Landlord Threatens Me With Legal Action After I Dispute The Deposit Deductions

[Deleted User]

GDB2222 said:

Just a minor comment on the curtain poles. Next time put them back yourself, if it’s a five minute job. If a handyman was called out to do the job, I would expect it to cost something like £75, to cover travel time, etc. 

You're quite right and I am frustrated that I failed to do this.  All I can say is that this was an incredibly stressful time and I was in a desperate rush to find somewhere to live and move three year's worth of accumulated belongings.

But yes, this is one amongst many lessons learned from this unfortunate incident.

pinkshoes

Deleted_User said:

I renewed the tenancy a few days before this for a year with a break clause at 6 months.  The date they supplied would be a year from this renewal.

Ok, then your landlord was not within their right to ask you to leave at the end of the month. 

I would WRITE to the landlord detailing everything.

Dear Landlord,

On X date you emailed me stating that due to excessive noise on one occasion, I needed to leave the property at the end of the month. You then followed this up with a phone call on X date stating that I would be reimbursed any rent after this date.

As a gesture of good will I agreed to your request to end the tenancy early and move out on X date.

I agree to the deduction of £75 for putting the curtain poles back up. I dispute all other charges as the flat was left clean and tidy and reflecting 3 years of fair wear and tear.

I look forward to receiving my deposit back minus the agreed £75, along with £XXX in rent returned for the period after which I moved out at your request.

Having taken legal advice, I am now aware that I did not have to leave at the end of the month as no valid S21 had been issued. I am very disappointed to see you are now wanting to sue me for the remaining 12 months of the contract and renege on our agreement for me to move out asap and all remaining rent repaid. Should you wish to pursue this route, I will require full access to the property for the remainder of the contract that I am paying for, and compensation for all costs for the time period where I was made to leave unnecessarily. 

Best wishes...

Section62

Deleted_User said:

Given that the police entered the property and released me without charge I'm not sure what the landlord thinks can be done now - weeks later...

When you say "released me without charge" does that mean you were arrested during the event, or do you mean the police turned up, said 'nothing to do with us', and then left?

Being arrested could imply there was something more to this than a simple house party getting a bit wild.

tripled

Deleted_User said:

I was recently evicted by my landlord.

...

The landlord asked that I vacate the property before the end of the month and stated that, should I leave early, any excess rent paid would be returned.

You were not evicted, that requires a court order (or in the case of an illegal eviction to lock you out of or forcibly remove you and your belongings from the property). You were asked to leave, and you agreed to.

I recently received the checkout survey and the landlord has made deductions in excess of my deposit of £1400

I was not reimbursed for vacating the property before the end of the month as had been promised.

Unfortunately, with nothing to prove it, if the landlord denies making the offer to refund rent, it will be difficult. If you don't have any evidence of agreeing a mutual surrender, if the landlord also denies asking you to move out, then it's possible you could still be liable for rent while the property is empty.

The deductions include:

* Redecorating the entire flat (the paintwork was old when I moved in 3 years ago)

* £312 for cleaning even though I cleaned the flat thoroughly before moving out and they only found some dust in cupboards (I have photos and video of this)

* £75 labour for "replacing the curtain poles" The curtain poles were in the cupboard and only required placing back into the brackets - a 5 minute job for the 6 curtain poles (I calculated that this equates to something like a £900 per hour salary)

I understand that before I can contact mydeposits.co.uk to adjudicate I have to contact my landlord with a dispute.

The landlord cannot claim for betterment, so they would have to demonstrate that any deterioration or damage went beyond reasonable wear and tear. The costs would also need to be evidenced. If the cupboards were dirty, and they get a cleaning firm in, they would have a receipt for that. If you damaged the paintwork, if it is several years old, they might be able to claim a portion of the redecorating costs but not the full amount. From your own post you admit that you did not leave the property as it should have been, so some costs may be reasonable, although the landlord seems to be trying it on a bit.

When I did, the landlord threatened me in an email, claiming falsely that as "illegal activity" occurred at the flat I am liable for rent until the 23rd September 2023 and they can sue me for this.

They also claimed that they had done more in not trying to force me to pay rent for the next year than most landlords would have done.

They are already showing the property to potential new tenants although I don't know if it has been rented yet.

I was never asked for my side of the story.

Can they sue me for a years rent even though they evicted me?

As above, they didn't evict you, you left. Even if the landlord claims you left of your own volition, rather than by agreement, they still have a duty to try and mitigate their losses, ie relet the flat. However, they could try and claim rent for the intervening period, and potentially any direct costs such as agency fees as well.

They have CCTV footage of myself and others entering and exiting the building and they have a statement from a neighbour who overheard conversations which allegedly involved discussions of drug use. I have no knowledge of this and did not witness any such activities. The flat is quite large, many people were there during the night and I was drunk. Also I left the property on a number of occasions to buy more alcohol. I will repeat that the police entered the property and after talking to a number of people there including some neighbours determined that no charges would be brought against me. This has not stopped my landlord from making accusations against me of criminal activity. I have no criminal record at all.

That's all largely irrelevant now you've surrendered the property, the landlord is trying to pressure you.

What should I do? Should I continue to request adjudication from the deposit scheme or should I back down for fear of being taken to court for a years rent or worse?

It sounds like you have some evidence of the landlord asking you to leave. I'd be inclined to keep a bit of a low profile until the property has been relet, and then decide if it's worth disputing it. It sounds like you haven't exactly been a model tenant, but they're trying to pull a fast one on you.

