I'm sure you've painted quite the picture in your head about the state of myself and the house I live in. However, yet again all you have done is provide a post riddled with inaccurate assumptions and not one piece of useful, factual advice. I am not after some pink and fluffy reply all in my favour, I am simply after whether a landlord can make the demands made for slight cosmetic damage and the truth behind the subletting. I have answered the subletting question myself so forget that, I AM IN THE RIGHT. There are possibly a few grounds under s8 he could attempt to evict over, but I find this highly unlikely due to the actual condition of the property. His photos would inevitably be laughed out of court, but I thought I should answer your point all the same...not that this was ever something I questioned. As for the pet comments, they seem to be getting a tad silly now. Yes, literally speaking its a pet in the house, but it's not kept here, it doesn't live here and it's not our pet. Surely tenancy agreements don't refer to this situation? I have every intention of righting my 'messy' tendencies, but when and how I assumed would be up to me. I wasn't expecting to have to remove pictures while still living here to fill in picture hook holes that are currently hidden by the pictures themselves, fill and paint a tiny scuff on the corner of a wall, or pay out for a carpet to be professionally cleaned for a barely visible stain. These are all things I planned to do upon leaving to leave the house in the best possible condition.

Slightly offended by the 'messy and damaging tenant' comment there, maybe uncalled for given you lack of personal knowledge of the situation. The dog that comes in the house is here for very short periods of visit, maybe half hour, and usually running around in the back garden. Seems a bit extreme to be pulled up on this. I find your 'pet' remark a bit pedantic. You say assumed to be subletting?! Let's say this assumption is wrong as she is nothing more than living with her parents for a short space of time? Does this still carry the subletting title? I'd be surprised if it did but happy to be proven wrong...subletting, from my understanding, means to further lease part of, or all of the said property. No leasing here, simply a spare bed for a family member. No, I am not a 'professional' plasterer or carpet cleaner but what's to say I can't clean it to a satisfactory standard? And IF I can do as I say then what right is there to demand it done by someone who can write a receipt for it? As long as the mark or stain isn't there anymore then why does it matter who fixed it? From my understanding a s21 notice is a notice a landlord can issue to say they wish for the tenants to leave AT THE END of the tenancy. Getting tenants evicted prior to this is a long and messy process. As for the damp, it is right next to a window that has blown and has condensation in. I think I will just call the landlord up on this as maybe he could start pulling his weight. Living alone? Another assumption? Besides, I don't see why this has anything to do with this post or you. I feel this thread may turn into lots of assumptions made, so taking that aside if anyone has any useful info or links for me on the cans/cants from my original post I'd be happy to hear them.

...also, is my daughter living with me really classed as sub-letting, bearing in mind she doesn't pay me a penny for the privilege? I hadn't realised being a tenant meant you couldn't have your own children live with you without prior consent from the landlord.

Thanks for the reply Mariner. I'm not disputing the things he has picked up on, but the marks and stains being referred to are minimal and VERY picky!! My issue is more with the two week timeframe given to rectify them and the demands to have them done professionally with receipts. Why can I not leave pictures hanging and fill, sand and paint the small marks upon leaving the property? Why can I not deep clean the carpet myself when I leave the property? I have no intention of leaving the house with any issues unresolved, I would like to be clear on that, but this is my home and not a newly decorated show home...I have been here for 3 years now. NONE of the things he has demanded are detrimental to the property, just small cosmetic marks. But that's why I'm here...are his demands reasonable, can he demand small cosmetic work is done immediately and can he deduct monies from my bond? The way I see it is if I leave when my current contract ends (highly likely now, so all this is ultimately at his loss) and amend all these issues, how on earth can that effect the bond? Also, isn't a s21 just a notice the landlord wishes to reclaim his property at the end of the agreement? In which case this isn't really relevant, and if one was to be served I go back to my point above; how can he deduct monies if his issues have all been resolved? Any thoughts on this, or my initial post appreciated.

Hi all. This may be a long post so please be patient!! I have had numerous issues with the attitude and practices of my landlord in the past (even being caught going through a laundry basket once for evidence of pets!!), but following a recent mid-tenancy inspection (where he was caught going through kitchen cupboards?!) I have had a letter posted to me with a number of issues raised. I will outline some of these below and just want to know where I stand with the demands - Numerous nails in walls to hang pictures. Taken on another adult tenant, so sub-letting. The reality of this is my daughter (who is 30) has come home to live for 4 months while she finishes her Uni degree and moves back to the house she owns. Landlord adamant there is a pet here and states has found hair and also claw marks on walls and stains on the carpet. Again, the reality here is my other daughter sometimes visits with her dog, which could answer the hair (at least my only guess). The carpet stains are simply from living with 2 teenagers and the marks on the walls are from moving furniture. There is mould around one of the windows and I am to provide more adequate ventilation. I am not prepared to leave windows open in the middle of winter so not sure what I can do here? A hammer and screwdriver were left in garden to make for easy burglary and showing disregard for the property. More a dig than anything else I feel, but I kind of take a point. Locks on the garage have been changed and keys not provided to landlord. The reality of this is the landlord has not replaced the back gate which has rotten, so extra padlocks have been installed due to having expensive gym equipment in the garage and living near a rough estate. The padlocks themselves are off my daughters boyfriends bike locks, so I will most certainly not be provided keys. During the actual inspection the landlord invited a friend around to take a look at an area he thought had damp. However, from now reading the letter it appears this friend also got involved with the inspection and they are both claiming photo evidence of what has been found. Is this allowed? The demands that have been made are to repair all walls and have the carpet professionally cleaned. The landlord has stated there will be a further inspection in 2 weeks to assure these things have been carried out. Are these fair demands? In the past I have touched up any paintwork and deep cleaned carpets myself when I am due to leave, not while I am still living here. I cannot afford to have a carpet professional cleaned in a 2 week timeframe and cannot see how this can be demanded. Does a lot of this not come down to how I leave the house when I leave? He has stated there will be deductions from my bond if I don't comply, but how can this be done while I still live here? Again, sorry for the long post but I am trying to find out if this letter and these demands are fair, or just my landlord yet again trying to make my life hell. Thanks in advance.

