Taken to court by ex landlord for decoration etc of property after 10 yr tenancy

[AgnesR]

Hi
Would love any advice or support or pointers towards help
I am so upset because my ex landlord is taking me to court for £7500 for a load of repairs, new carpets, worktops etc, plus loss of rental income after my 10 year tenancy.(Rent was £750!)
I always paid on time, asked very little of them
All the carpets were old and thin when I moved in
There was of course wear and tear after a family lived somewhere for 10 years
but it was totally clean, totally emptied (of course), and we did lots of painting over scuffs. Several people helped and I honestly thought we left it in a (more than) fair state for them to do the necessary work after a 10 year tenancy (to good, polite tenants!)
I am already under so much stress with severely disabled child, my own health issues, finances etc and this is the last straw!
Thank you

Take lots and lots of photos of the place, and a walk through video and contact the tenancy tribunal/ tenants rights or similar organisation in your country for further advice. But it is really important to have photographic evidence.

Have a word with Citezen advice bureau, they will be able to give you advice for free and might even talk to your landlord on your behalf.
Some are cheeky gits, we had a landlord, keep our deposit of 400 because he hired a steamer ti clean his carpets. I was pissed as, we had steamed the downstairs carpets before we moved our, we didn't do the upstairs, simply because I couldn't carry the heavy machine up stairs. The carpets didn't look that bad and we had been in only a year and a half.

Did the landlord do an exit inspection?
As there are laws about having to give you a chance to fix things....

My landlord tried the same nonsense, basically they are just greedy pigs feeding off the financially vulnerable. I said i wouldn’t pay a penny,they had my money every month without fuss or fail. I did win and didn’t pay a penny for wear and tear

In Scotland the only way to prove anything definitively is have photos of before and after , receipts etc, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of deposits sitting unclaimed by tenants , I would be asking for all this info just scare tactics at this time of year, moving home is the 2nd most stressful experience, divorce/separation being the first, basically trying to abuse a vulnerable family at the worst time of year and most stressful having to move to different accommodation, I would could it abuse going on a lot , I used to rent property out all by myself he’s at it! We have landlord registration here, he has to be a fit and proper person with no criminal convictions etc, they can easily be checked out and reported to the local council who hold the registrations, which they have to pay for every 2 years.

Do you have a detailed inventory from when you moved in? Assuming there was one, it should mention the original condition of the fixtures and fittings when you moved in. Even if there wasn't an inventory taken, after 10 years it's absolutely just wear and tear. £90 for a lightbulb! 😂 They are taking the piss and hoping to scare you.

Contact whichever company is holding your deposit and ask for it back, in full. It's your money and it's easy to do online.

As PP's have recommended, contact CAB or similar for guidance/assistance.

(I'm not a LL, but I help with elderly MIL's rental property, so some experience)

Twice our landlords tried this, twice we won the claim with deposit company. One tried to charge us for a whole new bathroom suite as a tap broke and could not be replaced for the same antique type and the bathroom was not 100% clean. I sent images of when we moved in and the grey lines all over the bath. Let's just say that was years of filth as when I cleaned it that bath was pure white. Court will always side with the tenant after that length of time in the UK. Other countries may be different. We had one landlord try to argue that in greece if he said his keeping the deposit that was enough to justify it and should apply here too. This was because the garage door literally fell off the day we were moving out. We had told him many times it needed to be fixed but he did nothing. Lucky it wasn't on one of our heads else he would of been in prison now.

Wow you for all the messages.

I don’t think it’s relevant to a legal and contractual matter whether I have a disabled child, but they had recently denied an assistance dog (which I think is dodgy) and they are trying to scam all this money from a family who clearly aren’t loaded like they are - and having been a ‘good tenant’ paying on time for 10 years, I also think is morally relevant to them then screwing them us over. It’s not like they are trying to claw back money from a problem tenant.

I’ve had a relationship with them for 10 years and was just shocked that they would act like this. I’m over that now! They are total bullies.

I didn’t let the place deteriorate either, I reported any issues. They were supposed to inspect annually, they did it once at the beginning.

And I never painted it while living there - only after we moved our stuff out just to hide a few natural bits of wear I was concerned about and make it look good!

