Small claims court - how will this pan out?
Discussion
Hi all,
So my former tenant is threatening to take me to small claims court - after they moved into my property, they asked to bring their cat on a 3 month term, as this was outside the initial tenancy agreement, we agreed on a £250 deposit, and that the property will need to be professionally cleaned with a pet / deflea treatment package. The tenants agreed to this in the email. 2 years later, they kept the cat for a full 2 years, not 3 months, and they cleaned the property themselves with no professional clean and definitely no pet clean, but are now threatening to take me to small claims over the £250.
Do I just hand it back or have I got a case here?
Thanks.
So my former tenant is threatening to take me to small claims court - after they moved into my property, they asked to bring their cat on a 3 month term, as this was outside the initial tenancy agreement, we agreed on a £250 deposit, and that the property will need to be professionally cleaned with a pet / deflea treatment package. The tenants agreed to this in the email. 2 years later, they kept the cat for a full 2 years, not 3 months, and they cleaned the property themselves with no professional clean and definitely no pet clean, but are now threatening to take me to small claims over the £250.
Do I just hand it back or have I got a case here?
Thanks.
Edited by Riknos on Tuesday 7th August 09:16
Did you deduct from the overall security deposit? If so, surely this should be through the deposit dispute scheme? If they failed to object to the deduction, surely thats going to count against them in front of the Court?
My cynical side would say that its probably easier just to give the cash back now, but if you have spare time, see it through (and don't forget to get the case transferred to your local court, just for added annoyance).
Document everything, including your written comms to the tenant saying "you agreed to X, with these conditions. You didnt meet the conditions, what would you suggest is a reasonable deduction".
Maybe separate the professional clean (which is reasonable) from the deflea (which is odd, unless you have fleas)? You can't, as far as I am aware, try and make a profit, or impose a punitive amount of money. If you are defending £250, its a good idea to have £250 worth of professional invoices...
My cynical side would say that its probably easier just to give the cash back now, but if you have spare time, see it through (and don't forget to get the case transferred to your local court, just for added annoyance).
Document everything, including your written comms to the tenant saying "you agreed to X, with these conditions. You didnt meet the conditions, what would you suggest is a reasonable deduction".
Maybe separate the professional clean (which is reasonable) from the deflea (which is odd, unless you have fleas)? You can't, as far as I am aware, try and make a profit, or impose a punitive amount of money. If you are defending £250, its a good idea to have £250 worth of professional invoices...
Get the place professional 'pet clean' and then hand them back any money left out of the £250
As long as you have proof of what the £250 deposit was for and a receipt for a professional clean, then let them take you court for the remainder.
Unless they can prove (have a receipt) they did a professional clean it seems an open and shut case to me.
As long as you have proof of what the £250 deposit was for and a receipt for a professional clean, then let them take you court for the remainder.
Unless they can prove (have a receipt) they did a professional clean it seems an open and shut case to me.
Thesprucegoose said:
did you put the deposit in the agreed scheme?
No - the main deposit was through the TDS as part of the contract through Prospect, the cat deposit was separate NGee said:
Get the place professional 'pet clean' and then hand them back any money left out of the £250
As long as you have proof of what the £250 deposit was for and a receipt for a professional clean, then let them take you court for the remainder.
Unless they can prove (have a receipt) they did a professional clean it seems an open and shut case to me.
Thanks, I've already got quoted from companies for the clean - We tried to give the tenants time (they moved out 2 months ago) to produce any evidence of cleaning but they have been unable to, so it looks like they never did it. As long as you have proof of what the £250 deposit was for and a receipt for a professional clean, then let them take you court for the remainder.
Unless they can prove (have a receipt) they did a professional clean it seems an open and shut case to me.
Riknos said:
Hi all,
So my former tenant is threatening to take me to small claims court - after they moved into my property, they asked to bring their cat on a 3 month term, as this was outside the initial tenancy agreement, we agreed on a £250 deposit, and that the property will need to be professionally cleaned with a pet / deflea treatment package. The tenants agreed to this in the email. 2 years later, they kept the cat for a full 2 years, not 3 months, and they cleaned the property themselves with no professional clean and definitely no pet clean, but are not threatening to take me to small claims over the £250.
Do I just hand it back or have I got a case here?
Thanks.
They’re most likely bluffing and in your shoes I’d call it. Get the place professionally cleaned and pay it from the £250. They’d be mad to sue.So my former tenant is threatening to take me to small claims court - after they moved into my property, they asked to bring their cat on a 3 month term, as this was outside the initial tenancy agreement, we agreed on a £250 deposit, and that the property will need to be professionally cleaned with a pet / deflea treatment package. The tenants agreed to this in the email. 2 years later, they kept the cat for a full 2 years, not 3 months, and they cleaned the property themselves with no professional clean and definitely no pet clean, but are not threatening to take me to small claims over the £250.
