wrote: »

I imagine you've browsed the posts rather than read them in their entirity, which I can understand as there is quite a few.

I have actually read this thread thoroughly, not skimmed anything! :T

rmacnair

Just as an update, I sent off my response to the solicitors on 28th September and have yet to hear anything from them. They're based in Cardiff (nearly 200 miles away from both the LL and the property that I rented), which I find a bit weird to be honest

jason78 wrote: »

Always read your contract

What's that got to do with anything discussed in this thread?

jason78 wrote: »

also if you are renting then you should be liable to cover the damages, do you think its fair that your landlord should pay for the mess you've made??

No, and I've never asked him to pay for any "mess" I or my pets have made.

Dimey wrote: »

Sounds like you are more than capable of defending the action if he takes you to court.

You have eloquent, reasoned arguments. You just need to obtain estimates from tradespeople to support your cost claims.

I haven't read all the posts so forgive me if you've mentioned but do you have photo's when you moved in and when you moved out together with the signed snag sheet in and out?

Do you have witnesses? Where does the letting agent stand in this. They presumably signed you off so you might be able to call them as witness.

If the Landlord does go for small claims, you have the right to request the hearing be heard in your local court. Most likely it will get passed to an arbitrator first where you'll get the chance to offer what you think is fair and the arbitrator will try to broker an agreement. If he can't then it will move on to the judge at a later date.

there are witnesses to an extent, generally just family and friends though who visited around January. As we left the property in mid January no one else saw the house in the last month.

The letting agent wiped their hands with the house the minute we signed the tenancy agreement; they refused to do anything about the LL repeatedly coming on to the property and refused to contact him on our behalf. At the end of the day they only advertised the property and was supposed to be fully managed by the LL.

All parties invoved signed the original inventory, but no one signed off the check out report other than the company who carried it out.