Moving out of a flat - Bond dispute

bruirn

Have moved out of a flat and the landlord originally claimed all of the £495 bond because they claimed the following was damaged:

Carpet had cigarette burn in it. - £280 to replace
Built in Microwave was faulty - £350 to replace
Toilet seat was broken - £25
An internal door was damaged - £140 to replace

I queried the claim at first because all of the damage was there when I moved in 5 years ago. They have since come back and said I can just pay £280 for the carpet.

If I contest this and it ends up going to the ombudsman, is there any chance I could end up losing all of the bond?

G_M

Since we don't know all the facts, or what evidence you have, or the landlord has, we cannot tell.


Yes, of course it's possible, if the evidence is in the LL's favour. What evidence does he have? And you?

See also

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

bruirn

G_M wrote: »

Since we don't know all the facts, or what evidence you have, or the landlord has, we cannot tell.


Yes, of course it's possible, if the evidence is in the LL's favour. What evidence does he have? And you?

See also

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

The landlord initially saying the damages would cost over £700 to repair before arbitrarily reducing the claim to just £280 when I queried it suggests he's a chancer with no evidence to hand.

The Ombudsman might not see it that way though. Like you say, who knows?

I'll take it the distance though. Had written it all off to be honest.

MrJB

If there was no inventory signed by yourself at the inception of the tenancy then it makes his case pretty tough.

mubeye

I read the tribunal service statistically seems to favour tenants in borderline case. I called a LL's bluff and he dropped it.

TBagpuss

Anything is possible, but:
Carpet - if the damage was there when you moved in, you shouldn;t have to pay for it, but even if it was though that you caused the damage, as you have been there 5 years and the carpet was't new when you moved in, the landlord would only be entitled to a proportion of the cost of replacing it - he isn't entitled to 'new for old' or betterment.
Microwave: If this is faulty rather than damaged, then it sounds like wear and tear - and again, he is only entitled to the loss he has suffered. I'm not sure how long a microwave would reasonably be expected to last but if it is over 5 years old I suspect it would be getting to the end of its 'normal' life anyway
Toilet seat - depends on how it is damaged and when this happened. If you broke it, you should pay, If it simply wore out (e.g. hinge rusted through) then I'd expect that to be wear and tear, if it was damaged when you moved it isn't your responsibility.
Door - if you damaged it, you are liable, if not, not.

Does that landlord have an inventory from when you moved in, and do you have any record of the condition of the property then?

boliston

Things like small burn marks on carpets are normally charged as an amount per burn - £15 I think as replacing the whole carpet would be "betterment"

HappyMJ

bruirn wrote: »

Have moved out of a flat and the landlord originally claimed all of the £495 bond because they claimed the following was damaged:

Carpet had cigarette burn in it. - £280 to replace
Built in Microwave was faulty - £350 to replace
Toilet seat was broken - £25
An internal door was damaged - £140 to replace

I queried the claim at first because all of the damage was there when I moved in 5 years ago. They have since come back and said I can just pay £280 for the carpet.

If I contest this and it ends up going to the ombudsman, is there any chance I could end up losing all of the bond?

What was the quality of the carpet? It's unlikely a carpet will have a lifespan of more than 5 years so I'd go to tribunal with this one. The LL might get £15 as the last poster has said.

boliston

A bit of googling on carpet burns:

How to Fix a Carpet Burn Mark – Method # 1

1. Using scissors, carefully cut the burnt part of the carpet out.
2. Snip away some carpet fibers near a wall or inside a closet (where it won't be noticeable).
3. Glue the fibers onto the carpet to conceal the burn spot.