Landlord wants us to replace a sofa after we settled and moved out 7 months ago!

pennypot1

Our previous private landlord got in touch with us today asking us to replace a sofa which she says 'is damaged, saggy and uncomfortable and not in the condition that she had left it to us in'. We had in fact settled everything and have even received our full deposit back from the DPS 7 MONTHS AGO. Can they seriously hold us for this?

Before we moved in she mentioned that she had a previous short term tenant at her house which ended terribly and had left her house in an awful state. We found out later from someone that our landlord took the tenant to court and has in place a restraining order on the from the property! Having this knowledge we were VERY conscious of making sure we lived carefully.

She states that the sofa was only 4 months old when we moved in but we honestly had not damaged her sofa in any way and bearing in mind this is after 2.5 years of living at her property. There of course will be fair wear and tear and nothing will be exactly the same as how she has left things however carefully we lived. We feel that she has over exaggerated this 'damage'.

The property has been her personal residence for some time till she had to move for work half way across the world. We were her 1st long term tenants and is quite particular on everything for example her itinerary had numbers of teaspoons and takeaway food boxes listed. She wanted to leave it furnished as it would cost her so much to put everything in storage and we did not have any furnishings of our own so thought it would be suitable. During our 2.5 years there I was very honest with any issues that occurred. I would email her and let her know of things but she would always say that it was our responsibility to pay and fix anything. The washing machine broke down and she told us to pay for an engineer and get it fixed, which we did. The old bathroom blind wearing and breaking which again she told us to pay and replace. When her stand up light suddenly stopped working and I asked if she knew a way of getting this repaired, she again told us we had to replace this too with a new one.. which again we did.. All of which was not cheap.. But we did it.

As she was away when we chose to give notice to move out she arranged for two friends of hers to 'check us out'. Myself and my husband worked for a week cleaning, tidying, gardening, putting things back in place. Her friends came round who are full time landlords for multiple properties and were so impressed that they said we have been the best tenants that she had ever checked out. I raised the issues with the landlord making us replace things and my concerns for how strict and particular she was. They couldn't even believe we had to count spoons and forks out and felt it was quite unfair to make us replace general wear and tear and that they would have a word with her.

A few weeks later her friends had reported back to her that everything was fine at the house and we had our full deposit released from the DPS.

But now the landlord has got in touch after 7 months saying that back in August she came back to visit and found the sofa in such a state it needs to be replaced and how do we wish to replace it? She says that she tried to get insurance to cover it but they have said they would not hence her writing to us now.

Surely if everything is settled there's nothing that can be done? Let alone us having done nothing wrong and having gone beyond expectations. I have looked at the citizens advice site and even there it states any wear and tear including furniture should be replaced by the landlord. I have all my correspondence with her via email of everything mentioned also.

Apologies for the long post but any advice would be great and thank you for your time.

G_M

Let me try and cut your post down to a relevant size:

pennypot1 wrote: »

Our previous private landlord got in touch with us today asking us to replace a sofa which she says 'is damaged, saggy and uncomfortable and not in the condition that she had left it to us in'. We had in fact settled everything and have even received our full deposit back from the DPS 7 MONTHS AGO. Can they seriously hold us for this?
Almost certainly not, but
* what did the check-in inventory say about the sofa when you moved in?
* did you sign that check-in inventory?
* was there a check-out report when you left?
* how soon after the tenancy ended was the report done?
* what did it say about the sofa?

blah blah blah.....

She states that the sofa was only 4 months old when we moved in ...... and bearing in mind this is after 2.5 years of living at her property. ....

blah blah blah

.... she arranged for two friends of hers to 'check us out'. ...Her friends came round who are full time landlords for multiple properties and were so impressed that they said we have been the best tenants that she had ever checked out......

A few weeks later her friends had reported back to her that everything was fine at the house and we had our full deposit released from the DPS.
did you see their report?
Do you have a copy?
Do you know their names/contact details?

But now the landlord has got in touch after 7 months saying that back in August she came back to visit and found the sofa in such a state it needs to be replaced and how do we wish to replace it? ....
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I advise you not to respond. There is no point. If you do, you will simply start a debate/exchange of correspondance that will serve no purpose. Keep her correspondance on file but ignore it.