Unfortunately l don’t have loads of photos as I was unable to leave disabled child who had just moved house - hence saying I had help to empty and clean etc. However I have found some photos that were sent to me at the time and I’m pleased to say the place looks fab.

I am going to try to get the deposit back, and will be getting advice before doing anything else.

They didn’t give us any chance to rectify any ‘issues’ they just sent an e-form asking me to sign to say we owe them a ton of money. I thought it was a tactic so I would leave the deposit, and it worked as I didn’t have the headspace. I don’t think they have acted in good faith and hopefully that will count. I don’t intend to settle anything unless I get at least some of my deposit back, now that they are behaving like this.

Regarding how much some landlords are charging for items. I am a landlord and YourMove manage my properties. Recently they messed up and sent their own gas engineer out to check the boiler. I was told they'd failed it and had quoted for it to be fixed - £240. I was horrified as the boiler has never had a problem. I found out that the wee plastic part costs about £5 and my gas engineer replaced it in five minutes. What a rip off, it's criminal.

Relax sounds like my in laws, who are also.rubbisb landlords. They are trying to scare you into settling but don't. Carpets are only considered to last 8 years max as under general wear and tear, decoration less so they will struggle to prove any of it is considered anything but general wear and tear.
Have a read of this.
https://www.alanboswell.com/news/what-is-fair-wear-and-tear/
What you want to do is counter allegate and claim your deposit back.

So sorry this is happening to you OP , greedy bastards , hope Karma gets them. Hope you can get help and advice and glad you have found somewhere better for your family .

A disability not relevant, a child not relevant, they have you thinking like the rest of this country! We are not great, we are not united, if you want to see what a relevant disabled bit can do when given half a chance look up my son Ramsay Stephen Meiklem Bsc MA PhD , winner of medals at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in LA. Dad didn’t understand him, school weren’t interested but I never gave up, DWP forced him to a TRIBUNAL tge day after my mother’s funeral last year. Don’t ever sign anything until you have read fully, even it takes a week to read it properly. I don’t ever sign anything electronically, I learned all about computers in London at the end of the 80s , passed my driving test there. I won’t touch computers now, because of the damage they are doing and just sorned my car due to Police Scotland being under resourced and the new top female is a complete joke and lives in England. The whole world has gone mad!

My son and his flatmate had a similar experience when they vacated their flat in London (greedy landlord threatening court for unfounded claims that the property had been degraded when it hadn’t). It was straightforward bullying. My son and his flatmate were young and inexperienced and the owner was trying to exploit that. They were sent papers by the small claims court but luckily followed advice to stand their ground and keep refuting in writing. The owner backed down and settled for a minor sum a week before the court date. It was an attempt at extortion. Your case sounds as though you may be experiencing similar tactics and that the landlord is trying to frighten you into paying.

It's a tactic that dodgy landlords do to people they think they can get away with. It costs peanuts to apply via small claims court and they hope you'll panic and offer them a small amount to drop the case. I'm most cases it works

Stand your ground, the judge won't take kindly to his bullying

Landlord here. You’re not
responsible for fair wear and tear. Landlord is being ridiculous if what you say is true. Take photos of everything and check your tenancy with solicitor.

It depends on the repair clause. Is it "keep in good repair" or "put in good repair"? Very different standard of expectation between those two terms legally.

RocketIceLollie · Today 07:49
It depends on the repair clause. Is it "keep in good repair" or "put in good repair"? Very different standard of expectation between those two terms legally.

They can write what they want as a phrase in a contract, but many times landlords will add terms that are not legally enforceable and will lose when challenged. (Ive certainly had a few try add clauses that contravene the law - one place we looked at had something in their contract about giving them a right to unrestricted access for any reason at all times, which we pointed out was a contravention of the law and legally unenforcable)
Put in good repair would normally mean return to original standard (which the OP did with cleaning and painting over scuffs), it could in no way be construed as replacing kitchen and carpets.

The point here is they are trying to charge the OP for betterment of their property when they either haven't maintained or replaced fittings for 10 years over her tenancy. Shes their ex tenant, not the National Lottery.
Good luck with this OP - legally they are trying it on, and morally they are scum.

