My landlord hasnt protected my deposit, Wanting £500 to Replace Sofa HELP!!!!!

Twiggy_34

nickroberts wrote: »

The landlord was aware of the sofa situation, and we were happy to replace them for something we liked and leave them when we left as agreed with the landlord but he doesn't want them now and would prefer the cash hence the problem

Did you get something in writing to support that agreements (emails, old texts, anything?) as it will be your word against his without it. Much like our tenants. The lease explicitly objects to pets without written consent from us, they have a pet rabbit and are considering getting a dog. We've both got written proof of what has been agreed but without this, we would probably have the upper hand and could claim that the tenants were in breach of contract. Either way though, it's naughty of them to go against something they've agreed to and if it were me I'd still use the boiler situation to manipulate things to your advantage, they'll be getting free sofa's better than what they previously had and they they've got a newer, more efficient boiler, in the property which will make the property more appealing to new tenants.

nickroberts

Just to update LL has just texted asking for a £250 contribution for 2 new sofas

Old_Git

does he know that you know the situation with the deposit .

nickroberts

Twiggy_34 i dont think we still have the texts as its a few years ago now

I dont mind giving something but £500 or even £250 is a bit high for 2 6yr old sofas

nickroberts

Old_Git wrote: »

does he know that you know the situation with the deposit .

NO we just asked him if he was in the scheme and he texted back saying that it wasnt and the money was in his bank

Then i posted on here to get some advice on what to do


Are contract is up 29th may

dgtazzman

You note the old sofa's were worn, was there a check-in inventory, signed by 2 parties, were the sofa's on them and how were they described.

I would certainly text him back at this point and tell him you won't be contributing anything to the new sofa's.

1. Your deposit wasn't protected, so if he doesn't agree, you can sue via small claims for your full deposit + legal fees back, or via county court for you full original deposit, legal fees and between 1 and 3 times the deposit amount as compensation. Small claims is faster, cheaper and simpler, county court would award compensation.
2. You made an agreement with the LL at the time you purchased the new sofa's. If there is no documented evidence about this, it would be word against word and I suspect a court would be more inclined to take the tenants side. He can't make an agreement and then back out of it when it suits him.
3. If there is no inventory, or it isn't detailed/the sofa's aren't on it, he would find it almost impossible to make deductions for them that would be supported by a dispute service or the courts.
4. 2 new simple sofa's would maybe be £600-800. Claiming £250 for 6 year old ones seems a little over the top. I think we paid £200-300 for our faux leather 3-seater at Harveys. If it's a cheap sofa, you could argue it could only be reasonably expected to last 5 years, thus a 6-year-old sofa would have no more value technically and any value claimed for it would be betterment.

I think you are in a strong position to tell him to stuff it, especially since you're had your reference already. Would of course be best if you could part ways on better terms, rather than with court action, but it's a dog eat dog world.

P.S. Keep the text with him admitting the deposit isn't protected, he's pretty much hung himself out to dry with that one.

whodathunkit

You replaced the boiler in a property you were renting?!

nickroberts

whodathunkit wrote: »

You replaced the boiler in a property you were renting?!

We received a grant and because the gas bills were huge and the old boiler was ineffective, so we got it replaced to save us on the gas bills

slopemaster

nickroberts wrote: »

NO we just asked him if he was in the scheme and he texted back saying that it wasnt and the money was in his bank

Then its not certain the deposit isn't protected.
There are 2 kinds of scheme, "insured" and "custodial".
Insured means the deposit IS protected, but the LL holds it themselves.
so, to be certain if it is protected you need to check with all 3 schemes.

Twiggy_34

nickroberts wrote: »

I also replaced his old worn out boiler for a new one because we were eligible for a grant and our gas bill was huge due to the old boiler being inefficient

whodathunkit wrote: »

You replaced the boiler in a property you were renting?!

I think you'll find they replaced the boiler using the grants scheme (as promoted by MSE).