Landlord witholding bond

[cinders]

ok here is the score.

housemates old landlord is being mean with their bond#

has promised it back when they confirmed no debts in property, then when there were no debts and the house had been cleaned and redecorated, then when there were no debts, the house was clean and redecorated and the gas safety certificate was returned....

he has charged them 200 for the cleaning and decorating and wants to charge them a further 100 to get a new certificate because he says they had it.

how do i get them their money back

i was thinking, letter to landlord to ask for receipts for cleaning bills etc an proof of cost of copy certificate

wondering where they stand - surely they should be given the option to get their own quotes or agree to his before he pays them and debits their bond. How long can he legally keep their bond for before returning it? does he have to provide proof the house was in such a state if i can take him to court?

i really have no idea what i am doing with landlord law etc....

let me know kids

xxx

[Celestine]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

Did they have any details on deposit arrangements when they signed the contract?
If it wasn't set out correctly and agreed in writing then the landlord is on shaky ground.
Many landlords pull stunts like this when tenants leave because they assume most tenants won't bother pursuing it legally.
Did the tenants have receipts, evidence of their redecoration and cleaning expenses?
Off the top of my head and from a bit of personal experience, if it's a case of tenant v landlord, the burden of proof tends to fall to the landlord more than the tenant so it would be well worth drafting a letter requesting proof of costs etc. Just like a bank claim, they must give a timescale, mention recourse to legal action if the request is not dealt with. After 28 days and 2 letters, file a simple claim at court...........no risk of costs.
If he's bluffing the landlord will back down by this point.

[Budgie]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

Why should tenants be paying for redecorating?
If it is to repair damage caused by tenants then thats fair enough but if it is just redecorating through normal wear and tear then that shouldn't be at tenants expense.
Re cleaning, most rental agreements require property to be left in same condition from cleanliness point of view as when tenancy was commenced, again taking normal wear and tear into account.

They need to carefully check tenancy agreement and see what they were supposed to be responsible for. If they have left the property in a mess then Landlord is quite within his rights to expect departing tenants to pay for cleaning costs.

Gas certificate, should be Landlords responsibility. Why on earth would tenants have it or be responsible for it? I can't imagine a situation where a responsible Landlord would have given the original certificate to the Tenants. A copy maybe, but why would the Tenants have needed it anyway ????

[Amethyst]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

any holes in the walls ? Just be careful hunny.

[argentarius]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

Gas certificate, should be Landlords responsibility. Why on earth would tenants have it or be responsible for it? I can't imagine a situation where a responsible Landlord would have given the original certificate to the Tenants. A copy maybe, but why would the Tenants have needed it anyway ????

They are issued on multi-part stationery. The landlord is given two copies by the gas fitter - one to keep, and one to give to his tenants.

It is a legal requirement that the tenants are given a copy. It's not clear to me whether that has to be an original from the multi-part stationery or whether a photocopy will do, but I can see that it might be a requirement that it's an original as otherwise they are very easy to fake.

If it's a requirement to issue the original, I can see why the landlord would want it back as he needs it for the next tenant. But that still doesn't make £100 anything like a reasonable charge for obtaining a replacement certificate.

[Paule]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

How long have they been in the property as i'm sure the Gas Cert check needs to be doen annually.
Is he just trying to get you to cough up for the next one???

[argentarius]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

Based on the amount he's asking, it sounds exactly like he's getting you to pay for the next one when all he needs is to bung the gas fitter a few quid for a duplicate certificate, if that.

[cinders]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

OK

Couple of points that need clarifying I think....

1 - I cleaned the living room carpet myself, the only marks on it were where the sofas had been for 6 months, which to me is normal wear and tear.
2 - The only marks on the walls as far as I can remember were handprints up the stairs, you know the greasy ones from coming up and down...
3 - The gas certificate was apparently left in the kitchen drawer by the landlord... I packed the kitchen and there was no paperwork in there.

The landlords new tenents moved in straight away, I think the same weekend that my housemates moved out, surely if the house was as bad as he is claiming, they wouldnt be moving in until that was all sorted?

This is my letter...

Dear Mr Landlord


I write to you with reference to my bond for the property at 38 XXXXXXXXX Road, Coventry.

I believe you are withholding repayment of this bond without reason.

I require you to forward to me a copy of the tenancy agreement forthwith, highlighting the paragraph that states that you will hold my bond until the work you claim needs to be done has been carried out and any deductions for this work can be taken without my express permission or without me being given the opportunity to find my own quotes and compare the two.

The house was left in a reasonable state, you cannot claim, as you previously have done that marks left by a sofa on the carpet are not down to normal wear and tear. On your 6 month inspection, it was not noted by you that the house décor was badly damaged, and you were happy to renew my tenancy for the property, so how can it be, that a mere two weeks later when I vacated the property, you can claim £200 for redecorating costs? Further to this, on the day we vacated the property and you collected the keys, no inventory was drawn up and no mention of the damage to the property was mentioned.

The gas certificate you claim will cost you £100 to replace, should have only been a copy. When a landlords test certificate is issued, it is written in triplicate, so you should have a copy, I should have had one, which I dispute and the CORGI registered gas engineer you had do the work should have a copy. I am more than happy to pay for a copy certificate from the CORGI engineer at a cost of no more that £10 which I deem as an appropriate administration fee.

Further to a copy of the lease agreement, I require you to forward to me all receipts and invoices pertaining to the work you claim has been carried out, so that I can inspect them.

If I do not receive a full written response from you within 14 days of this letter I will be forced to commence legal action against you and claim my full bond through the courts.

I look forward to your response


What do you think?

Loulou

[argentarius]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

Good letter.

Leaving the gas certificate in a drawer in the property isn't really good enough. He should have given it to you or at least notified you of where it was. He can't blame you for it getting lost if he put it in a random place.

[cinders]

Re: Landlord witholding bond

no it isnt, i suspect it wasnt anyway... i doubt if there was one at all to be honest. I will send him the letter and keep you all updated.... can see it getting to court with him tbh, he is a bit of a piglet!
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