Netted rent against deposit .. now issues

[markharrow]

My girfriend lived for nine years with her son in a (poorly) furnished flat paying market rent. She has now moved out. She spoke to the landlord 6 weeks before doing so to give notice, and to say that she was assuming she could net the the last months rent against the deposit. She wrote to confirm this after the call.
The Landlord agreed to this verbally, but then (about a week before the end of the tenancy) said that she should not have netted off the rent against the deposit, and recommending she 'seek advice'.
Two weeks after she had vacated the property he went to inspect (on his own - no joint inspection took place, although she offered one), and decided that she had caused extensive damage, and demanded £500 (the deposit). He has chosen to replace the cooker (nine years old) and most of the furniture, and is renovating the flat.
In nine years he decorated one wall once (to paint over the extensive damp on that wall), and replaced one bed, which had fallen apart. To be fair, he also replaced the gas boiler when it failed.
Basically he appears to be renovating the property after nine years of neglect, and wants my girlfriend to pay for this ... and now for the 'lost rent' over the vacant period as well.
There are no outstanding bills.
Where does she stand? I presume that he will succeed in asking for what amounts to outstanding rent. Can we countersue for the deposit? Will the claims be heard together, or should we pay the 'withheld rent' and then sue for the deposit?

[Nightmare4banks]

markhorrow,in reply to your post:

1.You should NOT offset the deposit against the rent unless clearly accepted i.e. in writing from the landlord.

2.In my view,the landlord would be entitled to keep the deposit as long as the rent was not paid in the last month - provided it does not exceed the monthly rent.

I hope you find this information useful.

If you have any questions,just ask.

Keep us posted.

All the best!

[markharrow]

Thanks Nightmare4banks,
The landlord verbally accepted netting the rent against the deposit, and my girlfriend wrote to him to confirm this. A month later (just before the end of the tenancy) he wrote to rescind that agreement ..
I agree the landlord is entitled to keep the deposit to 'cover' the lost deposit. The issue is that he wants more, because he is claiming the flat needs extensive work on it. This will probably end in Court, or at arbitration.

I guess the simple question is which of the following alernatives are best:
1. Pay the landlord the £500 of unpaid rent and sue for the deposit back (in my view he is being entirely unreasonable on seeking to claim any of this deposit).
2. Wait for the summons (which will presumeably be for unpaid rent) and then counter-sue for the deposit.
3. Seek out some form of arbitration service to lodge the £500 with and then wait for them to resolve the issue?

Thanks for your help,

Mark

[Nightmare4banks]

markharrow,

In my view and based on your post:

1.If he attempts to sue your girlfriend for damaging the property(I do not think he would bother about the rent because he already has his paws on your girlfriend's deposit) and there would be no financial gain.Plus his claim would look utterly daft if he had already agreed to the arrangement.Also,a total waste of the court's time because of these reasons.

2.If the landlord tries to sue for the damage,your girlfriend should countersue him for the same amount due to the bad state of the property etc.

3.Personally,I think you are worrying over nothing at this stage because he will keep the deposit which £500 and your girlfriend owes him £500 so the difference is zilch -nada - End of the Story!

4.Finally,I think you should just sit tight and do nothing but if you do get any letters/summons from the landlord further down the line post the content here on the forum so I can give you further guidance.

5.Also,I would need more details on how your girlfriend's landlord treated her throughout the tenancy agreement.After all 9 years is a fairly long time.This would help me to do a profile of this landlord.I call this Kick A** Profiling!
So to prepare a complete and concise counterclaim for your girlfriend.

Anyway,I hope you find this information useful.

If you have any more questions,just ask.

Keep us posted.

All the best!

[markharrow]

Thanks Nightmare4banks - very much appreciated! I shall post with any developments as / if they occur.

I agree this guy will probably give up ... and that the problem is that he has got used to using bullying tactics on someone over the years and getting away with it .. and is a little surprised the same tactics are not working now my girlfriend is out of the flat .. and is backed up in her stance by her friends.

Thanks again,

Mark

[Nightmare4banks]

Mark,all the best mate!