Trying to get deposit back

shardi2209

The magistrates court is about 5 minutes away from my base office. I have to go to a different location every day and don't know where I will be until 8am that day and often don't finish til after 6pm. This means it's difficult to book an appointment with a solicitor and I can't just run in and wait. However if I manage to get a day where I am in my base office which happens every couple of weeks I am more able to go to the court round the corner and hang around for a bit until I can be seen.
I know the magistrates court to some extent but only the drug services and probation offices (through work not personally!) so not sure what part of the court I need to go to and who I ask to witness? I assume I can't just grab one as they go in and out of the court!

Guest101

shardi2209 wrote: »

The magistrates court is about 5 minutes away from my base office. I have to go to a different location every day and don't know where I will be until 8am that day and often don't finish til after 6pm. This means it's difficult to book an appointment with a solicitor and I can't just run in and wait. However if I manage to get a day where I am in my base office which happens every couple of weeks I am more able to go to the court round the corner and hang around for a bit until I can be seen.
I know the magistrates court to some extent but only the drug services and probation offices (through work not personally!) so not sure what part of the court I need to go to and who I ask to witness? I assume I can't just grab one as they go in and out of the court!

Solicitors is far easier, no appointment, easiest £5 they'll make all day.


I walked in, asked if a solicitor was free, explains I needed to sign off a statement of truth and was out in literally minutes.


At magistrates you'd go to the court clerk and they would rubber stamp it in most cases.

ViolaLass

anselld wrote: »

Incorrect. It helps if the inventory is dual signed but it is not an absolute requirement. The scheme will decide based on the evidence and balance of probabilities. A decent inventory, preferably by an independent clerk, photo evidence, receipts, etc will all be taken into account.

The OP said "he had asked me to complete it and post it back to him" which implied no independent person had been involved. In that case, the OP needs to have signed the inventory for it to count (unless they don't dispute it at the end), no?

anselld

ViolaLass wrote: »

The OP said "he had asked me to complete it and post it back to him" which implied no independent person had been involved. In that case, the OP needs to have signed the inventory for it to count (unless they don't dispute it at the end), no?

No. All evidence is considered.

ViolaLass

anselld wrote: »

No. All evidence is considered.

Fine. I thought I had been educated by these fora but clearly not enough.

Guest101

ViolaLass wrote: »

Fine. I thought I had been educated by these fora but clearly not enough.

The inventory is considered the golden bullet in disputes.


However had the LL re-carpeted during the tenancy for example, the inventory would not show this.


All evidence is considered, but the onus is on the LL to prove a loss, without an inventory they are left providing receipts and invoices - which are easily disputed.

Miss_Samantha

An inventory is not a "golden bullet".

Violalass has a point that an inventory drawn up by the landlord himself and which contents the tenant hasn't agreed will be taken with more than a pinch of salt.

shardi2209

What about an inventory that was filled out roughly by the tenant and not signed by either party? Also I still haven't seen the checkout report so haven't signed it. Would this go against me?
One thing that does concern me is that the landlord now says that one of the drawers in the fridge door is missing, it was like that the whole time, in fact I didn't realise there should have been a third drawer as it sort of looks like it is just an option to move the second one up or down a little bit. As I didn't know it was missing I couldn't add it to the inventory. The inventory just says fridge -ok. Can he really try and charge me for a fridge drawer that is at least 3 years old (but probably at least twice that old)?

FBaby

Whatever he charges you for, if you dispute, he'll have to show evidence that it was there in the first place. In this instance, what evidence he has is an inventory that says fridge is ok, and you haven't challenged it. On the other hand, he won't have a picture showing that it has all drawers (assuming he doesn't) and you haven't signed the inventory.

So really, it could go either way, but since there is some doubt, it is more likely to go in your favour. Saying that, adjudicators are human and not robot, so whereas one could say one thing, another could say another.