Threatened by landlord

[ninapee 10]

So we managed to buy our first house this year and have just left our last rented property. We thought we had an ok landlord. Any time anything went wrong we notified him. On the last day of our check out he asked us to repaint a wall. Now we had asked to paint it and said that if it needed returning to a plain colour obviously we would do it. We had given him a months notice. We asked him more than once if it needed doing. On the last day of the month (our checkout day) he asked us to repaint it. Understandably we were annoyed. We were not however rude. He saw our displeasure as a chance to get aggressive with my partner and warned my partner 'not to get on the wrong side of him', he honestly thought for a moment that there was going to be a fight. He left the house and when he saw him later after we finished painting he admitted he had anger problems. Since then he has tried to say that we didn't look after the place and wants to take an extra fifty quid off our deposit. I'm not really happy about this. I think marks and scuffs on walls and doors after two and a half years is fair wear and tear and that this is really because he's ****** off that we showed we weren't pleased with him. He's been really nice right up until giving us our deposit back and has turned into a total 'a' hole. I'm not sure wether to just take the remainder of the deposit or kick up a stink???

Edited March 31, 2015 by ninapee
miss spelled word

[Gleadly 11]

Without seeing either the tenancy agreement nor state of the place it's difficult to comment.

 

Does the agreement mention anything about fair wear and tear?

Can you explain how the walls and doors got marked?

Please don't take this the wrong way but some tenants, be it a few, have no care about their current property. Most tenants are usually first class.

 

A property I own was recently vacated by a bad tenant and cost me £2000 in repairs.

It had been refurbished prior to him moving in.

 

I don't think £50 is unreasonable.

[Cyclone 10]

So we managed to buy our first house this year and have just left our last rented property. We thought we had an ok landlord. Any time anything went wrong we notified him. On the last day of our check out he asked us to repaint a wall. Now we had asked to paint it and said that if it needed returning to a plain colour obviously we would do it. We had given him a months notice. We asked him more than once if it needed doing. On the last day of the month (our checkout day) he asked us to repaint it. Understandably we were annoyed. We were not however rude. He saw our displeasure as a chance to get aggressive with my partner and warned my partner 'not to get on the wrong side of him', he honestly thought for a moment that there was going to be a fight. He left the house and when he saw him later after we finished painting he admitted he had anger problems. Since then he has tried to say that we didn't look after the place and wants to take an extra fifty quid off our deposit. I'm not really happy about this. I think marks and scuffs on walls and doors after two and a half years is fair wear and tear and that this is really because he's ****** off that we showed we weren't pleased with him. He's been really nice right up until giving us our deposit back and has turned into a total 'a' hole. I'm not sure wether to just take the remainder of the deposit or kick up a stink???

 

He has to put the claim for the deduction through the deposit holding scheme, with evidence. Just dispute it, and let them make a judgement.

If it's normal wear and tear then they will side with you and you will get your deposit back.

 

---------- Post added 01-04-2015 at 10:35 ----------

 

Without seeing either the tenancy agreement nor state of the place it's difficult to comment.

 

Does the agreement mention anything about fair wear and tear?

I don't think this is something that will be or should be in a tenancy agreement.

The scheme for managing deposits defines what a deposit is for, and it isn't to cover normal wear and tear.

 

I don't think £50 is unreasonable.

 

It is if there is no damage to repair.

[Gleadly 11]

Fair wear and tear is stated in all mine

 

Anyway if the LL is using the TDS, as he should be, then the T should get the deposit registration details form the LL and then contact the TDS.

[geared 321]

He shouldn't have your deposit in the first place, so it's not upto him to 'take off 50 quid'

[Cyclone 10]

It's up to him to put in a claim for the £50 with evidence for it though.

[Hippogriff 10]

It's up to him to put in a claim for the £50 with evidence for it though.

 

Not if there's agreement. At the moment the OP appears to be deciding whether to challenge or not. If not, then the Landlord just says how much of the deposit goes where, the Tenant would, hopefully, agree with that if it was agreed up front, and it would happen. No need for any evidence in simple cases, it just happens. If the OP says he disagrees, the Landlord might just accept that... again, there would be no disagreement. If an agreement cannot actually be reached then there would be call for evidence.

[Cyclone 10]

Fair enough, so evidence only required if there is a dispute (as appears to be the case right now).

[Hippogriff 10]

Incorrect. The OP is undecided. There is no dispute (in the deposit sense of the word).

[Cyclone 10]

In the conversational sense though, there is

 

Since then he has tried to say that we didn't look after the place and wants to take an extra fifty quid off our deposit. I'm not really happy about this. I think marks and scuffs on walls and doors after two and a half years is fair wear and tear and that this is really because he's ****** off that we showed we weren't pleased with him.

 

And since the landlord hasn't yet made the claim through the scheme, the OP can't have disputed it yet.

 

Hence why she's asking for advice.

 

Regarding some earlier comments (particularly about wear and tear) the advice from the scheme says

 

The landlord should take into account betterment and fair wear and tear; this will help manage their expectations of what they can claim from the deposit.

 

Wear and tear vs. actual damage

When is it no longer normal wear? Damage i.e. breaking something is not wear and tear -

meaning either replacement or repair. Light marks on a carpet might have to be viewed as

unavoidable. On the other hand, damage such as nail varnish spills on the fl oor or iron burns

that have occurred due to negligence could see the tenant liable for repair. Consider whether

the item has been damaged or worn out through natural use versus negligence when making a

judgement call

And

When a dispute reaches adjudication, an

adjudicator’s starting position mirrors that of the Courts. The deposit is fi rst and

foremost the tenant’s money; this remains the case until the landlord can justify their

claim to it. The onus is on the landlord to show why they are entitled to claim money

from the deposit.

d. This process is evidence based. The landlord must support

their claim with evidence to show that the tenant has broken the tenancy agreement,

and that the landlord has suffered, or is likely to suffer, a loss as a result. The landlord

needs to act realistically when assessing the amount they want to claim.

As Hippo pointed out, if there is agreement about the deduction then it doesn't go this far and no evidence is required.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Cyclone

[Nicotrod 10]

Is the deposit with the DPS?

Edited April 5, 2015 by Nicotrod
Spelling

[Bestlad 10]

So we managed to buy our first house this year and have just left our last rented property. We thought we had an ok landlord. Any time anything went wrong we notified him. On the last day of our check out he asked us to repaint a wall. Now we had asked to paint it and said that if it needed returning to a plain colour obviously we would do it. We had given him a months notice. We asked him more than once if it needed doing. On the last day of the month (our checkout day) he asked us to repaint it. Understandably we were annoyed. We were not however rude. He saw our displeasure as a chance to get aggressive with my partner and warned my partner 'not to get on the wrong side of him', he honestly thought for a moment that there was going to be a fight. He left the house and when he saw him later after we finished painting he admitted he had anger problems. Since then he has tried to say that we didn't look after the place and wants to take an extra fifty quid off our deposit. I'm not really happy about this. I think marks and scuffs on walls and doors after two and a half years is fair wear and tear and that this is really because he's ****** off that we showed we weren't pleased with him. He's been really nice right up until giving us our deposit back and has turned into a total 'a' hole. I'm not sure wether to just take the remainder of the deposit or kick up a stink???

 

 

Did you move in post 2007? Do you have an inventory?so many questions.. Don't agree to any deductions now.