Thanks so much for the confirmation of my thoughts! As for the gutters, I understand the previous thread questioning if it could perhaps be a tenant's responsibility. The gutters to which he is refering are quite high, completely inaccessable by ladder. As for the rest of the property, I took very good care of it and left it hoovered, dusted, mopped, etc. I actually left it cleaner than it was when I moved in. The landlord spoke with our housing office here on base and alluded to the damp being caused by the gutters or another pipe leaking, therefore not condensation. I ensured the property was clean and ventilated at all times. Like I've said before, I've already filed the claim so now I just have to wait for my day in court. I'm a bit nervous because the landlord seems to be trying to strong-arm me, saying he'll ask for lost rent income since the repairs prevented him from letting the property as soon as I moved out. I'm hoping this is just a bluff but, even if it isn't, I can't imagine how I could be held responsible for this. He had ample time to inspect the property and I informed him of the necessity for repairs before I vacated.

I finally got an invoice for the work carried out, for which I'm supposedly liable. It doesn't look right at all. The walls that were repaired were annotated on the move-in inspection as being rough and flaking paint and I most certainly don't think I'm responsible for cleaning and repairing gutters. Please let me know what you guys think. The claim was filed on Friday so now I just need to make sure I have solid references saying he's responsible and not myself. Here's the invoice: 1. To clean right hand kitchen wall, make good and decorate. 2. To decorate ceiling only to hallway 3. To clean and remove damp plaster areas in other 2 rooms and redecorate only those as required. 4. To clear gutter and hopper outside at low level and re-point this wall where required. Our price to carry out the above works is £988.00 + vat.

So we've had a new revelation in the situation. The housing authority was able to speak with the landlord and he said if there was a dispute he would "enroll the deposit and go through ADR". Quite interesting that he would choose those words, implying it was not already enrolled, since he swore up and down to me not one day earlier that it was enrolled with MyDeposits. Of course the scheme assured me it was not ever protected with them several times both before and after the landlord's statement. I filed my petition in court on Friday so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and I'm more than grateful for more words of advice.

Thanks everyone for the advice. The links have been extremely helpful and have given me sufficient justification to go forward with legal procedings. As I am suing only for the return of my deposit I will be filing in small claims court on my own. Let us all hope it doesn't come to that but keep your fingers crossed for me in case it does. Also, any more advice is always appreciated. Thanks again to the great words of advice!

The housing authority called my landlord's office but was told by his secretary that he was gone until Monday. She has been informed of the situation and the possibility of legal action so I assume she is lodging the deposit for him. I'm hoping we can then go through the ADR process and I can at least recover the remainder of my deposit. I've contacted a solicitor but she sounds quite hesitant, stating the cost would probably outweigh the reward, so I have very little faith at this point. If anyone knows a good solicitor willing to look out for the little guy in or near Suffolk let me know. I would prefer they didn't charge an arma and a leg but money is soon losing it's importance in this case as now I'd like to go after this crook on principle.

Here's the whole, complicated, story. I moved into a property in March '09. My move-in inventory annotated chipping paint and faded carpet in the second bedroom. I never received information from the DPS with whom my landlord was contractually obligated to enroll my 1,425.00 pound deposit. As I was new to the country and we don't have this law in America I didn't know anything was wrong. Fast forward two years. I notified my landlord in October '10 that I would be moving out in March '11, plenty of notice. 31 Jan '11, I moved some furniture to find more chipping paing and immediately emailed the landlord to let them know repairs would be necessary. I moved out at the end of Feb '11 and did the walk-through with my landlord's secretary. When moving a wardrobe in the second bedroom more damage was found consistent with the chipping paint previously annotated. It can be easily deduced that this was consitent with water damage and was obviously a pre-existing issue. The secretary agreed that everything else was satisfactory and I should not be considered liable. She said she would discuss it with the landlord and get back to me with his descion. After repeated emails over the span of three months I finally threatened legal action if I didn't get a response. I then got an email 99 days after I had moved out, this time from the landlord rather than his secretary. He stated the water damage was my fault and he was keeping 1108.00 from my deposit and would send me a cheque for the remainder. I voiced my displeasure with this conclusion and stated that I would be seeking legal counsel. Unfortunately, I have spoken with people from the housing authority, Citizens Advice Bureau, and finally Shelter who told me I will have to take him to court to sue for the remainder of my deposit. This is necessary as the landlord did not enroll my deposit in any of the protection schemes as he was legally and contractually bound to do. I have kept all email correspondence, move-in inventory, original lease agreement, and the cheque for 317.00 sent by my landlord. The one thing I don't have is pictures, stupid I know. I was told the cost of taking him to court would be 1,500.00 and I'd also have to pay a solicitor. I would like to sue him for three times the amount, plus fees, but he could still protect my deposit and get away with this. He is a well-off busnessman with at least four companies and can probably afford a good solicitor to get him out of this so I really need sound advice on my next move.