LL unfair damage claim of £7k ABOVE security deposit

Tenant Discussion
1

My partner and I are at the end of a 5 month tenancy, during which we have had had to seek legal representation amounting to dozens of hours of solicitor time, to protect ourselves from constant poor landlord conduct and unlawful claims for money.

As a final roll of the dice, the landlord is now leveraging every means possible (by use of lies and totally false accusations) to claim a huge sum of money for damage that either does not exist, or was not caused by my partner and I as tenants. For context, this sum of money is over 6 times the deposited amount.

We have a protected deposit, and the claim has been escalated to the deposit mediation party. We have fulfilled all obligations under the tenancy agreement, paid all rent on time and left the property in immaculate condition on check-out. We have evidence of this and can sufficiently counter with evidence for all items claimed, of which there are over 20.

Our main issue is with the inventory. Far from in our favour, it has been scripted perfectly to protect the landlord and pin the blame on us as tenants. Check-out inventory: contains almost 600 photos and detailed descriptions of every minor imperfection in the entire property. A pointing device has even been used for reference. Move-in inventory: only around 100 photos, none of which are close-ups and minimal description of any pre-existing damage - all of which are things the landlord is now trying to claim for.

Is the landlord entitled to produce (and claim on the basis of) two inventories that are so contrasted in their quality and content - with the check-out’s primary purpose being to undermine our stance as tenants? He has not alluded to any additional evidence of his own.

3

If the photographic evidence doesnt show the change in condition between the start and end of the tenancy, the landlord may struggle to persuade either the deposit scheme or a judge of their claim. Likewise the comparison between the checkout report and the inventory.

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4

Keep going . This sounds very unfair.

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5

When you moved in did you take any pics yourself? 600 photos is ridiculous !! Even 100 is well over the top as far as I view it

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In addition to what David122 has already stated if the LL has done the check out inventory themselves it will be obvious to any deposit scheme or judge that the LLs is biased in their own detailed descriptions. Like many LLs I do my own due to costs although it is recommended that it is conducted by an independent professional for this very reason.

I hope it goes in your favour and you get all your deposit back.

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@David122 we did not, as the situation was not anticipated to be untenable when moving in. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We did document the entire apartment ourselves with time stamped photos to exactly replicate the move-in inventory, one day before we moved out. The damage the landlord is claiming for is visibly not exacerbated in any instance in our own move-out documentation than in the original move-in photos.

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Taking pics of same spot ,good idea that should do it, in your favour

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I was talking about the landlords photgraphic evidence. The tenant is not required to do anything as its for the landlord to prove their case to the deposit scheme.

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Check the landlord protected the deposit in one of three schemes within 30 days of the deposit being received and notified you within 30 days too.

He sounds like the type of odd job landlord that wouldn’t do that. You can claim for three times the deposit plus the deposit back. Various articles online about it. My landlord didn’t do so!

I would try and get the property back to how it was as much as possible eg paint walls, to show you’ve gone above and beyond, then take pics. Then I would make a small claim against him which if you’ve been reasonable and can show he is unreasonably, it will be fairly easy to get a judgement in court. Or you make a counter claim on his original.

I would also make a subject access request against him now of all your personal data. Plus any letting agent. You can ask the judge to review documents he might try and redact or omit if you have suspicions as part of the counter claim.

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The original post says it’s protected deposit.

They say in the original post that they have already checked out.

@MaP1 it sounds like your LL claim is unfair. Unless the original inventory has photos of the same items/areas ( now showing damage), whereas the move in photos of the same areas/items show no damage, then his claim is likely to be rejected during mediation.

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Landlords here are on your side here MaP1 . As you come over as a very reasonable tenant . Thank the lord for that

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@S-155 landlord did indeed not provide confirmation of an official mydeposits certificate; looking into this route. Thanks!

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@Colin3 I’d like to think so, thanks for your positive comment. We have always tried to be reasonable during this particular STA, but the landlord does not like that we’ve had to involve a solicitor, quote the contract or explain basic landlord-tenant law. He is not one that plays by the rule book in any way.

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It strikes me that he seems “To be trying it on”. Some landlords are greedy , I have worked as a builder for quite a lot of them. Some great ,others not so.

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Just be careful of any odd job tenant advice on here from some who get the facts wrong. Hopefully your solicitor has accurate info.

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My partner and I are at the end of a 5 month tenancy, during which we have had had to seek legal representation amounting to dozens of hours of solicitor time, to protect ourselves from constant poor landlord conduct and unlawful claims for money.

As a final roll of the dice, the landlord is now leveraging every means possible (by use of lies and totally false accusations) to claim a huge sum of money for damage that either does not exist, or was not caused by my partner and I as tenants. For context, this sum of money is over 6 times the deposited amount.

We have a protected deposit, and the claim has been escalated to the deposit mediation party. We have fulfilled all obligations under the tenancy agreement, paid all rent on time and left the property in immaculate condition on check-out. We have evidence of this and can sufficiently counter with evidence for all items claimed, of which there are over 20.

Our main issue is with the inventory. Far from in our favour, it has been scripted perfectly to protect the landlord and pin the blame on us as tenants. Check-out inventory: contains almost 600 photos and detailed descriptions of every minor imperfection in the entire property. A pointing device has even been used for reference. Move-in inventory: only around 100 photos, none of which are close-ups and minimal description of any pre-existing damage - all of which are things the landlord is now trying to claim for.

Is the landlord entitled to produce (and claim on the basis of) two inventories that are so contrasted in their quality and content - with the check-out’s primary purpose being to undermine our stance as tenants? He has not alluded to any additional evidence of his own.

18

I have just slid off my chair and lost interest

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19

Have you gone through the TDS remediation as they will look at the
Check in Inventory and check out exit report and time stamped photos. They know what they are doing and will be fair.
Also they will consider the short duration of the contract.
Must admit but confused about involving solicitors etc at this stage.

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@Linda26 We are still in the early stages of mediation with the deposit scheme. Before the process began however, the landlord has already intimated that he’ll just pursue the full amount independently, regardless of the outcome of the mediation. Threats and deception are all we have experienced since moving in; a solicitor was and continues to be our only way of dealing with him, and even that is often ineffective (he has also made personal attacks at our solicitor, and refuses to engage a solicitor on his end).

My partner and I combined have rented over ten properties before and never had a single issue with a landlord before, it’s just unprecedented for us. We live in constant fear of what he will try to do next, even now the 5-month AST has ended (we were pressured to move out early) - the deposit being just the latest incident.

21

Hi
I must admit I find this perplexing. TDS resolution team are very thorough and will look at each aspect of the claim which needs significant documentation and evidence not hearsay. They look at Damage and cost and decide what is an allowable expense. I recently went through this. They recommended I be awarded the full deposit and they also noted another £1500 should be paid to me but it was beyond the deposit so my choice to pursue through small claim. Your landlord will find it hard to pursue an amount not endorsed by the resolution team. So he’s trying it on. Have patience in the process. Not sure why solicitors involved at this stage. Just incurring unnecessary expense.
Good luck