Hi
My landlord literally says in his email to me, “For your information , and, I am not seeking redress for this but we have damage that I assume was caused by your animals to the bottom two steps of the stairs, I have attached the picture taken when you moved in and the ones sent to me by the cleaner..I don’t think you have much to be annoyed or complain about do you?”
I mean, I am happy to pay for the damage. I find his tone/language unacceptable. What should I do?
Not clear why they are suggesting you may have been annoyed or complained as we don’t have the previous correspondence/backstory
What exactly are you upset about -LL has said they aren’t seeking any redress. Do you not like the fact they have said they have assumed caused by your animals based on photos? Or that (as they aren’t seeking redress despite the evidence) they don’t think you have any reason to be annoyed or to complain? They have simply stated some facts and their opinion on the matter. What exactly do you find unacceptable?
Agree it’s not the most politely worded but just because you may not agree doesn’t make it unacceptable does it? Tone is hard to get right in email sometimes and the LL may have pressed send too soon while upset over damage. Which of us has never wrongly sent an email in haste ?
I’d suggest responding neutrally ie
“Thank you for your email and indicating you will not be seeking any redress. Your assumptions and opinions have been noted.”
and if you wanted to, you could add “I’d be happy to contribute a reasonable amount for the damage. Let’s speak soon” which will give them a nice surprise.
Good luck
What should you do? Immediately offer to pay for the damage to be repaired and apologise that you did not let him know about this as soon as the damage occurred. This is not a moment to complain about his wording.
This is not actually an example of gaslighting. It’s an example of being patronising. But one email is not evidence of him being continually patronising which is where I think you could be justified to complain.
I agree that the LL could have worded it better, but I think you’re missing the main point: you have allowed your pets to damage the property and he is furious.
Be an honest person and pay for the damage you have done.