Do I just hand it back or have I got a case here?
Thanks.
You should be fined for starting your post with ‘So’ though.
There is no such thing as a 'professional clean'. Anyone can set up a cleaning business! I moved into a 'professionally cleaned' flat that was a lot grimier than the flat I'd just moved out of, cleaned myself. You cannot insist upon one as long as it's cleaned to an appropriate standard.
Is the property sufficiently to standard as compared to the inventory? If not, and you can demonstrate this, then you can fight it.
Do you have a written agreement to have a deflea treatment applied? If so you can reasonably insist upon that.
Is the property sufficiently to standard as compared to the inventory? If not, and you can demonstrate this, then you can fight it.
Do you have a written agreement to have a deflea treatment applied? If so you can reasonably insist upon that.
Edited by Integroo on Tuesday 7th August 09:23
Integroo said:
Is the property sufficiently to standard as compared to the inventory? If not, and you can demonstrate this, then you can fight it.
It's pretty similar, the oven wasn't cleaned, the carpet has been damaged, but we're going after that through the TDS from the main deposit.Integroo said:
Do you have a written agreement to have a deflea treatment applied? If so you can reasonably insist upon that.
Yes, email to her saying the £250 is taken in the agreement they do a 'profesional pet clean' with a de-flea treatmentIntegroo said:
There is no such thing as a 'professional clean'. Anyone can set up a cleaning business! I moved into a 'professionally cleaned' flat that was a lot grimier than the flat I'd just moved out of, cleaned myself. You cannot insist upon one as long as it's cleaned to an appropriate standard.
Is the property sufficiently to standard as compared to the inventory? If not, and you can demonstrate this, then you can fight it.
Do you have a written agreement to have a deflea treatment applied? If so you can reasonably insist upon that.
A receipt from a cleaning company will likely be regarded as evidence of ‘professional cleaning’ by a Court.Is the property sufficiently to standard as compared to the inventory? If not, and you can demonstrate this, then you can fight it.
Do you have a written agreement to have a deflea treatment applied? If so you can reasonably insist upon that.
Edited by Integroo on Tuesday 7th August 09:23
Thesprucegoose said:
Riknos said:
No - the main deposit was through the TDS as part of the contract through Prospect, the cat deposit was separate
that still sounds like a deposit given by your tenant. i wouldn't want to defend that in the small claims court.bad company said:
Remember that the tenant will have to issue proceedings and very unlikely to get any costs in a small claims court.
35 quid isn't really massive for 250.if the cc decide the op has broken the law in not securing the deposit in an approved scheme then looking at a 1k+ fine.
Thesprucegoose said:
35 quid isn't really massive for 250.
if the cc decide the op has broken the law in not securing the deposit in an approved scheme then looking at a 1k+ fine.
According to the citizens advice website: "If you have an assured shorthold tenancy, your deposit must be 'protected' in a tenancy deposit scheme"if the cc decide the op has broken the law in not securing the deposit in an approved scheme then looking at a 1k+ fine.
But this wasn't an assured shorthold tenancy, that was and is still held with the TDS, this is separate contract we negotiated in addition? So would we still be liable for a fine? Or is it not worth risking and just hand it back?
Riknos said:
According to the citizens advice website: "If you have an assured shorthold tenancy, your deposit must be 'protected' in a tenancy deposit scheme"
But this wasn't an assured shorthold tenancy, that was and is still held with the TDS, this is separate contract we negotiated in addition? So would we still be liable for a fine? Or is it not worth risking and just hand it back?
Seems a lot of effort and risk for 250 quid (and I'm sure you could get it cleaned for cheaper than that anyway).But this wasn't an assured shorthold tenancy, that was and is still held with the TDS, this is separate contract we negotiated in addition? So would we still be liable for a fine? Or is it not worth risking and just hand it back?
[quote=Riknos]
It's pretty similar, the oven wasn't cleaned, the carpet has been damaged, but we're going after that through the TDS from the main deposit.
[quote=Integroo]
If the place is in a similar standard to how it was when the flat was first leased, and you are pursuing damage to carpet and failure to clean over from the main deposit, why do you need £250 for a professional clean out of a separate deposit? Is there any evidence of fleas sufficient to warrant a de-flea treatment?
It's pretty similar, the oven wasn't cleaned, the carpet has been damaged, but we're going after that through the TDS from the main deposit.
[quote=Integroo]
If the place is in a similar standard to how it was when the flat was first leased, and you are pursuing damage to carpet and failure to clean over from the main deposit, why do you need £250 for a professional clean out of a separate deposit? Is there any evidence of fleas sufficient to warrant a de-flea treatment?
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