photos instead of inventory?

[righteousdaisy]

Hello,

I recently moved out of a privately rented property. We left the property 2 weeks before the end of the tenancy because we took the new property early. We were in the process of moving the last things from the property and cleaning the house (we had proffessional cleaners coming and carpet cleaners although we werent given this at the beginning) however during the last week of the tenancy she changed the locks ripped out the carpets and threw our remaining pocessions away. She did not give an inventory and has now sent us a letter detailing how much she would like from us (just short of £1000) for the damage we caused to the property. She claims she has photographs of the property before and after which we have not seen or agreed on and has given us 4 days to pay up. She has become rude and abusive (a neighbour heard her shouting at us through the adjoining wall!)

She wants to do this all outside of the tenancy deposit scheme she entered with our deposit and she says she will be pursuing us for costs through the court if we do not pay on time and she will not release the deposit until we have paid.

Can she do this outside the deposit scheme? and can photos stand up in court as proof of what the house was like before?

She hasnt shown us any receipts of any of the costs and she is claiming for things such as rotten shower curtain even though the curtain was disgusting when we moved in and we took it down and used our own. There is a lot of damage that was there before that she is claiming for How do we prove that we didnt do it without an inventory?


hope this makes sense!

[MrShed]

- When did you move in?
- What was the monthly rent?
- Did you receive notice that the deposit is held in a TDS?

The photos will fully stand up in court as long as the landlord can prove the timing of when the photos were sent.

[Conniff]

I don't suppose you know who the last tenants were? If you do then contact them and see if she done the same to them.

[SirHumpy]

If she changed the locks before the contract ended she broke the contract didnt she?

Did she have permisson to enter the home?

From what I know of the TDS (MrS can you confirm please) I think a Judge wouldnt enter a judgment agasint someone who hadnt first tried to settle out of court and then using the TDS.

[MrShed]

SH I thought similar myself. But, this would appear to have been mutual agreement of termination of the tenancy, as opposed to notice being served and the formal eviction process followed.

[blitz]

There wasn't mutual consent to terminate the agreement early though, the ll seems to have forcefully ended the tenancy a week early, not allowing the tenants to remove possessions and essentially they would still have had the remaining week to clean the property should they so wish.

Demand to see the date stamped photos and receipts for all work done

[MrShed]

Misread SHs post - sorry. You are correct blitz. HOWEVER, difficult to prove anything, as the landlord can argue the property had been vacated/abandoned, and a judge would listen to this argument. Certainly not worth pursuing IMO(by not worth pursuring, I mean ONLY any unlawful eviction proceedings).