Landlord Problem

tkblueyonder

We have a problem with our daughters landlord

She has just given up her flat to go travelling, we kindly lent her the deposit fund for the flat in the first instance (£585.00). Now the landlord has returned her deposit (£80 light).

So we have only recieved back £505. His reasoning for holding back £80 is that the flat was overly dirty and needed intense cleaning. However our clever daughter took some pics of the flat on the day she was moving out proving she didnt leave it in an unfit state and my wife and i also visited on the same day to see if it was a mess knowing what youngsters are like these days.

our problem is that we cannot communicate reasonably with the landlord on the telephone, he just hangs up after being very rude, we dont have a physical address for him only a PO Box or email adress. Now if he wont take fone calls i doubt he will answer emails. Now for the sake of £80 is it really worth seeking solicitors advice costing potentially ££££££,s :mad:

does anyone have any experience/advice regarding dificult landlords?

Thanks in advance

Terry

N79

What was the start date of the tenancy?

tkblueyonder

She moved in on 21st April 2007 and moved out on 20th April 2008 so she was in there 1 year less 1 day

redcar_2

Ask him for details of which deposit protection scheme he used as you wish to open a formal dispute if he is unable to return the whole deposit. Lots of other threads on this on the forum.

This will probably reveal to him that he had a statutory duty to protect the deposit through a recognised scheme and if he doesn't do this he is liable to a fine of three times the deposit if you take him to court. Given this he may wish to just return the lot to you if you then drop the matter.

Of course if you choose to teach him a lesson for being generally dishonest...

Check out www.landlordzone.co.uk for more advice if you go down that route.

zebulon

you might want to check with CAB or shelter that a PO box on the tenancy is not enough - so you might as well also request his address as per whatever laws etc. - unless someone here can confirm.

real1314

You could try looking up the place on land registry - £2 will get you details of the owner and anyone with a charge on it (i.e any lender).