Landlord claiming £12k though TDS!

Pacerpilot

Hi all,
 We recently moved out of our rental house after finally buying a home of our own.
  We'd lived there for nearly 7 years and considered ourselves to be good tenants.
 However, the landlord has submitted a claim to TDS for nearly £12k. £6k for decorating, £3.5k for damages, £2k for misc and another £1k for cleaning. 
  We are absolutely shell shocked. The house was extremely clean upon return of the keys. No mention of poor cleanliness on the check out inventory (his own check out inventory-not independent)
  He's claimed for new carpets, complete redecoration through out, new blinds (which we took down as they were 20 years old and extremely brittle due to sun exposure and we're not compliant with ant-strangulation rules). The list goes on and on. There was a single cracked tile on a fireplafe hearth which we expected but he's claimed for a whole new hearth and £95 delivery. Even the Carbon monoxide detectors which are now life expired. Nothing was new upon moving in, as noted in the check-in inventory and then has been subject to 7 years of wear and tear with a young family. 
  The deposit is £1050....can he take us to court for the rest if this doesn't go his way?
 

user1977

So you dispute it via the scheme and take it from there. Yes, in theory they can pursue you for anything you owe over and above the deposit. But only if it's actually a valid claim.

caprikid1

£6k for decorating - After 7 years unlikely to get a penny 
£3.5k for damages, - Might get something but cannot get betterment so unlikely
£2k for misc 
£1k for cleaning - No house costs £1K to clean

Just dispute the lot be lucky to get the whole deposit IMHO.

If he threatens court personally I would go as with a good defence I can't see him getting 20% of the total.

I would prepare a detailed response to the TDS with pictures etc.

Pacerpilot

caprikid1 said:

£6k for decorating - After 7 years unlikely to get a penny 
£3.5k for damages, - Might get something but cannot get betterment so unlikely
£2k for misc 
£1k for cleaning - No house costs £1K to clean

Just dispute the lot be lucky to get the whole deposit IMHO.

If he threatens court personally I would go as with a good defence I can't see him getting 20% of the total.

I would prepare a detailed response to the TDS with pictures etc.

He didn't mention anything about it being dirty on the check out report. We handed the keys over at 6pm...he refused to let us inspect it with him, just shut the door on us. And then had a four man team of decorators in by 10am next morning. I can only assume I'm paying to clean up after the decorators. 

Grizebeck

Sounds like he is taking the ****

MultiFuelBurner

What the landlord cannot do is go for betterment. He can't have new for old. 

RHemmings

Please tell us what happens when you dispute this. I would really like to know the result, and very much hope that you get all your money back. 

Murphybear

This sounds just like the sort of Landlord that was in abundance before the deposit scheme came into being.  The amounts he wants to charge you are outrageous.  

The fact that you weren’t allowed to inspect the property when checking out sounds suspicious.  

RHemmings

Murphybear said:

This sounds just like the sort of Landlord that was in abundance before the deposit scheme came into being.  The amounts he wants to charge you are outrageous.  

The fact that you weren’t allowed to inspect the property when checking out sounds suspicious.  

In my opinion: worse. I've never heard of a case this bad. When I got reamed by landlords back in the day, it would be for hundreds of pounds. Not in five figures. 

nyermen

As mentioned, dispute in the scheme, attach checkout report etc, note that you've lived there 7 years.

£6k for decorating
Wear and tear does not count in a claim, LL is expected to assume that in rent.
£3.5k for damages, - Might get something for replacing that tile.    20 year old blinds are worthless. 
£2k for misc - if there is no breakdown, then TDS will decline that.
£1k for cleaning - Was there a checkin report?  How does it compare to checkout?  So dispute cleaning costs saying it was fine.

Have to assume landlord is being vexatious here or similar, no way they have this amount of ignorance.  Don't worry - betterment (new for old) is not allowed.

Pacerpilot

I could understand it a little if we were bad tenants but we weren't. We just lived there peacefully with our children, paid him £70k+ of rent and asked for nothing. 
  Any issues that arose are just the result of 7 years wear and tear against not a single penny spent on maintenance.
 He's even tried to charge us for a pest controller to take care of mice in the loft. Mice we weren't even aware of as we didn't use the loft.