Tenant maximum liability
Discussion
I have searched the internet for this answer but I imagine the PH community will likely have encountered this before.
Very short and sweet - Can a landlord peruse a tenant for additional compensation over and above retaining their full security deposit? That is to say, an unfurnished property is let and requires a £1,000 deposit. At the end of the tenancy landlord believes that in excess of £1,000 of damages have been made, can he/she bring legal action to claim for the additional financial loss or is their responsibility to set a deposit that would reasonably cover all eventualities?
Before the usual S,P&L replies come along I'm afraid to say there is no interesting back story to this, no "friend" who wants to know and no family member seeking to sue a tenant. I've rented a few properties in my time and only once had a deposit reduced (student accommodation, go figure) but have always wanted to know to answer to the above question.
Thanks!
Very short and sweet - Can a landlord peruse a tenant for additional compensation over and above retaining their full security deposit? That is to say, an unfurnished property is let and requires a £1,000 deposit. At the end of the tenancy landlord believes that in excess of £1,000 of damages have been made, can he/she bring legal action to claim for the additional financial loss or is their responsibility to set a deposit that would reasonably cover all eventualities?
Before the usual S,P&L replies come along I'm afraid to say there is no interesting back story to this, no "friend" who wants to know and no family member seeking to sue a tenant. I've rented a few properties in my time and only once had a deposit reduced (student accommodation, go figure) but have always wanted to know to answer to the above question.
Thanks!
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Yes, the clue is in the word deposit. Deposit being a part payment. You can cause no damage and get it all back, some damage and get part of it back, or excess damage and have to add to it.
Pragmatically assuming that the tenant has the money / assets to pay the excess 
505diff said:
So for example, someone rents a 600k house with a 2 k deposit, then causes a 100ks worth of damage, expecting to only be liable to the tune of 2k? Just goes to show what they have/will achieve in life!!
Thanks - you've hit on the exact situation I was thinking of actually (my family had a particularly nasty tenant several years ago who certainly who had this mindset).TooMany2cvs said:
mcflurry said:
Pragmatically assuming that the tenant has the money / assets to pay the excess
If not, then a CCJ will follow... Or bankruptcy.Realistically, most tenants don't have another house or other assets, so can pay the debt back at 20pence a year
Rovinghawk said:
TooMany2cvs said:
If not, then a CCJ will follow... Or bankruptcy.
Do you have a permanent address for them other than the rental property? Do they have assets that make it worthwhile suing them?https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/a...
Du1point8 said:
Is this not what buildings insurance covers?
LL insurance covers the internals (furniture) but everything else is buildings?
Insurance won't cover wear and tear, even excessive wear and tear. And I doubt it'll cover damage deliberately inflicted by the tenant. Buildings will cover one off incidents, like fire, impact, storm etc. But if your tenant decides to knock a wall down or sell the kitchen units or roof tiles, I doubt building insurance will pick that up.LL insurance covers the internals (furniture) but everything else is buildings?
I had a tenant who wilfully damaged a property, I kept the deposit and went after him in Small Claims, tragically I only had a work address for him so would hand deliver paperwork including photographs of the disgusting state he left the flat in, to his work.
As he was a scumbag, I would open the envelope and ask the receptionist to confirm that all pages were delivered. I would then leave them without the envelope with the receptionist so she could have a good read and a gossip prior to giving them to him.
He rang me an hour later shouting the odds, how dare I etc, he paid up though
As he was a scumbag, I would open the envelope and ask the receptionist to confirm that all pages were delivered. I would then leave them without the envelope with the receptionist so she could have a good read and a gossip prior to giving them to him.
He rang me an hour later shouting the odds, how dare I etc, he paid up though
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