Deposit not refunded lawfully

[ajk88]

Hi everyone,

 

I am new to the forum and would like some advice, I will explain the situation and see what advice others have to offer me.

 

I moved into a flatshare in 2010. I was not on the tenancy to begin with as somebody was subletting to me. They then moved out and I was offered to take the tenancy over so I agreed. I was sharing the flat with 4 other people. When I signed the tenancy agreement with the landlord, he confirmed this was okay with him so I signed the agreement with him and gave him my deposit. The house was in pretty bad shape and I paid some money for improvements.

 

I asked the landlord last October to paint and re carpet the floor as it was in an appalling state. He agreed but I never heard back from him so I left it. There were lots of other problems with the property in the mean time. So in April, I asked him again and he said this would be fine. I bought the materials and he gave me the money back and I done all the labour free of charge.

 

Then suddenly my situation had changed and had to move out giving 1 month notice which I thought was the correct notice period but the landlord changed the tenancy agreement and asked me to sign it reassuring me that I did not have to look over it again as the only thing that had changed was the amount of rent to be paid. So I gave him my 1 month notice and he explained it was 2 months but said he would be fine with 1 month as it was mitigating circumstances. So I thought everything was okay.

 

The boiler broke 1 week before the tenancy agreement came to an end and the landlord ignored my messages and never replied.

 

So I met with him and gave him his keys back. He said he would look round the property and let me know of any issues, I never heard from him so assumed all was alright.

 

I met with him today and he told me that because I moved out 1 month after the carpets and decorating had been done and that he apparently didn`t want to do this even though he never mentioned this that he would be deducting £450 from my £800 deposit for the re decoration and carpets.

 

I feel this unfair. Just to point out another couple of things. The boiler has not been serviced in the whole 4 years I have stayed. My deposit was not put in a TDP scheme. I was not made aware that subletting was illegal until recently as the landlord told me this was alright and he had always done this with all the other tenants. Also there was no inventory made by the landlord or myself

 

I wonder what should I do to get my deposit back.

[mariner51]

The only thing you can do, sue LL in SCC for return of full deposit.

Start by sending written LBA to LL, giving him 14 days to respond before initiating Court action.

If he does not have move in/out inventories he will be hard pressed to justify any deductions from the time you took on the Tenancy.

From what you say, the LL was happy to allow you to sublet to 4 persons not named on TA, in effect these were your Ts and your resp for any additional wear & tear beyond that expected for 1 Tenant.

LL not required to service the boiler, just provide annual GSC..

He had no resp to replace carpets, unless unsafe, even if he did agree to replace..

Restrict your statement of claim to return of deposit, forget disputes with LL unless asked. It is LLs job to show proposed deductions are reasonable.

Others may suggest other pot claims eg deposit non-protection, but keep it simple, Judges dislike reading full tenancy histories IME

 

 

When did you sign AST?

For what fixed term?

When did you give NTQ & vacate property?

[ajk88]

I signed the assured tenancy about 14 months ago. It was originally for 6 months and would continue on a month to month basis. I gave 1 month notice and vacated the property 31st July. He was fine with the 1 month notice. He has never provided a GSC. I understand he did not need to change the carpet but he agreed to and now he is saying he wants us to pay for it and leave it behind. He is trying to make me pay for home improvements even though he agreed to pay for it.

[mariner51]

Same advice- LBA followed by SCC action.

Judge should not allow betterment ie you paying for T damage, without reasonable allowance for FW&T.

Expect LL counterclaim for some T damage missed, revised costings or rent owing. For the latter we need to know precise T dates, to ensure your NTQ complied with SPT, despite LL being happy with 1 month notice.

 

 

NEWSFLASH - LLs (& Ts) don't always tell the truth, and do change their minds ie selective memory.