my landlord wont give me my deposit back help!!

ethansmummy2004

i left the house nearly a month ago now and left it in a decent state! but apparently not he has literally thought of every tiny thing and is trying to bill me for it!
he has £500 deposit and i really need it back as we are going on hoilday in june and its most our spending money, i honestly thought id get most of it back, now i honestly have no idea what we are going to do!!
here is a list of whats hes complaining about
kitchen floor- i put those sticky floor tiles down to cover his manky floor and hes said the house is unlettable with them down and they need to come up- fine i offered to send dave and his dad around to sort them out btw! he hasnt let us and SAYS when he pulled them up they have ruined (pulled up) the floor underneath.

toilet seat- when we moved in the seat was broken so i replaced it with a blue one with dolphins on- he says house is unlettable?

walk in wardrobe door- were broken and of runners, am happy to pay a small amount to fix (which by the way he told me wasnt much!)

carpets- stains were always stained and on invertory when moved in and we there for 4 years. wear and tear?

wallpaper- i painted the lounge and he was very happy i asked about doing other rooms and his exact words were 'do what you what' now hes saying that the contract i signed said no decorating? and i said you said i could do what i wanted after you saw the lounge and he said well i didnt look properly, so i said that aint my problem!!!!
he says he has the strip the walls i painted and i should never have wallpapered over paint?

curtains- there was one pair of white curtains up when we moved in i put them in the airing cupboard and there was a leaky pipe that got them wet and they went mouldy so chucked them? my fault apparently as i never mentioned the leaky pipe to him

hes also saying about few other things which surely are just wear a tear after 4 years??? blind in lounge arent in great nick, having to re-paint, and outside plastic 9light covers that got damaged in the wind.

he said his letting agent said we should get nothing back, and i said i wouldnt accept a little amount and would take him to court, as hes not given me any chance to fix anything, and the fact i lived with
a leaky lounge celiing (when ever you used the shower)
pipes all showing in the bathroom
the bath panel needed venting so he drilled holes in it!

and also we cut back some of the hedges in the garden and there was no grass underneath and we brought all new lawn and re-placed it

anyone know where i stand? or got any advice?
i just dunno what to do
x

ethansmummy2004

also if it matters we moved in with 6 month tenancy and it was never re-newed we were there 4 years

macchicken

Go to the CAB. They will be able to help you. Dont give up he suonds like a right chancer!

continualdiamond

Problem is i feel that word of mouth means nothing.

I rented for 2 years and was always wary of my landlord agreeing to something if it then wasnt't recorded by pen/paper or a computer at my letting agency and if he simply changed his mind, he could always say i didn't agree to something and it would be my word against his.

I started reporting every single little thing you could think, even if carpet frayed, that way if he chose to ignore it and not fix it and it got worse, at least it was recorded at me reporting the issue.

I just have 1 question, did you bring up the issue of not renewing the tenancy after your 1st 6mths? As living at the property for a further 3 1/2 yrs with no tenancy is pretty amazing.

But in saying that i think your more protected now in terms of getting your bond back. I left my rental property nearly 2 yrs ago now, i gave £400 as my bond and got £50 of it back.

I tried to fight it and got no where.

terryw

continualdiamond wrote: »

I just have 1 question, did you bring up the issue of not renewing the tenancy after your 1st 6mths? As living at the property for a further 3 1/2 yrs with no tenancy is pretty amazing.
<snipped>
.

This is actually quite common but there IS a tenancy except that it is not contractual.
In fact for many tenants, this is preferred as the notice period is only one month (subject to dates) but with a contractual tenancy the tenant is bound to pay the rent until the end of the contract.

Nothing sinister on this aspect, but the rest is worrying.

terryw

ethansmummy2004

we called him after 6 months and he said well lets just give each other a month either way.
hes a farmer and was very friendly i dunno i guess i just thought he was a reasonable bloke- seems i was very wrong.
rung him today to be almost shouted at saying he wasnt well, his daughter is very ill iin hospital (i knew this which i why i didnt ring him every 5 mins for little things- shes been in hospital for around 2 years after being hit by a bus in the city.) and saying he hasnt had a hoilday in 4 years (as he knows thats why i need the money back! but im just thinking pay me what you owe me and your never hear from me again mate!!
looks like it will be going to small claims, have i actually any chance of winning tho?

Bunnie1982

ethansmummy2004 wrote: »

kitchen floor- i put those sticky floor tiles down to cover his manky floor and hes said the house is unlettable with them down and they need to come up- fine i offered to send dave and his dad around to sort them out btw! he hasnt let us and SAYS when he pulled them up they have ruined (pulled up) the floor underneath.

Did you get written permission from the estate agent/landlord to put these tiles down?

toilet seat- when we moved in the seat was broken so i replaced it with a blue one with dolphins on- he says house is unlettable?

Was the seat reported as broken in the inventory?

walk in wardrobe door- were broken and of runners, am happy to pay a small amount to fix (which by the way he told me wasnt much!)

Was this broken before you moved in or during your tenancy

carpets- stains were always stained and on invertory when moved in and we there for 4 years. wear and tear?

What is the landlord claiming the problem is with the carpets?

wallpaper- i painted the lounge and he was very happy i asked about doing other rooms and his exact words were 'do what you what' now hes saying that the contract i signed said no decorating? and i said you said i could do what i wanted after you saw the lounge and he said well i didnt look properly, so i said that aint my problem!!!!
he says he has the strip the walls i painted and i should never have wallpapered over paint?

Did you get his written permission to paint the house?
Did the house need painting? Was the decor in a bad state?


Had you reported any of the problems to the letting agent or the landlord?

Sorry for the questions, just trying to clarify

terryw

ethansmummy2004 wrote: »

we called him after 6 months and he said well lets just give each other a month either way.
hes a farmer and was very friendly i dunno i guess i just thought he was a reasonable bloke- seems i was very wrong.

<snip>
?

Well yes, this is more or less correct, except within the law he has to give two months.
But I don't think this is one of your complaints...or is it?

ethansmummy2004

no to all the questions. i did report the major probs but left little things.
the paint wasnt bright pink or anything just the same cream colour over the top to freshen it up.
i just cannot believe he can say these things cost £500, and reading more on the net it seems he cannot just start racking up a bill for me he has to give me the chancve to fix them myself and i have offered millions of times but he wont let me!

Bunnie1982

I think he also has to provide you with three reasonable quotes for each job, not sure though. The question is probably best asked across on the housing board as there is one member across there who posted throughout her battle to get her deposit back.

ethansmummy2004

thanks i have copied my orginal thread over there i didnt see that board lol