to not want to pay ex?

[emmam25]

I will try and keep this as short as I can whilst also getting the facts across.

About this time last year I was living with ex-p in an expensive rented house which we could only afford as we were both on equivalent salaries and could both pay half the rent.

We moved 2 years ago when his job moved across country. I had to leave everything, get a new job which I wasn't happy with and found it very difficult but was committed to the relationship, wanted to make it work etc.
However, over time I became depressed, started taking anti-depressants. I was probably a bit of a nightmare to live with.

Last year he decided he wanted to leave me. His job meant he could get accommodation for next to nothing through work so he moved out and left me with the house which I couldn't afford.

Although I was upset I quite quickly realised it was better for me. I started feeling less depressed, got off the anti-depressants and with A LOT of emotional and financial support from family, I decided to buy my own place that I could afford.

Buying took a long time and I spent nearly 6 months in the rented house on my own before I could move. It was a struggle for me to pay the rent but just about managed it with zero disposable income and selling a few possessions.
In that time I also met new partner and fell pregnant - bit quick I know!

Anyway, ex-p had paid the deposit on the rented house (which was substantial) and when I finally left the house the landlord made some deductions from the deposit. I did my best to leave the house in a reasonable standard but there was some damage that had been done at the point when we both lived there.

Ex-p now wants me to pay him half the amount the land lord deducted from the deposit which amounts to a few hundred pounds.

I can see his POV, we both lived there so share responsibility for the deposit but I am now in a VERY different situation. He made the choice to leave me which left me in a very difficult situation financially where as he was much better off by leaving.

To top it all off soon after finding out I was pregnant my new partner was made unemployed through no fault of his own so now my salary has to cover the whole household expenses with a baby on the way.

Ex-p is still single, paying virtually nothing for his living costs. So although I'm sure he would like the extra cash, he's not going to be struggling on the breadline without it.

Am I being unreasonable for not wanting to pay him? Or should I just try to scrape the money together/ not buy as much for baby / be even more austere and get him off our backs so new partner and I can get on with our lives?

Thanks for sticking with me if you read all that and I won't take offense at honest opinions.

[Aimster]

I'm confused as to what exP is asking for - I think it is the following so cannot understand why people think that emmam owes him money?

Emmam and exP rented a house and put down a deposit together. When emmam left the house, the landlord deducted £600 from the deposit becuase of damage that was caused when she and exP lived in the house together.

exP is now asking for £300 - half of the money that the landlord has withheld from the deposit (he is not asking for half the deposit money that emmam got back - sounds like he already has that). How can it be fair that emmam gives exP £300 to compensate him for the landlord witholding money from the deposit?

He lived there too. Even if it was for less time than emmam, why on earth would she give him half? I can perhaps understand emmam thinking she should give him some of the WITHELD deposit money (money she has not received back from the landlord) based on prorata for the amount of time they lived there together vs emmam living there on her own. But not half.

None of this matters anyway when he didn't uphold his end of the tenancy agreement and actually owes emmam three months of half the rent that she had to pay on her own to see out the notice period.

[Dee03]

I wouldn't give him a penny.
Years ago my exh left me and our 2 dc two days before the rent was due...my dad had to lend me the £600 for rent and the cheque for dc playgroup bounced so that was another £120..6 months later when I was allocated a housing association property he piped up and asked for at least half the deposit back....he swiftly got told where to go!!!

[LydiaWickham]

He was liable for the rent even if he moved out unless he tried to get the contract cancelled, at least for what would have been the notice period.

He just walked out, knowing you'd struggle to pay the rent and didn't offer to cover the costs - he has no right to ask for the deposit money unless he's prepared to pay you back for his share of the rent.

[AnotherEmptyNest]

If you both signed a lease, you are both liable for costs. that means that your ex will be liable for half the rent from the time he stopped paying until the end of the lease.

As for the security deposit, if he were to sue you for his half of what remains, he might well succeed.

[mamas12]

Go on as he started this pettyness.
Inform him how much he owes you and sit back and wait...
As collaborate says you are legally in the right to bill him for half rent he owes you.

[KittyFane]

Piglet, I was thinking the same thing, it was a joint contract was it OP? Then yes, (even with notice) he is liable for half the rent during notice period.
I'd let him get laughed out of go to the small claims court if I were you.
Don't be intimidated OP.

[PigletJohn]

I like the idea of him being liable for half the rent up to the end of his notice period. He did give notice, didn't he?

[ihatecbeebies]

Oops, just realised Ive xposted with a few other posters, I only read the first page before posting

[ihatecbeebies]

If you were both on the tenancy then you were both eligible to pay the rent for as long as the tenancy lasted. So if you stayed there for another 3 months and paid the rent yourself whilst the tenancy was still in both of your names then I should think that he would owe you half of the rent for those 3 months? (I had this explained to me by an estate agent when I was left with an expensive rented property in two names) Could you explain this to him and offer to put his half of the deposit towards what he owes you?

[FabbyChic]

I wouldnt pay him back, because technically he was liable for half the rent whilst you served out the tenancy. I assume it was in both names? He can't just move out leave you in the shit and then expect you to pay all the rent whilst his name was on the tenancy.

I'd not pay him a penny to be honest.

[HeresTheThingBooyhoo]

i think it he is entitled to it. but i also think he owes you for the months that were remaining on the tenancy in teh joint name. he should have found someone else to take over his share or he should have paid it. so he owes you that.

[HappyCamel]

Offer to pay him if he'll pay you 50% rent x 3 months notice (or whatever the notice period was)

[zookeeper]

err from what he says you owe him!

[zookeeper]

YANBU - you covered his share of the rent for three months - deduct that from what he says he owes you

[KittyFane]

Everything katemiddleton said.

[lassylass]

Work out the extra cost to yourself for having to cover his rent for the 3 months when he left (dont think you can really justify the additional 3 months where you chose to stay on).

Invoice him for it, and watch him STFU.

[snuffaluffagus]

What sort of damage costs £600? You need that information. Unless it was a long time ago the deposit will have had to have been in the national deposit scheme and there is a process to appeal unfair cases of landlords withholding deposits etc.. it just sounds such a lot!

[SolidGoldVampireBat]

Also, have you only got his word for it that you owe him that much? Don't pay him a penny without seeing evidence that the landlord witheld the deposit - and how come the deposit was sent to XP rather than you when he fucked off?

[BumWiper]

First of all if both names were on the lease then he is liable for half of the rent,even after he moved out.A lease is a contract.
After that any money you get back from the deposit,half should be deducted from the rent he owes.

From DH.

[cwtch4967]

You would be a mug to pay it seeing as you covered his rent for three months. Tell him to take it off what he owes you.

[fuzzynavel]

YANBU

I wouldn't pay him a bean. He left you to pay for a property that you both rented at the same time.

[DoesNotGiveAFig]

You don't owe him, he owes you for fucking off and leaving you to honour the contract you were both responsible for. If you lost out by £1000, and he claims you owe him £600, put a claim into him for £400.

Don't worry, congratulations and good luck with the little one.

[bemybebe]

There you go. And by the sounds of it (thank you collaborate) you may have a very decent chance of a positive judgement!

[emmam25]

Thanks for the advice people, half 3 months rent is roughly £1000 more than he says I owe him so there could be some measure in pursuing that!

[Collaborate]

I normally post on legal, but feel compelled to post here.

In law he was jointly and severally responsible with you for the rent until then end of at least the initial period (6 months?). As long as he left, and you never excluded him from the property by changing the locks (him giving you back his keys doesn't count) he will owe you for his half of the rent. Tell him you'll write off the balance that he owes you, as you're feeling generous.