Lodger's room stinks of smoke and left it in a mess

He's threatening to sue me now - for not protecting the deposit even though I don't need to.
I've received these from him:

"No your landlord in allowing you to sublet is party to the agreement and therefore the deposit had to have been protected by law. See my LLB. (Hons.) law degree means I can interpret law. I teach solicitors civil litigation like this. Return the deposit or I prosecute you and your landlord."

"Under the housing Act I am entitled to my deposit back and up to 3 times my deposit in compensation the permission to sublet means your landlord is responsible for securing the deposit within 30 days. I want your landlords details and address please failure to supply these details will incur costs for which I will ask the court to award on top of compensation"

"I will ask one more time for your landlords details or I will get them via the land registry he is liable and the letting of the room with his permission constitutes an AST therefore not placing the funds in a deposit protection scheme is an offence with him being liable. I will give you this last chance to return the balance of the funds or supply your landlords details. Ultimately I will be entitled to compensation and I will proceed to court if you do not return the funds in full."

"I will not wait forever and the land registry and court filing system is 24/7 I think that you should warn your landlord if you don’t repay the balance or give me his details"

"Without Prejudice
You can only rely on a sublet exclusion if you collect 6 months up front so unless your land lord gives express consent you are either in breach of your tenancy and in breach of the housing act or you and your landlord are in breach of the housing act. In both cases I am entitled to relief in accordance with the law.
This is a pre action communication advising you that I shall be applying to the courts for £1200 compensation for the breach. £3000 estimated costs further damages compounded by your behaviour under the discrimination against me as a disabled person which I am advised are unlimited. I have ordered my solicitor to identify your landlord and make contact with the local Authority enforcement team as a result of the breach of the housing act which is a criminal charge against either you, or you and your landlord. My solicitor has advised me that he will make contact with your landlord by the latest Monday 6th November 2017. To avoid action simply pay the balance which you have no right to hold.
The aims of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) have been satisfied so far hence:
Although this communication is marked without prejudice I reserve the right to submit this to a court in relation to a substantive costs claim"

He's a bully

pinkshoes wrote: »

I would accept the two weeks notice - good riddance!

I would, however, get a quote to get the room cleaned fully including steam cleaning of furniture, curtains and carpet.

Get the cleaning company to write in their quote that the room smells strongly of cigarette smoke. Use this as evidence should he dispute it.

Then return deposit minus cleaning cost.

He was a lodger, so no requirement to protect deposit. His letter is a joke,

I did return the deposit minus cleaning costs. So I only took £60 from £400. That's when he said he's going to sue me.
Crazy...!

happyandcontented wrote: »

What position does he hold where you both work?

He's in a different department to me, and different floor thank god.
We're both managers, but I'm a line manager and he's a team manager.
He's also only a contractor.

Very annoying as I know he barely works - he used to lie in bed until 11am most work days! (I knew because I was working from home)

I've had to block his number as his messages were so unnecessary - he would wait until after 10pm to send one, probably knowing it would stress me out before bed - so I stopped looking at night

HampshireH wrote: »

What a piece of work. What's the betting he has mashed up his "pre action letter:" by researching poorly across various threads on this site without grasping an understanding of the possts.

A lot of people have law degrees doesn't mean the know anything about housing law bar possibly having written an essay many years ago.

I would report him for harassment if he continues. Especially if he makes work life hard too.

Just make sure you get a full detailed inventory and lots of photos

Yeah and I'm pretty sure you can't send a pre action letter by text. You also have to detail exactly what you're claiming for (I had a look at the protocol earlier today)
He's a real piece of work. His profile on spareroom still says he's a non smoker as well.