FedupTeddiBear Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 We moved into our rented (unfurnished except for white goods) property about 3 years ago, and are now thinking of moving elsewhere. When we moved in we asked for the inventory and were told by the agents not to worry about one. We did, however, point out in writing that there were one or two things wrong, e.g. faulty washing machine, broken tap, minor damage here and there. The more serious of these things - but not all- were dealt with quite promptly. Since then we discovered a few other little things that were not quite right but also what we thought were not worth bothering the landlord over as we could live with them. To be fair, our landlord has been very good at coming over to repair minor problems and paying for larger ones and is always polite and friendly. We have done our best to keep the place clean and I could even say that it is in a better state than it was when we moved in! Only thing is, we have no evidence of what it was like when we moved in! Is it a problem that there is no inventory for the house? I would have thought that it would work both ways, e.g. if there is no writtten evidence that everything was in good repair when we moved in they will be unable to charge us for anything that is not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 It is not a problem for you no. They cannot charge you for damages if there is no inventory, simple as. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 It is not a problem for you no. They cannot charge you for damages if there is no inventory, simple as. I'm afraid to say it does happen. A friend of mine was livid when £100 from his £500 deposit was kept by his flatsharing landlord who falsely claimed that he had damaged the hoover. My mate says when he first used the hoover it was so full that it wasn't sucking anything up. It seemed that this hoover had never been emptied, and once the landlord even joked that he didn't know how to empty it apparently. So he emptied the dyson, hoover his room then put it back where it was. Couple of days later the landlord claimed he "only touched" the dyson and it "fell apart". On inspection, clearly the plastic bit where you clip the see-through "bag"/container onto had been broken, must have taken some force to do this. My mate tried to be helpful and fix the broken part with superglue and the hoover worked fine since then- he hoovered his room with it to test. A few days later landlord again claimed it was "still broken" as once again he "only touched it and it fell apart". What really happened according to my mate is that the landlord was too stupid to understand how to empty the dyson so forced the thing off instead of pressing the button to release it, thus breaking the plastic bit you clip it onto. This time it was fixed by landlord using masking tape. Then landlord brought this up after my mate had emptied the flat and hoovered his room clean. My mate was stunned since both him and his landlord have used the hoover for 6 months since then but on the night he left the landlord claimed this damage had "caused it to lose 50% of its suction power" and needs a new hoover and kept £100 of the deposit. My mate should have taken the hoover away with him perhaps if it was really as unusable as landlord claims (which was a lie) but really as he didn't break it he should have got the deposit in full and there was no inventory. There was a tennancy agreemnt but lazy landlord never made an inventory. My friend reckons landlord is just annoyed as he is moving out and landlord has not yet secured a new tennant so is seeking revenge by lying that he broke the hoover. Given it's just £100 what can my mate do except take the hit and move on? To get a solicitor to write a letter for you would cost more than £100, and boy don't they know this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaxas Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/ Get his ass is court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I'm afraid to say it does happen. Of course it does, but not legally enforceable. You do not need a solicitor to do any of this, just use moneyclaim. Will cost around £50, and you can sue for that charge as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 (edited) Can landlord then sue you back by making up lies that you haven't paid for phonecalls etc. or that you damaged something else? This landlord told tennant when he moved in that all landlines off-peak were fine since he was on a package but that mobile and 0870 numbers etc. would be extra. My mate never really made such calls to expensive numbers but landlord kept on asking for "something towards the phone", to which my mate replied "show me the bill please" to which the landlord never did during this 6 months+ stay. Then when my mate moved out landlord falsely said "we did agree that phone was extra" and took another £10 out of deposit for this. And would my mate need to go to court at all, please explain some more. This landlord has breached the tenanncy agreement I think because the agreement mentions deposit and says that if money needs to be used from deposit landlord must use it and ask tennant to top deposit up. He never did this he just took it out at the end in a sly way. Landlord never did this since the hoover was fine and was used by both landlord and tennant for months and months. Edited October 27, 2006 by scarlets79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaxas Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Can landlord then sue you back by making up lies that you haven't paid for phonecalls etc. or that you damaged something else? This landlord told tennant when he moved in that all landlines off-peak were fine since he was on a package but that mobile and 0870 numbers etc. would be extra. My mate never really made such calls to expensive numbers but landlord kept on asking for "something towards the phone", to which my mate replied "show me the bill please" to which the landlord never did during this 6 months+ stay. Then when my mate moved out landlord falsely said "we did agree that phone was extra" and took another £10 out of deposit for this. And would my mate need to go to court at all, please explain some more. This landlord has breached the tenanncy agreement I think because the agreement mentions deposit and says that if money needs to be used from deposit landlord must use it and ask tennant to top deposit up. He never did this he just took it out at the end in a sly way. Landlord never did this since the hoover was fine and was used by both landlord and tennant for months and months. He can try, but he'll get laughed at. No invetory = no deductions. Just remember to keep adding on the costs to his debt. Then send round the men in bomber jackets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Anyone can sue anyone for anything. It is whether it would be successful or not which is the question. To succeed in a court case, the claimant must show proof of what is owed by the defendant. If there is nothing owed, there can be no proof, so no success. As for what you say about the deposit and deductions, you can ONLY deduct from the deposit at the end of the tenancy, not during, so I am unsure where you get this idea from that he is in breach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 (edited) As for what you say about the deposit and deductions, you can ONLY deduct from the deposit at the end of the tenancy, not during, so I am unsure where you get this idea from that he is in breach. tennancy agreement says that if landlord requires the use of money from deposit for any damages/repairs incurred by tennant then owner can do this but simultaneously have the tennant "top up" the deposit to its original amount. this was not done. so if the hoover was "broken" 6 months ago, no new hoover was bought or any repairs paid for the hoover so the landlord incurred no cost. Also the hoover was used by landlord and tennant for next 6 months Edited October 27, 2006 by scarlets79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 You can ignore that term. He can only deduct from the deposit at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 (edited) so who is favourite to win this one, do you think? is lack of inventory gonna really win the day for the tennant? since my mate wasn't even sure if that "damage" could have been there before he moved in, but that damage doesn't stop the hoover from working fine in any case Edited October 27, 2006 by scarlets79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Sounds to me as if he cant lose, based on the info you have given. But, it depends on how the case goes on the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 OK, that's what I would think as well. The landlord would have no receipt showing any payment for repairs or purchase of new hoover during the tennancy. Is it worth the ex-tennant writing a letter to landlord requesting the remainder of the deposit before it goes to court? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrShed Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Not just worth it, would be the best idea, as it shows in court you have attempted to resolve the issue. In the letter, give them 14 days to pay up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlets79 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 If Landlord defends it would the tennant have to turn up in court? As then one questions is it worth losing a day's pay to fight for £100. As much pleasure it would be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.