Ex-tenant wants to sue me for his heating bills being too high

[snowstorminateacup]

I'm not sure what to make of this . I'm a terrible worrier and this has made me so anxious I would really appreciate your thoughts... Today I received an email from some law students at a "legal aid" clinic run by a local university stating that they are contacting me on behalf of their client, an ex-tenant who moved out of my property earlier this year. They claim I am unlawfully holding his deposit and request that it is released in full immediately. They are also claiming £200 in compensation towards their client's heating bills which were allegedly much higher than they should have been due to the property being cold and damp and not properly maintained by the landlord (me).

The property is an old cottage. It has full gas central heating and an aga, both of which were properly maintained, serviced and fully functional throughout the term of his tenancy. His claim regarding the heating is based on the fact that one (of the two) wood burning stoves in the property is purely decorative and not functional (not up to current safety standards). He claims that it was our responsibility as landlords to fix this stove and the fact that it was unusable meant that his heating bills were too high. The other wood burner in the property is fully functional and has an annual chimney sweep and safety check. The tenant did not report any damp during his 12 month tenancy although we did discover, after he moved out, a roof leak that had caused a lot of cosmetic damage internally.

The deposit is held in a TDS protection scheme. He says I
am holding it "unlawfully" due to the "unfounded" deductions I have proposed (for rent owed, cleaning, damage & missing items).
Unfortunately we failed to reach a private agreement regarding the deposit, despite reducing our claim to 50%. He rejected all negotiations and therefore the next step, as I understand it, is to move to TDS arbitration. He has refused to agree to arbitration or engage with the TDS procedure. I think his alternative is to take me to court and wonder if this email today is his first step towards that?! But I'm just really upset that he says I am unlawfully holding the deposit when I am trying to do everything by the book and it is he who is not engaging with the system or am I missing something???

If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing I'd be really grateful. I need to reply to the law student's email but I want to be really certain that what I say is correct.

of course its higher in winter that's why pensioners & disabled get £200 winter fuel
NRLA it cost about £70 which is tax deductible telephone advice & paperwork

He would have had to buy twice as much wood instead....
Sounds a cf imo.

Ignore the email completely and continue to follow the TDS process. Once the despite is lodged there is a deadline for all parties (landlord, tenant and agent if there is one) to present their fact based non emotion case. Someone will then review the case and award the deposit accordingly. If the ex tenant chooses not to engage in the process his side will not be considered and whatever evidence you produce will be used to decide the case.

Include all relevant details, start and end of tenancy inventories, any paperwork you have confirming dates of servicing, any information you have if you have it confirming he was aware one of the wood burners was just for aesthetic purposes rather than working, proof of unpaid rent etc plus quotes to rectify and damage caused.

We were told by an ex agent that it was really difficult to get any of the deposit awarded to the landlord but that wasn't our experience - we got it all and they would have awarded us more money but had used it all and said if we wanted to we could go through small claims for the unpaid rent but that would be much harder to do for things like redecoration after the tenants put up garish wallpaper without permission.

I left it to the last day to upload our case having read what was presented by the tenant and the agent - it meant I could answer anything they had raised but they didn't have any time to amend their case.

The money is held legally in a government approved scheme and you are following that schemes rules. You have no other legal obligation beyond that so I wouldn't even bother to respond to the email you've received.

law students looking for some homework I'd send a very polite nice try but please use the tenant deposit scheme arbitration service if you believe you have a genuine case for compensation or deduction.

Does he not realise wood for a woodburner is way more expensive than using GAS or Oil normally.

Anyway, if he didn;t complain whilst he was a tenant then what did he expect you to do? Look in a crystal ball?

He's a chancer, don;t give in.

We recently claimed against a landlord. Estate agent and Google told us we would lose 100%. However the case was proved in our favour so do be ready for this and dont always believe Google.

They have no case.
You do, however, for them failing to notify you of the leak and internal damage.
Follow the TDS process, answering fully when asked any questions, and request full deposit held back for damage due to leak that wasn't notified.

It doesn't matter if it would have been cheaper or not with the extra wood burner. He took the tenancy on knowing it wasnt for use. He is trying to get you anyway he can.

I also think it’s law students trying a bit of ‘work experience’ - he probably isn’t paying for it and they are rather enthusiastic.

Yes to very brief response saying that the deposit is help with the relevant scheme and they should proceed through the scheme processes if they wish to dispute the matter. I wouldn’t get into answering questions or justifying any of it.

The thing about heating is ridiculous, especially if it was never raised during the tenancy. It is likely to be just an attempt to make you give back the deposit and frighten you (which it has).

You know you’ve done all the right things. You know you’ve got the relevant evidence. You j is the claims they are making are ridiculous and the reason for deposit being withheld is for legitimate reasons. Keep focused on that. Chances are this will just slip away and if it doesn’t , it sounds like it will all be found in your favour.

Haha, I work in a field where people say they'll sue us all the time for spurious reasons.
They say things like "I have a solicitor!"
Firstly, anyone can have a solicitor, you literally just phone up a law firm. Doesn't mean the complaint will even make it to court let alone go in their favour.
Secondly, it's difficult to get legal aid for civil cases, you have to prove the problem is very serious and that you couldn't afford to pay for legal representation yourself.
Thirdly, I highly doubt law students can practice until fully qualified, or that any court would take them seriously.
Your tenant is a complete chancer.

The "lawyer" isn't this guy by any chance?
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.legalcheek.com/2016/01/law-student-launches-his-own-law-practice/amp/

Law students hahaha. What a joke. They have no idea, it’s just practice for them. It’s some kind of advice clinic, have worked I. Similar before qualifying. If the solicitor supervising (if there is one) is no good then nor is their advice! Agree with the reply referencing the TDS arbitration and saying you will only deal via the scheme as advised.

What’s the detailed breakdown of the cleaning, damage and missing items.

Damage wise what was damaged. What exactly was missing. How much did the cleaning cost

He will have been given a copy of the EPC and informed the wood burner was ornamental rather than functional. This fact should also be in the inventory - is it? He will have signed the tenancy agreement and the inventory prior to moving in and as long this detail is included, my belief would be he legally accepted only having one wood burner.

I’m a landlord but use an agent so haven’t fully engaged in a process albeit I had a dispute, which went to the TDS and concluded in my favour. The ex tenant engaged and it was sorted very quickly. It took maybe a couple of weeks.

As others have said, he’s chancing his arm. If you want to respond, the most I would say is to refer him to TDS and ask him to engage with them.