Your ex LL are absolute scum. And my job is literally working with LLs!

also this is actually rubbish.
I’ve dealt with 100s of cases and so have my colleagues. It’s usually not even worth it for Agents/LL fighting them as a Landlord will get maybe £30 for a £400 damage if that.

So next time… FIGHT YOUR CORNER.
Also, it wouldn’t be much of a fight, you just raise a dispute with the scheme. Most of the ones I’ve seen are 1 sentence long from the tenant and then the knee of proof is on the LL.

Your ex LL are absolute scum. And my job is literally working with LLs!

also this is actually rubbish.
I’ve dealt with 100s of cases and so have my colleagues. It’s usually not even worth it for Agents/LL fighting them as a Landlord will get maybe £30 for a £400 damage if that.

So next time… FIGHT YOUR CORNER.
Also, it wouldn’t be much of a fight, you just raise a dispute with the scheme. Most of the ones I’ve seen are 1 sentence long from the tenant and then the knee of proof is on the

I’d imagine by not claiming back your deposit you’re admitting liability, so you need to claim that back ASAP!
I would also imagine you could counter sue for discrimination as I believe the LL can not refuse assistance dogs?!
as others have said you need proper advice from somewhere like shelter.. but 100% claim your deposit back

Have a look at the Shelter website. They have a free legal helpline. Also check the Legal Aid website if you are being taken to court as you may be able to get a solicitor that way. Law Society website has a find a solicitor page and this will tell you of they do housing and legal aid cases. Best of luck.

I'm an accidental landlord, couldn't sell the small flat I inherited so rented it out. Had the same tenants for 5 years, lovely people, always paid on time or contacted me and paid asap. Thought about putting it on the market after two years when the lease was up but then they said she was pregnant, so obviously didn't. They bought their own house this year, I helped them through the process. Obviously they got all their deposit back, and a thank you card and flowers sent to their new address for being such great tenants.

Of course I had to recarpet and decorate to get it ready for new tenants (still can't sell in this poor market), they'd left it clean and tidy but it needed doing - no way did I even think of charging them for these necessary works.

Your landlord is the sort of rogue who gives all of us a bad name - don't give in, get help, and attend court and press for what's due to you.

Thanks for the recent comments.

I replied to them in writing saying that we did not owe them anything as all their allegations are wear and tear after a 10 year tenancy, so I don't think not claiming the deposit means admitting liability. Online it says you can use the deposit scheme or alternatively go to court, and I will be counterclaiming. I was feeling harrassed by them (see below) and they were the powerful party, and I had health issues and an unwell child needing my full time attention 24/7, so I am okay with explaining this to Court. (Kicking myself now that I didn't use mydeposits but as I say the online reviews by tenants are awful, and I didn't have time to engage with a crap company as already in so many battles tryting to get medical and educational provision for child).

I feel confident that I can deny every item they have listed, including servicing a burglar alarm as from what I see online that is their responsibility if they install one.

Subject to professional advice this week I will be counterclaiming for

• my deposit in full
• emotional distress due to harassment (they were sending by email their demand for 5K every day for weeks actually months, now bumped by 2K due to apparent loss of rental income which is total bollocks as I know from neigbours that they left it empty for ages, then totally refurbed and I have screenshots of the listing with new kitchen/bathroom etc)
• Discrimination under Equality Act for denying assistance dog for severely disabled child.

Honestly now I feel I would rather go to court than let this go if they want to pull out, as I want my deposit back!

@CleansUpButWouldPreferNotTo ahhh, that has brought a tear to my eye! You are so lovely!

The rental market is absolutely booming here, demand hugely oustripping supply. Them adding on another over 2K loss of rental income (while they took months to refurb) really does no favours to their case, the more I think about it.

I had always been totally polite and accomodating of all requests, not a single issue in 10 years, which is why I hav just been in shock of how they have turned on me. They have a reputation as 'bastards' though. I am so glad to be out of there, huge rats used the garden as a run. My kids miss the house constantly though (despite this one being nicer!).

If he has not protected the deposit, he can be ordered to pay you 3 x that amount. £6000 should pay for a nice family holiday next year.