Debating on taking landlord to court

david1951

In addition to the good advice above, I would also add that I would keep things very short at this stage. For example:

- do not show him your copy of the inventory. Don't even say you have it. It is up to him to prove the condition of the house when you left and when you moved in. If he can't do that, tough.

- don't get emotional. Ignore his sob story. Ask for your money back as advised by PinkShoes above and in the meantime research how to file a Money Claim Online (Google it).

- don't mention HB

Personally, I would also leave out all the other stuff (gas safety, etc.) for now and concentrate on getting your money back and moving on.

DanMJ85

Spoke to shelter Wales last week, they've already sent me the forms for claiming already. I'm going to leave my inventory in the car, If he kicks off im just gonna hand the keys back and issue him with the papers.

davemorton

Cant see why you bothered painting the full house unless it was a lot worse than it should be with general wear and tear.

DanMJ85

To be honest Dave they didn't really give me any guide on what they classed as wear and tear. All the LL wife kept saying was it was painted fresh and that's what they expected when handed back. Rather then cause agro with the wife I've just freshened it up.

[Deleted User]

I understand, I was in a private rental with little chance of getting another. The LL wanted to sell and told me if the place was fresher, he'd stand more chance of selling it to a LL. I was desperate enough to fall for that and sanded and painted the whole house. Complete waste of time of course, there were obviously non LL's coming to view. Very manipulative of the LL of course. Lesson learned lol.

LL's do know how to pull a tenant's strings because they know what the tenant wants - in your case, your deposit back. Its ok for us to say til we are blue in the face there are ways of disputing unfair claims.., you are the one face to face with your LL.

Well I do believe, one way or another such LL's will get whats coming to them lol.

DanMJ85

Ok another update, LL came to take possession of the keys. Wasn't happy with one element of the house (leaking stop !!!! in the kitchen cupboard which has caused the unit to collapse)

I mentioned that he would of owed me interest in the bond if he had put it in the scheme. He's calculated the interest at 2% which takes my bond and interest to £1082.

So with deductions he's offered me £900 back. Now moral dillema, do I accept the £900 and try and take him to court for the penalty or wash my hands and be done with it.

He's had £23k out of me the last four years ��

Pixie5740

Did you act in a tenant-like manner and report the leaking stopcock to your landlord, preferably in writing, before the check-out inspection?

Where are you getting that tenants are entitled to interest on their deposits because they're not.

I don't know why this is still a dilemma to you. You have 3 choices:

1) Accept the £900 and leave it there.

2) Don't accept the £900 and use the unprotected deposit as leverage to get your full deposit back.

3) Go the whole hog and sue your landlord for compensation.

Pick one.

Personally when I was in a similar situation I went for option 2 and reported my landlord to the council for not being registered.


The amount of rent you have paid to the landlord is irrelevant. You needed a roof over your head and the rent you paid secured that roof for 4 years.

DanMJ85

It's actually written in my tenancy agreement that I'm due interest on the bond.

Red-Squirrel_2

DanMJ85 wrote: »

Wasn't happy with one element of the house (leaking stop !!!! in the kitchen cupboard which has caused the unit to collapse)

Yeah, I don't think I'd be very happy with that either...

HampshireH

DanMJ85 wrote: »

It's actually written in my tenancy agreement that I'm due interest on the bond.

Fab and so does the DPS website which states;

How and when will interest generated on the deposit be repaid?

The Deposit Protection Service is completely free for landlords and letting agents to use. The service works through landlords and letting agents submitting their deposits to be protected during the course of the tenancy.

At the end of a tenancy period, when the deposit is reclaimed, it will be paid back to whoever is entitled to it - landlord or tenant - along with a portion of the interest generated. Under the current legislation, interest will be paid on all deposits at Bank of England base rate minus 2.32%. If the landlord and tenant are both entitled to a portion of the deposit, they will receive the relevant portion of the interest. The remainder of the interest is used to fund the scheme.

However you just ignored all the other questions asked, specifically did you report the leaking stop !!!! as per your tenancy agreement and if so was your request for repair ignored by the landlord.. By answering they may be able to advise you better.

If you didn't report it then the landlord has had no opportunity to repair and I would suggest you are responsible for the damaged unit.

If you did report it and they ignored you then they are responsible