Ex landlord taking me to court

JMCR

Over 2 years ago I left a property that I was renting. The same month I moved out I received a letter demanding £1500 for repairs. I replied with a comprehensive list of reasons why I wasn't responsible for repairs. The apartment was a mess when I moved in, carpets were damaged, walls were damaged, etc. I also provided evidence in the form of photos and emails. My tenancy agreement just states the properrtty should be in thge condition it was received in. The company demanding the money only took over the building a month before i put in my notice, after buying the building blind at an auction. I never signed a tenancy agreement with them. I hadnt heard from this company til this week when I received a letter from the County Court Business Centre. They are taking me to small claims. Can they do this after 2 years with no contact?

anselld

Yes they can, however if the evidence you mention stands up in Court they will obviously lose.

BobQ

Yes they can but unless they have evidence to support the claim they cannot expect to win. Do you have before and after photos? Have you got a list of what they are claiming £1500 for? Did the return your deposit? If so was it protected by a recognised protection scheme?

JMCR

BobQ wrote: »

Yes they can but unless they have evidence to support the claim they cannot expect to win. Do you have before and after photos? Have you got a list of what they are claiming £1500 for? Did the return your deposit? If so was it protected by a recognised protection scheme?

There were several letting agent changes while we were renting and we got our deposit back from the first agency.

I can't tell you all the problems we had, it was incredible. We rented a "luxury penthouse" and it was far from it. A marijuana farm in the basement run by the caretaker was a particular highlight.

We were told by an employee of the company demanding money from us that we didn't need to do a deep clean as the apartment was going to undergo extensive renovations. So we admittedly left it dirty but they now deny this.

[Deleted User]

Even with this, unless the company can prove it was you/the other tenants who left the property in this state.., they are going to have problems proving the damage was caused by you. But a judge may use his/her discretion and make some kind of award to the company if you left it in a state (dirty). But it would be a lot less than £1.5k

Do you have emails etc proving you complained about the property in the past. This will help you.

JMCR

deannatrois wrote: »

Even with this, unless the company can prove it was you/the other tenants who left the property in this state.., they are going to have problems proving the damage was caused by you. But a judge may use his/her discretion and make some kind of award to the company if you left it in a state (dirty). But it would be a lot less than £1.5k

Do you have emails etc proving you complained about the property in the past. This will help you.

I have quite a few emails that show I complained about the state of the apartment.

[Deleted User]

That will help you. You have two options (if you haven't done so already).., you could write to the company that now owns the property telling them that you have (enclosed) emails showing you reported the pre-existing damage. This will mean they will incur court costs and be unable to prove you caused the damage. Or just wait til it goes to court and show your evidence.

topdaddy_2

Firstly is there an inventory for check in and out? Is it signed? This will be the basis for any claims.

JMCR

topdaddy wrote: »

Firstly is there an inventory for check in and out? Is it signed? This will be the basis for any claims.

The original landlord did not do an inventory. The new landlord bought the building at auction without viewing it.

Pixie5740

JMCR wrote: »

The original landlord did not do an inventory. The new landlord bought the building at auction without viewing it.

That's tough luck for the LL then. How can the LL prove you caused any damage if they can't prove the condition of the property at the start of your tenancy? :cool:

TBagpuss

I agree with PPs that the landlord will struggle. The only thing I would add is that is is very important that you respond to the claim, as if you don't, they could get a judgement in default against you, which would be much harder to get rid of.

Check the paperwork you get and make sure you follow all of the instructions and time limits