Dispute with the landlord

bruce12's picture

Hi everyone,

I am renting a place for the past 12 months and in the process of terminating the contract to move to another part of the city. I served the notice to my landlord. He has recently sent me a letter stating that I have to pay a sum of £1800 for restoration and repair. There is not any damage done to the property but for few stains in the furniture. I would be grateful if someone here can guide me about how to reply to my unreasonable landlord

Many Thanks
Bruce

road runner's picture

The amount sounds a little steep.

I think you need to ask him or her to come round and talk like normal adults not teenagers. See where the landlord thinks it may need work to put the flat right for the next person to move in to. It sounds like they have been in and seen what state the property is in ???.

It may be that the furniture in the property was of quite a good value and be costly to replace.

Can you prove that the stains were there or not there when you moved in.

I suggest that when you do move in to a new place to rent and that is you get a digital camera and take photos of it top to bottom. If you have to take 200 photos then take them. When you come to move in the future you will have proof of what the property was like when you moved in. It would be advisable to give the landlord a copy say on a cd / dvd for there records. This will safe guard both of you and save you any scarey bills at the end.

Road Runner ( meep, meep )

iswim2011's picture

Interesting reply by roadrunner there. I can see how that can be a difficult one. Where as one person is saying one thing the other says the opposite but on the other hand if you move in to a place and it was spot on when you moved in what with furniture and nice carpets etc then that is how you should leave it.

I suggest you may be have a good spring clean, tidy up etc and get the landlord person to come round and say ok where do you think is wrong and lets work it out.
You may beable to get a cleaning firm in who could remove a stain from a carpet and make the place look like brand new again then it may just be a case of replace a coffee table and buy a couple of cans of paint or something. I think if you show willing to say meet half way then I would guess the two of you might be getting some where and get away from that really high figure.

I would ask was the stains on the furniture already there ? who can prove what etc.

Like the above post says take photos of the new place you move in to and I hope it all works out good for you.

iswim2011 Stare

Marcus

letthestressbegin2010's picture

Oh that is interesting. As others have written one says one thing and the other says the other.

If at the end of the day the tenant has made a mess / damage to a rented place then the tenant must pay to have it put right.

I guess you could say to the landlord ok what exactly is not right and may be ask where he is getting his quotes from and see if you could get a better quote from a good company or if it is a case of painting and you can paint well you could offer to do it yourself hense that would bring the price down.

But certainly where ever you move next take photos of the place.

Wish you all the best.

Mark Puzzled

cassidy9's picture

That amount does sound a little steep! You should ask him for a list of the repairs that need to be done along with a list of quotes. Once you have received the list, go ahead and get your own quotes and compare the two.

sellotape100m's picture

That is a large amount to pay out.

It sounds like the landlord is trying to fleece you.

I would do as Cassidy suggests and that is ask him or her for all the deatails of what is wrong and proof of the quotes and then get your own quotes in. I would be doing this sooner rather than later though.

I would not be supprised if the landlord had his own handy person who could do the work and only have to buy a few cans of paint and may be a couple of old chairs that look ok.

Anyway good luck with it all. I hope it all works out and you never know that the landlord may all of a sudden say that he sent you the wrong quotes for work needing doing.

Oliver

the.gofa's picture

Sounds to me like your landlord has someone who can do decorating and handyman stuff and is out to rob you blind.

I would not be supprised that if once you question it all that the figure may well change. If you have made some damage then fair enough. What you damage you replace like for like but you really need to speak nicely to the landlord and ask him or them to show / explain a break down of what is what and go from there.

Don't go in with all guns blazing. Show them that you just want to understand what is being billed for and the amounts etc play them at there own game. Get them on your side and go from there.

Jamie

bordercollie's picture

I would go with the advice you are getting from everyone else on here that is unless it is a lot worse that what you are saying but still at the end of the day you can ask and that dose not cost anything.

Darrell

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