She will either give up, or she will threaten court action. If she does the latter, do NOT feel intimidated.

At that point, and not before, write back a one or two sentence reply denying causing any damage to the sofa. Do not justify this. Do not explain. Do not refer to the previous tenants, the friends who checked you out, the repairs you did in the property or the number of times a wek you vacuumed the sofa.

One sentence only: We do not accept responsibility for any damage to the sofa.

Again, she will then either give up, or start court action. At that point, and after seeing exactly what she is claiming and what evidence she is using, you can start drafting your defence.

Come back at that point for further advice - though I doubt you will need to.

glasgowdan

Do you have check out photos?

As above, totally ignore her contact. And in no way should you have been forking out for the wear and tear items. If anything, send her an invoice for everything you paid.

FBaby

All she can do is take you to court, and then clearly be able to demonstrate that you damaged it and if that can be proven, justify the amount she is asking on the basis that it cannot be the cost of replacement.

The only way it could possibly go in her favour is if she could demonstrate that the sofa was new when you moved in, and the insurance, through the claim, have identified that it was badly damaged AND that assessment was done just after you left or very shortly afterwards -and she can evidence that no-one lived in the property/used the sofa during that time).

These are so many ifs that frankly, she would be mad to consider taking that route, so I wouldn't worry about it and let her do what she wants to do. Don't let it give you sleepless nights!

Davesnave

'Precis' is a word that's gone out of fashion, although if it's Googled, fashion is what you'll get.

I think it's long due a come-back......

Pixie5740

She's the kind of daft boot who should never be a landlord. Maybe she bought a duff sofa that would always have been "saggy and uncomfortable" to her. Princess and the Pea springs to mind from what you describe.

Ignoring her for now seems like the best course of action.

moneyistooshorttomention

I would have thought the law specifies some sort of time limit for making claims like this. Might be worth you googling to see if it does....

It would seem logical that a landlord would have a certain amount of time (say a month would seem reasonable to me?) - after which the law would assume that the landlord has had enough time to check things out/work out costs of dealing with and bill the ex-tenant.

Certainly commonsense would indicate that bills would be presented within a reasonable period of time - and 7 months is longer than that.

In your position - it does sound as if you really have looked after the place and this probably isn't your fault. Hence - I would just tend to follow G_M's suggestion basically - and ignore it.

davidmcn

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I would have thought the law specifies some sort of time limit for making claims like this.

The time limit for bringing a court action is six years, same as for most other types of claim. Obviously there are evidential problems the longer it's left.

always_sunny

She would have prove that you and not someone else in the 7 months you were away damaged the sofa.
Ignore her and if she doesn't desist get a restraining order!

saajan_12

There is no explicit time limit for claiming damages (except 6 years maybe) and it can be after the deposit is returned. However these would all be big questions IF / WHEN the LL took you to court and after 7 months the LL would need pretty good excuses.

- Why did she not act earlier?
- How does the judge know nothing happened to the sofa over the 7 months?
- Why was this noticed by the time the deposit was resolved?

Maybe if it was damage to the distant corner of a several acre land you were renting, but a sofa? she must have noticed that.

Since you have your deposit, it seems a spurious claim, and the LL doesn't seem likely to follow through given this has already taken 7 months, I would just ignore until LL takes you to court (unlikely).

moneyistooshorttomention

A further thought on this sofa - in a different direction.

Do you know what quality level (or otherwise) it is?

I ask because that would make a difference if it's a cheapie sofa. I bought a cheapie sofa (probably about 5 years back now) - cost £250. It was just meant to be a temporary sofa - as the type/size I had decided on wouldn't fit into the sitting room of my last house. Hence it was a "make do until...." sofa and I didn't expect much from it.

Just as well - as fast forward about 5 years and (all of a sudden in the last few months) it has just lost its "oomph" iyswim and started looking worse for wear. From memory - I think the guarantee on it is only 5 years anyway. So - for that money - what can be expected?:cool:

So - there's a huge difference between that £250 make-do (5 year guarantee) sofa and the one I am about to buy at £3,000 (sale price:eek:) and with a 25 year guarantee on it.

If it came to a court thing (which I don't think it will) - then it would be reasonable imo to ask for the guarantee and receipt for this particular sofa - to prove what standard of sofa it is...