Landlord suing for damages. Advice please

[Beehivesbee]

Our lanloed is suing for 2k damages (75% of our deposit). He refuses to use alternative dispute resolution and wants to go to court. His Inventory Report doesn’t have much detail or photographs so not very helpful as evidence. However we signed it saying everything was in ‘Excellent’ condition. He’s got some photographs he says were taken before we moved in (this is the first we’ve seen of them) but the damage he’s claiming for is apparent light scratches to the oven and kitchen appliances, so the photos he says were taken at the start are not ‘close up’ enough to show scratches were definitely not there at the start. Can anyone throw some light on how a judge would decide this? It feels a bit like he said she said.

If he does buy a new appliance, can he claim the full cost of a new one if the old one was 4 years old?

If you are in the UK, your deposit should be kept in a tenancy deposit scheme and there is a process for him to claim, and you to reject.

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/

Was your landlord a decent one before this? For example do you have a current valid gas safety certificate? Without one he can get a 5k standard fine.... Did you get a section 21?

He doesn’t get to take it - fight your corner. Fair wear and tear.

Thanks for the replies all.

He refuses to use the tenancy deposit scheme dispute resolution service and has made a small claim, so we'll have to defend it and go to court. Our deposit is being held by the tenancy deposit scheme until we have a court order telling them who to pay it to.

Everything else was in order with the EPC and registering the deposit.

We moved out a few weeks ago at the end of the tenancy. The issue is only about our deposit.

No he can't recover the cost of a new item, only what a 4yo one would cost. But sounds like he's just trying it on and won't get anywhere...

If it's just minor scratches he's raised, that's fair wear and tear. Just turn up and say you took care of the place and admit there MAY have been some new minor scratches by the end but you couldn't say for sure. If the appliances weren't brand new, there presumably would have been some existing wear. It doesn't matter anyway -- appliances get used and get minor cosmetic damage. That's life. He won't get the full cost of the new appliances, especially for small scratches.

He won't get anywhere with it. He can't use photos outside of the official inspection that you signed although signing to say it's excellent was silly. I added 72 of my own photos to ours and pages of notes.

How long have you lived there? He will have to prove above and beyond reasonable wear and tear.

We were there for 12 months.

Firstly, not wanting to use the deposit process will go against them. Its there exactly fir that reason and judges are mot impresses when their time is 'wasted'.

If things could however go against you if he has receipts to show that the appliance was indeed new and the scratch is severe enough to fall under the definition of damage rather than wear and tear.

Even if deemed damaged, they are unlikely to get a full refund, but it's not impossible. An item was deemed broken when I went through the resolution process and refunded at the full price of replacement as repair was not an option. Highly unlikely though for a big item that is still perfectly functional.