Checked my account balance today and Lloyds have paid me all thats owed Just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped and given advice, would never have managed it all otherwise!! Just about to send a letter to the court and let them know and then hopefully thats the end of the matter. Thanks again and good luck to everyone else. Gary.

Well i did seek a little more advice on the T&C's that were on my letter and none of them really seemed to be a problem for me...especially as i am planning on closing the account myself once this is over!! So...i signed and sent off my letter but i am not sure as to how long it will take for the money to actually be deposited into my account. What i need to know next is... 1) Should i wait for this money before i inform the court the matter is settled or... 2) Should i (as i have been advised by someone else) inform them right away as the letter i signed and sent is legally binding therefore this matter is already done and dusted?? Many thanks for all the help and advice given so far, it is much appreciated!!!!! Finally...and hopefully the last bit of advice i need to ask, how do i inform the court this is now settled? Is it the link posted above?? Ta, Gary.

Thanks for that. However, i have just read through the T&C's again and i cant really see which ones i would not be happy with. The only one i was unsure of was point 5 where it states how i will basically keep my account in order in future. I have already changed accounts to Abbey and no longer use Lloyds...i was going to pay off my overdraft and close the account once this was over. I dont want to drag this out any longer than i need to (it has all been a bit stressful) so do you think i am ok to sign and send their letter going on the above?? Thanks again. Gaz.

Well very quick overview of where i am at the moment... Sent all the 'normal' letters requesting all the penalties i have paid during the past 6 years, then requesting payment, then threatening to take it to court. Had what seemed to be all the standard replies from Lloyds about how they are not penalties and are 'charges for a service' blah blah blah. Finally built up the courage to take it to court so filed my claim on the MCOL site, paid my fees and waited. Just 7 days after i issued the claim Lloyds had acknowledged it so i started waiting for their defence. THEN...yesterday out of nowhere received 2 letters from SC&M, first one seemed to imply the usual in that they saw these charges as fees for a service and that basically they will be defending the case. The second letter also seemed to start off in a similar way but when i turned to page 2 of the letter if was offering me a settlement of the FULL amount i am claiming plus the court costs!!! YIPPEEEEEEEEEE What i need to know is when i sign and send off this letter should i give a covering letter and in it give them a deadline as to when they should credit my account with the money owed? Also, how long can i leave notifying the court of this as i dont want to cancel court proceedings before i see the £££!!! FINALLY (sorry for all the dumb questions) whats the best way to notify the court? i.e can it be done online or should i ring Northampton direct?? Many thanks for the help. Gaz.

Blimey that was a quick reply!! Many thanks for that...time to start the heart beating faster now then

This might be a very basic question as i already know all the deadlines for a bank after you have put a claim in on MCOL...but i dont know if weekends are included in this. Basically, i filled in and paid all the relevant sections on the MCOL site but i did it late on 17th July. All i need to know is shall i start my count from 18th and then are weekends included in the 5 days, 14 days and then 28 days they have for each step?? Thanks, Gary. ps. sorry if this has been asked before but i could not find anything mentioning it when i looked

No not yet...it was only on 17th of this month that the claim was submitted. Guess its just a case of waiting to see what happens then i take it...although you've put my mind at rest a little saying others have done the same thing with no problems!! Thanks for the reply.

Firstly, quick run through of where i am at the moment as this is my first post on this site. I am currently in the process of trying to claim back around £1300 of unfair bank charges from Lloyds TSB. I have sent all the 'normal' letters and have had all the usual replies to each...which seem to be standard practice by Lloyds. I decided to see it through to the end and after quite a bit of reading up online i filled in my claim on the Moneyclaim site and paid my court costs etc. However, i am at the moment starting to put together my court bundle (just in case it goes this far) as i would rather be well prepared and then not need it instead of being totally unprepared and rushing everything last minute!! While reading more through this site i noticed a very obvious post (how i missed it first time around i do not know ). It is in regards to addresses to use for Lloyds. When i filled in the forms on the Moneyclaim website i used my local branch address for Lloyds, as this is what i have used for all correspondence so far...but am now worried this is wrong. Basically, is it wrong and is it likely to cause any problems?? Any help much appreciated. Gary.