Hi. I'm having a problem with my landlady refusing to return my deposit in full due to damage caused by damp in the bathroom. In addition she hasn't put it in a deposit protection scheme, and is not suggesting we agreed verbally that this was ok when we moved in (we didn't). I'm still at the property and will be until the end of the month.
The situation is that I moved in a year ago when she moved to Canada for work and had no big issues until Christmas time when there was a black mould problem in the bathroom. She came over and had a look and suggested to us that it was likely the extractor fan playing up and that she would get it sorted. Its worth pointing out that there is no window in the bathroom and that there was a pre-existing damp problem in one of the bedroom that we were notified about before we moved in. I'm not sure if its relevant but there was flooding in the basement a year or so before we moved in (we're on the 2nd floor).
After the repairs were caried out by our neighbor she told us that the damp was caused by too many people using the shower rather thana faulty extractor fan and suggested that a rule be put into place about guests. She suggested guests counld only stay 4 nights a week which isn't too far off what was happening currently, my girlfriend stayed over ocassionally in the week and every other weekend. I suggested that we compromise and say 6 nights a week which she refused. I told her that I wouldn't have moved in if there were such strict rules about guests and that such rules should have been laid out in the tenancy agreement. She agreed and said that she couldn't make or enforce any rules and I said I would to continue trying to keep the bathroom free of damp as much as possible.
Now she's trying to charge us £300 for the repairs to the bathroom (split 3 ways so £100 each). Is this as wrong as it seems and if so is there anything I can do?
I'm aware that she should have put my deposit in the correct scheme but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me about what to do if she continues to refuse to put it in one.
The issue is made more complicated because she lives in Canada so I only have the ability to contact her by email. I've also lost my copy of the tennancy agreement so I cant look up any specific clauses although I have asked her to send me a copy to my work address which she said she'll do (whether or not she will is another matter I suppose).
Also, I'm looking to put in oficial complaints to any of the correct authorities about refusing to use DPS and general annoying/agressive behavior so if anyone has any advice about that, it would really help me out a lot.
Thanks,
Joe
The situation is that I moved in a year ago when she moved to Canada for work and had no big issues until Christmas time when there was a black mould problem in the bathroom. She came over and had a look and suggested to us that it was likely the extractor fan playing up and that she would get it sorted. Its worth pointing out that there is no window in the bathroom and that there was a pre-existing damp problem in one of the bedroom that we were notified about before we moved in. I'm not sure if its relevant but there was flooding in the basement a year or so before we moved in (we're on the 2nd floor).
After the repairs were caried out by our neighbor she told us that the damp was caused by too many people using the shower rather thana faulty extractor fan and suggested that a rule be put into place about guests. She suggested guests counld only stay 4 nights a week which isn't too far off what was happening currently, my girlfriend stayed over ocassionally in the week and every other weekend. I suggested that we compromise and say 6 nights a week which she refused. I told her that I wouldn't have moved in if there were such strict rules about guests and that such rules should have been laid out in the tenancy agreement. She agreed and said that she couldn't make or enforce any rules and I said I would to continue trying to keep the bathroom free of damp as much as possible.
Now she's trying to charge us £300 for the repairs to the bathroom (split 3 ways so £100 each). Is this as wrong as it seems and if so is there anything I can do?
I'm aware that she should have put my deposit in the correct scheme but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me about what to do if she continues to refuse to put it in one.
The issue is made more complicated because she lives in Canada so I only have the ability to contact her by email. I've also lost my copy of the tennancy agreement so I cant look up any specific clauses although I have asked her to send me a copy to my work address which she said she'll do (whether or not she will is another matter I suppose).
Also, I'm looking to put in oficial complaints to any of the correct authorities about refusing to use DPS and general annoying/agressive behavior so if anyone has any advice about that, it would really help me out a lot.
Thanks,
Joe