Reclaiming Bond

[penfold15]

Hi All,

 

This is a bit of a long story so please bear with me.

 

My partner signed a tenancy agreement on september 2007 and paid a bond of £400. On taking the tenancy there was damage to the property, nothing sinister but there was a hole in a door to the airing cupboard. However as she had rented other properties off the same landlord in worse conditions and had always had her bond back she didn't think anymore about it.

 

While she was there she wanted to convert one of the large bedrooms into two smaller bedrooms at her own expense. (I told her she was nuts paying to improve someone elses property but once she has an idea in her head....). The work was completed by putting a partition wall in the middle of the room, the wall was then plastered and painted. Both rooms were then occupied by my children.

 

However shortly after she moved out of the property the landlord refused the return any of the bond because she claims works still needs to be completed. She is claiming for a door (my partner did not put a new door on the room as she did not need one as she had a baby gate there), she is also claiming for skirting boards.

 

Aswell as the above she is claiming for a new door in the bathroom (for a hole that was already there) and for clearing rubbish (there was never any rubbish left in the house, I was the last one to leave the property and it was spotless.

 

She is also claiming for a new cooker, although she has stated in writing that the cooker was in poor condition at the start of the tenancy (poor condition is an under statement.)

 

Anyway I have followed the advice on this site and issued court proceedings as the deposit was not registered with a deposit scheme, the landlord has filed a defense stating the above and a hearing date has been set. I now have to file all of my evidence. The problem is I cannot prove that there was a hole in the door, the landlord did not provide an inventory. As the landlord has stated that the cooker was already in poor condition I don't think that the court will consider that. However its this partition wall thats causing me a headache, the landlord states that it wasnt completed to an acceptable standard, but what is an acceptable standard. As far as I am concerned there was nothing wrong with the rooms, the landlord would have had to look very hard to find any fault. My partner paid a lot more than the amount of the deposit to have this works done professionally.

 

Any help or assistance would be much appreciated and thank you in advance.

[penfold15]

BUMP - Anyone help please

[penfold15]

Bump

[Planner]

A difficult one.

 

My view would be that if you ask your landlord if you can do some (quite large) alterations to a house, and they agree, I would think it would be a fair assumption for the landlord that they whould be done to a certain standard. In the case of turning a bedroom in to two bedrooms, I think it would be fair that the common man would expect there to be a door and skirtings (unless of course the original bedroom didnt have a door/skirting).

 

In terms of the rest, it appears largley a fabrication on your LLs part from what you have said.

 

I personally cant see how a claim for TDS non-complaince can be defended by claims for delapidations, they are two seperate matters, you should make this very clear to the judge.

 

I trust you have used a N208 form to lodge your TDS non-complaince claim?

[penfold15]

Hi Planner,

 

Thanks for coming back to me, fair comment with regards to the door and the skirting.

 

However as my claim is for non-compliance then do I need to provide any statements regarding the delapidations. Also I filed my case online with moneyclaimonline so do I still need the N208 and if so can I now file it as we are still before the trial date and where do I get it from.

 

Thanks for all your help in advance.

[Planner]

Hi Planner,

 

Thanks for coming back to me, fair comment with regards to the door and the skirting.

 

However as my claim is for non-compliance then do I need to provide any statements regarding the delapidations. Also I filed my case online with moneyclaimonline so do I still need the N208 and if so can I now file it as we are still before the trial date and where do I get it from.

 

Thanks for all your help in advance.

 

I agree, ypu shouldnt need to defend a TDS non-complaince claim as it has nothing to do with delapidations. However, if you have used money claim online, you have issued a standard 'every day' county court claim, (N1) rather than the TDS specific N208 claim as you should have done.

 

I think you need to be at least prepared to defend the landlords allegations of delapidations. You should also be prepared that your deposit maybe protected by the LL before the court date which could further add to your difficulties.

[penfold15]

Hi Planner,

 

Thank you for your advice. Much appreciated.