Landlord gave me my deposit back 3 months ago - now he wants to claim some back?!

Basira

Hi all,

I would just like to get some advice regarding a my last tenancy. As you can see from the title of my post, my landlord has given me most of my tenancy deposit back from my last house which I moved out of 3 months ago and now he wants to claim some back, saying that there have been additional costs in cleaning etc.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do. I have spoken to Shelter, who have told me that ultimately it would be up to the small claims court to decide if he took it that far. They say the judge would see it in my favour, seeing as him giving me back my deposit in the first place would indicate that he was happy with the state of the place. But now to come back 3 months later to say he has incurred further costs and wants some back seems a little strange. I am also concerned that because he verbally agreed to let me out of my contract early when I left, he could use this against me.

Please help, I just don't know what to do.

Thanks so much.

C_Ronaldo

I cant really help but why did the LL take so long to get to you about the additional costs for cleaning

Poppycat

I am not expert but having paid back the money 3 months back and then asking for more would be unreasonable I would have thought.

Basira

Yes that's what I am wondering, surely it would have been noticable before he returned the deposit and therefore he should have witheld some?

I really don't know whether to just pay or risk going o small claims - what do people think my chances are - or what would you do? I've never been in any sort of similar situation before.

Thanks so much.

geordie_joe

Personally I think the only question you need to ask your self is "will I ever need that landlord as a reference in the future?"

The rules are quite clear, the landlord won't give you your deposit back until they are certain you have left the property in the same way you found it.

He/she gave you your deposit back, or part of with a deduction for work he/she needed to do to bring the property back up to scratch. This indicates they were happy.

The only thing they can do to you now is not give you a reference. I doubt any court would find in their favour, they had your money and gave it back as they were happy with the way you left the property.

I would get everything in writing and keep it JIC a future LL contacts them and they give you a bad reference.

geordie_joe

Thinking about it, what I suspect has happened is a new tenant is asking the LL for new carpets, or for the property to be decorated and the LL thinks he can get money out of you for it.

Look in your tenancy agreement, it will say you won't get your deposit back until the LL has inspected the property. In my experience LLs over estimate cleaning and repair bills not under estimate them.

Basira

Thanks, Joe. Yes, he's actually trying to sell the place, so I suspect that he wants to get a higher value for it by getting it all professionally cleaned etc. Of course carpets and curtains need to be cleaned after 2 years, but if he'd thought I should pay then he surely should have withheld more of the deposit and not given it back.

I suspect that he will take me to small claims over this, after the tone of the email he sent. I guess it's a case of whether I want to fight it, what I think my chances of winning are or to just pay him.

Poppycat

Personally I think I would let him take you to court. I write him a letter explaining that he gave you your deposit and must have accepted the condition of the property, and that you you think its unreasonable to demand monies after 3 months since you vacated the property and that at the end of the day its his word against yours that he needs money from you and for what?

Voyager2002

Basira wrote: »

Thanks, Joe. Yes, he's actually trying to sell the place, so I suspect that he wants to get a higher value for it by getting it all professionally cleaned etc. Of course carpets and curtains need to be cleaned after 2 years, but if he'd thought I should pay then he surely should have withheld more of the deposit and not given it back.

I suspect that he will take me to small claims over this, after the tone of the email he sent. I guess it's a case of whether I want to fight it, what I think my chances of winning are or to just pay him.

If he takes you to the small claims court, he will almost certainly lose. And will end up looking stupid in front of a judge, and have to pay the fifty pound court fee as well. So unless he is totally incompetent, he will only threaten you with the law but will not actually do anything more.

So, as posted above, you should only pay him if you expect that you will need his help in the future, or if you genuinely believe that you owe him something (or are feeling very generous, in which case I am just as deserving as him). Otherwise, just email him a polite refusal.

Basira

Thanks all for your replies, I really appreciate all your comments.
The only thing that worries me is that he let me out of the contract early via verbal agreement, so could lie and say I just left - although then why would he have given me the deposit back and not flagged it up sooner I guess would be the argument against that. Obviously I would never just leave and if I had he would never have given me the money back.

Many thanks

geordie_joe

Basira wrote: »

I suspect that he will take me to small claims over this, after the tone of the email he sent. I guess it's a case of whether I want to fight it, what I think my chances of winning are or to just pay him.

He won't take you to court, he gave the deposit back. This indicates that he was happy with the condition of the property and that you owed him no rent.

You may only have a verbal agreement to end the tenancy early, but if you didn't have that he would have taken the rent out of your deposit.

The man hasn't got a leg to stand on.