Hello, I have a few problems with my mother's landlord and would like to know if anyone knows where i stand on the following: My apologies for the long detail but have lots of probs with this one. My mother signed a lease in Feb 2009 for six months on a first floor flat, in May 2009 the property was taken over and she was made to sign a new lease for six months which ends on 31/10/09. She paid a deposit of £767 which i found out yesterday has never been put in a Deposit scheme An inventory was taken in Feb 09 and in May 09(by new landlord) this did not include some marks on the wall and carpet plus others(see problem later in thread) My mum reported some maintenance issues in April 09 which were passed to the new landlord, she made numerous attempts to get these sorted by phone plus one letter. One of the problems being the front room window did not open(1st floor flat), which was the only exit if a fire occured in kitchen. After numerous attempts my mum rang the landlord to arrange a meeting end August, he did not turn up yet again(around the 6th time he had said he would be there or send his maintenance people(he has many properties) My mum vacated the flat on 30/8/09 - before end of lease, due to fire escape risk plus all other problems reported including leak in bathroom that he would not fix and the fact we could in no way get hold of the landlord after around 30 phone calls, we could not even get hold of him to tell him that this situation was no longer acceptable and she was leaving plus the letting agent refused to have anything to do with it as they were not managing the property. We have since tried to get the deposit back and in the last two weeks i have made around another 30 phone calls to try and find out where deposit is, so i could take dispute resolutuon, he answered once and told me to take legal advice. I received a letter from his company yesterday telling my mum he wants 3 months rent due to breach of contract plus one months rent(total £1,312) as notice was not given( we could not get hold of address to write too). He has also sent a bill (£1,022) for labourers, redecoration, carpet cleaning, bathroom leak etc all of which were either there before she moved in or reported whilst she was there(which he is saying she is responsible for as in the contract it states normal wear and tear and he does not consider this to be the case). My mum even spoke to him and told him if he did not come to fix the tiles there would end up being a leak, he is now charging for a leak!!!! Total he has demanded is £2.334.50 In his letter he has accepted one thing and apologised for not fixing the window(fire escape), he attached my mums first letter about the problems but has conveniently lost the letter my mum sent about her concerns about fire escapes and the window still not being fixed. My mum cleaned the flat and it was spotless, better than before she left (note: her previous landlord thanked her for being the only tenant she had that left the flat in better condition than when she went in). 1. where do i stand legally on a binding contract that we terminated from our side wothout notice due to safety concerns 2. getting my deposit back because it was not her fault she had to leave 3. the deposit is not in a DPS - legally i am entitled to 3 times this amount but can i do this due to other probs with leaving early 3. Surely he has a responsibilty for his part in the maintenance and fire risk 4. Why was she made to sign a new lease, surely the original lease should have been honoured 5. what do i do next thank you for any advice Rachel