[Deleted User]

Section62 said:

Deleted_User said:

Given that the police entered the property and released me without charge I'm not sure what the landlord thinks can be done now - weeks later...

When you say "released me without charge" does that mean you were arrested during the event, or do you mean the police turned up, said 'nothing to do with us', and then left?

Being arrested could imply there was something more to this than a simple house party getting a bit wild.

I was arrested along with a number of people. I am still not exactly clear why. In the early AM I passed out in my bed while a number of people were still in my flat. I was woken in the AM by the police banging on the door.  Someone I barely knew told me there had been some trouble outside the flat - they did not specify what.  They then opened the door to let the police in.  As I was still intoxicated the police arrested me and some other people there. When I had sobered up the police released me without charge or warning. I was never interviewed at any point. I didn't get a phone call or get to speak to a solicitor.  The people who were also arrested were unknown to me and I have no way to contact them.  All I know is that some disturbance occurred outside the flat while I was unconscious and that at least one of the people involved fled back to my flat and then the police arrived and made arrests.

Afterwards the police did at least drive me home.

I assume my landlord will have seen from the CCTV camera in the lobby that I was arrested, although they most likely do not know that I was released without charge.  They have probably made assumptions from this.

[Deleted User]

tripled said:

If you don't have any evidence of agreeing a mutual surrender, if the landlord also denies asking you to move out, then it's possible you could still be liable for rent while the property is empty.

I have an email from the LL titled "Notice to Vacate" asking me to vacate the property with immediate effect.  It is that email which claims a "clear breach of your obligations contained within your Tenancy Agreement."  This email makes no mention of me having to pay the rent for the remaining contract period.  In the email they only asked me to inform them when I expected to leave.  In this email they also threaten me with: "If we do not hear from you or if you fail to enter into any communication with us, then will be forced to notify the relevant authorities and will begin legal action to gain possession of our property."

Would this protect me against them trying to claim rent for the intervening period?

tripled said:

The landlord cannot claim for betterment, so they would have to demonstrate that any deterioration or damage went beyond reasonable wear and tear. The costs would also need to be evidenced. If the cupboards were dirty, and they get a cleaning firm in, they would have a receipt for that. If you damaged the paintwork, if it is several years old, they might be able to claim a portion of the redecorating costs but not the full amount. From your own post you admit that you did not leave the property as it should have been, so some costs may be reasonable, although the landlord seems to be trying it on a bit.

We spent days cleaning the flat. It was immaculate except for some dust in the cupboard containing the water tank. There was some minor damage to paintwork in a number of small areas. I have video and photos of the flat, empty and clean, taken just before I vacated the property.  In summary, the damage was minimal and the flat was clean.  I would expect deductions of a few hundred pounds, not over £1400

deannagone

Sounds to me like you are protected against them being able to successfully claim they are due the rent for the remaining AST period.  

(two paragraphs removed that were entered in error).  Apologies for any offence caused.

I hope you will pursue getting your deposit returned.  Just provide what evidence you have as it does seem like you have the required proof you did not leave the property in a bad state.  I think pinkshoes letter is a really good idea.

tripled

A wild party with the police called, neighbours disturbed, reports of criminal activity, and people arrested does sound likely to me that there was a breach of contract, which is grounds for eviction. The landlord would need to follow the correct legal process and you may have been able to defend it if it was a one off, particularly given no charge or conviction followed. I'm not sure that they served you the initial notice correctly, but either way, you did surrender the property as requested. Ideally you should have signed a mutual surrender agreement with the terms, but that's in the past now.

I don't know for sure if the landlord can claim lost income and costs, it would seem reasonable to me that they could, given you left following a breach of contract, but that is just my armchair opinion. It might be worth trying to get a steer from CAB or Shelter. What I can tell you is that, even assuming the landlord can claim those, they would have a duty to mitigate their losses. They could not just leave the property empty for a year with no effort to relet it, and cannot claim lost rent from you from the time a new tenancy starts. The most you would be liable for would be rent for the empty period, and reletting costs (agency fees).

Given that you've already paid rent towards some of the empty period, it does sound to me like the landlord is trying to squeeze you for your deposit and dragging back up the accusations, and threatening to claim a year's rent, to try and intimidate you.

jj_43

If you go through the adjudication process it will be "fair" but the landlord will have to show a lot of evidence. The landlord is somewhat treating you as bad character, or that have one over you, treat them likewise. Most of what the neighbours say is just hearsay and irrelevant unless the property was damaged due to the events. £75 for curtain poles probably fair cost.

[Deleted User]

tripled said:

you may have been able to defend it if it was a one off, particularly given no charge or conviction followed. I'm not sure that they served you the initial notice correctly, but either way, you did surrender the property as requested. Ideally you should have signed a mutual surrender agreement with the terms, but that's in the past now.

It was an isolated incident - the only party I have held in three years and the only time I have been arrested in my entire life!  However, as you point out, it is done now.

tripled said:

given you left following a breach of contract

An alleged breach of contract. I myself, am not at all clear on what happened.  I wasn't party or witness to it and, from what little I did hear, it occurred outside the property.  Certainly no charges were brought against me, I was not even given any warning or caution and in the weeks since, the police have not contacted me.

tripled said:

Given that you've already paid rent towards some of the empty period, it does sound to me like the landlord is trying to squeeze you for your deposit.

It was one of the LL's admin staff who told me over the phone that any outstanding rent would be returned.

It seems clear to me that the LL is trying to leverage this situation to intimidate me into not challenging them trying to retain my entire deposit.