house checked, deposit repaid in full,now repair bill. do I pay??

[pebbles71]

hello..hope you can advise me. I lived in a privately rented house through an agency. I moved in august. 09. There were a few things that I pointed out to the lady who showed me around..ie; going up the stairs there was a hole in the wall that had just been covered over with wall paper and the front door was very hard to open and shut with a dodgy lock. i moved in anyway and was very comfy there although the hole was never corrected and ended up having my hand put through it when I fell down the stairs one day, and a man did come to fix the door but I was told it wouldnt last another 6 months of which I told the letting agency.

Anyway I moved out of the property on 1-2-2010. The same lady who showed me around the property came again on the 1st feb to make sure all was well with the house. She said it was very clean and tidy. Asked what had happened to the 'wall' and when explained she said that she remembered it from before and that it should have been fixed by the landlords correctly in the first place so was not down to me. Nothing was said about a lock. She was very happy with the house and I handed the keys back as we signed relevant paper work and my full deposit arrived back to me within 3 weeks or so.

 

Today 9mths on I have received a letter from the letting agency stating that I owe them £180 for repairs????? repair to a broken lock....repair to a hole in a wall...and cleaning??? How can this be??? I have seen other people living in the house since I moved out so why after an all clear from the agency....a FULL deposit returned....new tennets in the property and 9mths later have I received this letter?

 

I have sent an email to the lady who I used to see from the lettings agency but will prop be a while before I hear and just wondered if I am liable for these repairs or not before I go shouting my mouth off. Hope you can help x x:-x p.s unfortunately I had a clear out of old paper work just last month and think I have thrown the relevant paper work that was signed away as I cannot find it anywhere, well after 9mths I didnt think I needed to keep it!!!

[Dragons Dennis]

You owe them nothing. They checked the property and returned your deposit thus finalising the hand back. They cannot now, 9 months later change their mind and decide you are liable for cleaning, damage or a lock. The lock was faulty when moved in. The hole was in the wall when you moved in and if it wasn't clean then why did they return your deposit.

 

Either ignore them or tell them to go and chase themselves!

[girlspeed]

They returned your deposit then you have nothing more to do with them. They probably meant to address the letter to the later tenants... we had similar problems with estate agents writing to us at our new address for months after we moved out to come and do a property inspection on our previous flat.

[pebbles71]

Hi...thank you for your help...all was sorted and they sent me an apology letter stating that it was a mistake and the damage etc was not down to me....i have even recently had a cheque posted to me from the letting agency for £150 with my closing rent statement that clearly shows an over payment of rent! Lovely x x

[mariner51]

Dare I suggest a rare sighting of an honest, upfront LA? Obviously a unique selling point!

[MrShed]

A rare creature indeed mariner!