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Hi all,
Hopefully someone can advise on what can be done next. Apologies it's quite a lengthy post but thought the more detail the better.
OH rented a property that he vacated in December. There’s a couple of issues he’s now facing with the landlord a) not returning his deposit and b) not returning overpaid rent.
The issue with the deposit is that when he moved in to the property, he wasn’t provided with an inventory of any description. On leaving the property, there was a stain on a carpet in the spare bedroom which he accepted but the rest of the flat was in the same condition as the time he moved in. The landlord is saying this isn’t the case and is refusing to return any of the deposit. My understanding, from the Housing Act 2004 is that without an inventory the landlord shouldn’t be deducting any money (although my boyfriend had said he would cover the cost of having the carpet professionally cleaned). The landlord served notice on the property in order to sell the property and once my boyfriend vacated the flat was done up to a much higher standard ready to sell and more expensive carpet was put in all the rooms.
The second issue is that £406 rent was overpaid due to moving out mid month and not changing the direct debit in time. This has not been returned even though he said it would be.
Another point to note is that although the deposit was paid in to a correct scheme, this information was not passed on and again, I believe this breaches the Housing Act 2004.
OH tried to log a claim with the deposit holding company once he found out who it was but was too late and so cannot dispute the issue through them. They have advised going through the small claims process but obviously he only wants to do this if he stands a good chance of winning so I was hoping someone here might be able to advice?
A number of emails have been exchanged between the landlord and my OH and then with a solicitor on behalf of the landlord since December but all communication stopped and no replies have been received since March (presumably because the deposit was released). It’s a considerable amount of money (£800 for half the deposit and the overpaid rent maybe more if he’s due more than half of the deposit!) so just trying to figure out what best to do now?
Thanks in advance for any advice! I should 'fess up to posting this because we're looking at moving in together and having that money back would help massively so I'm taking an interest
he's also forwarded on any correspondence as I helped with replies etc so should be able to answer any questions that I've not covered x
Hopefully someone can advise on what can be done next. Apologies it's quite a lengthy post but thought the more detail the better.
OH rented a property that he vacated in December. There’s a couple of issues he’s now facing with the landlord a) not returning his deposit and b) not returning overpaid rent.
The issue with the deposit is that when he moved in to the property, he wasn’t provided with an inventory of any description. On leaving the property, there was a stain on a carpet in the spare bedroom which he accepted but the rest of the flat was in the same condition as the time he moved in. The landlord is saying this isn’t the case and is refusing to return any of the deposit. My understanding, from the Housing Act 2004 is that without an inventory the landlord shouldn’t be deducting any money (although my boyfriend had said he would cover the cost of having the carpet professionally cleaned). The landlord served notice on the property in order to sell the property and once my boyfriend vacated the flat was done up to a much higher standard ready to sell and more expensive carpet was put in all the rooms.
The second issue is that £406 rent was overpaid due to moving out mid month and not changing the direct debit in time. This has not been returned even though he said it would be.
Another point to note is that although the deposit was paid in to a correct scheme, this information was not passed on and again, I believe this breaches the Housing Act 2004.
OH tried to log a claim with the deposit holding company once he found out who it was but was too late and so cannot dispute the issue through them. They have advised going through the small claims process but obviously he only wants to do this if he stands a good chance of winning so I was hoping someone here might be able to advice?
A number of emails have been exchanged between the landlord and my OH and then with a solicitor on behalf of the landlord since December but all communication stopped and no replies have been received since March (presumably because the deposit was released). It’s a considerable amount of money (£800 for half the deposit and the overpaid rent maybe more if he’s due more than half of the deposit!) so just trying to figure out what best to do now?
Thanks in advance for any advice! I should 'fess up to posting this because we're looking at moving in together and having that money back would help massively so I'm taking an interest
he's also forwarded on any correspondence as I helped with replies etc so should be able to answer any questions that I've not covered x
