Can the landlord sue me?

[Tilly1990]

Hello all.

I was a guarantor for my sister’s private rental flat, which she has just moved out of and gone into a council property. She always paid her rent on time and was a good tenant.

The landlord wants to keep the entire £975 deposit because of some damaged carpets, child locks that weren’t removed and cleaning etc (the usual). My sister is disputing it and rightly so. Her deposit is held with Mydeposits, so is in a scheme.

The letting agent has got in touch with me this morning threatening court action if no agreement is reached. He is saying the landlord will go straight to county court as a preference rather than using the Mydeposits dispute resolution service. My sister and I have been threatened with being sued for the deposit plus court costs.

My questions are: is the letting agent just trying to scare us? How likely would the landlord actually go to court and win, when we are offering to make use of the Mydeposits dispute service instead? Surely this is easier and cheaper!

I’m a bit concerned as I don’t want to end up in court for the sake of £975.

thanks

[45002]

https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/fo...nuinely-sue-us

[jaguarsuk]

Hello all.

I was a guarantor for my sister’s private rental flat, which she has just moved out of and gone into a council property. She always paid her rent on time and was a good tenant.

The landlord wants to keep the entire £975 deposit because of some damaged carpets, child locks that weren’t removed and cleaning etc (the usual). My sister is disputing it and rightly so. Her deposit is held with Mydeposits, so is in a scheme.

The letting agent has got in touch with me this morning threatening court action if no agreement is reached. He is saying the landlord will go straight to county court as a preference rather than using the Mydeposits dispute resolution service. My sister and I have been threatened with being sued for the deposit plus court costs.

My questions are: is the letting agent just trying to scare us? How likely would the landlord actually go to court and win, when we are offering to make use of the Mydeposits dispute service instead? Surely this is easier and cheaper!

I’m a bit concerned as I don’t want to end up in court for the sake of £975.

thanks

It's scaremongering and the point of registering deposits is for this very purpose.

If the scheme find in your favour and the landlord goes to court, you will be able to use the findings of the scheme as part of your evidence.

If the scheme allow the landlord to deduct some amounts for those small things with proof of their costs they would then have to prove to the court that new loss has been incurred since and evidence its cost.

If they do file a claim, come back here and we'll help you deal with it.

As for the agent I'd just tell them to stop phoning you as you will only deal with them/the landlord via the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Edited to add: That if he chooses to file a claim and abandons the deposit scheme route, they will pay out the amount in full to your daughter and then use that as evidence he cannot substantiate his claim.