Another Deposit Problem - Any advice?

[fuzzylogic]

Any advice much appreciated:

Between October last year September this year I lived with two others in a flat rented through a letting agency, but having all contact direct with landlord.

Just after we first moved in a leak occurred, coming from the bathroom and dripping down into the hallway. We informed the landlord, who then took around 6 weeks to deal with it. Now he is claiming that it was due to our negligence that the leak took place, as he says it was caused by us not using a shower curtain and allowing water to run out of the bath (not true) and that we failed to notify him of the problem (not true). As such, he is refusing to return all of our deposit, saying that he will have to repair damage to the walls in the hallway. We have been trying to contact him with regard to the deposit for 2 months, before he decided to tell us this.

The other issue is that one of the 3 of us that were renting is still living there, along with two new tenants. Since not being able to contact the landlord, we spoke to the agency, who said the new tenants should be paying on the deposit to us, not the landlord - something to do with it being not a new contract. However, having spoken to the new tenants (prior to the landlord making the claim about damage) they say they will only pass on the deposit to us if they can get assurances from the landlord that any damage will not be taken into consideration when they leave - fair enough from their point of view really.

The landlord did not inspect the property on the day we moved out, and waited a few weeks to do so. The tenant who is still living there was present, and was not told that there would be deductions made from the deposit.

So - firstly, who should be paying my deposit? Secondly, is the landlord within his rights to say what he is about the deposit (I hope, and suspect, not)? And thirldy, what's the best action to take from here?

Any help or advice would be very, very, very much appreciated. Thanks in advance...

[MrShed]

At work, will post detailed answer later. But basically, they are completely wrong about the deposit, the landlord has the responsibility to pay it back, not any new tenants. Shall explain why later. I would also say that the fact he did not check the property for a few weeks, when the property was still being lived in, removes any option he had of deducting from your deposit. And, as long as you can prove that not using the shower curtain did not cause the leak(or if you can prove you were using the shower curtain!) then he cannot deduct for this either.

[fuzzylogic]

Thanks for this. I suspected that he was in the wrong. Not fully sure how we can prove that the damage wasn't caused by us - but he was made aware of the problem at the time and the leak stopped when he applied new sealant to the bath. He only claimed last week that we were liable for the damage.

[blacksheep1979]

its the other way round - he has to prove you are liable. By any chance did you get a picture of the bath before and after sealant? Just follow the standard procedure of letter asking for deposit, 14days, LBA, 14 days and the court if he fails to pay up.