okay, really I need to cut a very long story short. My landlady did not have my deposit protected under the DPS, I am on an assured shorthold tenancy, which started 01/12/07. I claim housing benefit ad have the cheques sent to me..because of this the rent has never been paid on time, not my fault as she was made aware of the way in which HB is paid and signed a form to clarify this.
She has given me notice twice now (the 1st time, back in March, she text me to tell me she had changed her mind!) Anyway handover of keys should have been done yest (31/07/09) as this is the date on the notice she has given me...she was too busy to make it, so I am now supposed to be meeting her at 5pm today.
She had already done an inspection, last Sat and says everything is in order...HOWEVER she also dropped a bombshell to me that she has calculated rent payments I made to her from the last 8 months and I owe her £1051 (she showed me her bank statements from Dec 08 to mid July 09 to prove this)
I have asked her to gather all bank statements from the day I started paying rent, because I used to pay for example an extra £50 in Jan to go towards Feb, I did this almost every month in 08 so it is possible that the payments could crossover....so question I have are...
Can she keep my deposit, when I hand over keys later on WITHOUT showing me proof that I owe her this money?
If not, would I still be liable to pay rent if I do not give keys back because she is refusing to refund my deposit BEFORE she has shown me this evidence?
She has not protected my deposit and I have given her a link to the direct.gov site which explains the consequences of her not doing so, however she has replied with a text stating that the info is noted and she will take her chances in court. She would still owe me £599, after I have paid this £1051 back if I do owe it to her. So basically what do I say/do? Do I give the keys back?
I cannot find all of my payment slips to prove I have paid her, she has said the onus is on me to prove that I DID pay the rent...surely it should be on her to prove I didn't, because no landlord was let a tenant continue to stay in a property they were not paying rent for?!
I WOULD BE SOOOO VERY GRATEFUL IF SOMEONE COULD SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE SITUATION AS I AM AT MY WITS END WITH THIS WOMAN, SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT LANDLORDS INSURANCE WAS, SHE HAS JUST CAUSED A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS/PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TENANCY AND HAS DONE NOTHING BY THE BOOK AT ALL, ALTHOUGH I ADMIT MANY OF THE RENT PAYMENTS WERE LATE, HOWEVER SHE COULD HAVE EVICTED ME AT ANY TIME BECAUSE OF THIS, SO IT'S NOT LIKE SHE HAD TO PUT UP WITH IT...
She has given me notice twice now (the 1st time, back in March, she text me to tell me she had changed her mind!) Anyway handover of keys should have been done yest (31/07/09) as this is the date on the notice she has given me...she was too busy to make it, so I am now supposed to be meeting her at 5pm today.
She had already done an inspection, last Sat and says everything is in order...HOWEVER she also dropped a bombshell to me that she has calculated rent payments I made to her from the last 8 months and I owe her £1051 (she showed me her bank statements from Dec 08 to mid July 09 to prove this)
I have asked her to gather all bank statements from the day I started paying rent, because I used to pay for example an extra £50 in Jan to go towards Feb, I did this almost every month in 08 so it is possible that the payments could crossover....so question I have are...
Can she keep my deposit, when I hand over keys later on WITHOUT showing me proof that I owe her this money?
If not, would I still be liable to pay rent if I do not give keys back because she is refusing to refund my deposit BEFORE she has shown me this evidence?
She has not protected my deposit and I have given her a link to the direct.gov site which explains the consequences of her not doing so, however she has replied with a text stating that the info is noted and she will take her chances in court. She would still owe me £599, after I have paid this £1051 back if I do owe it to her. So basically what do I say/do? Do I give the keys back?
I cannot find all of my payment slips to prove I have paid her, she has said the onus is on me to prove that I DID pay the rent...surely it should be on her to prove I didn't, because no landlord was let a tenant continue to stay in a property they were not paying rent for?!
I WOULD BE SOOOO VERY GRATEFUL IF SOMEONE COULD SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE SITUATION AS I AM AT MY WITS END WITH THIS WOMAN, SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT LANDLORDS INSURANCE WAS, SHE HAS JUST CAUSED A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS/PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TENANCY AND HAS DONE NOTHING BY THE BOOK AT ALL, ALTHOUGH I ADMIT MANY OF THE RENT PAYMENTS WERE LATE, HOWEVER SHE COULD HAVE EVICTED ME AT ANY TIME BECAUSE OF THIS, SO IT'S NOT LIKE SHE HAD TO PUT UP WITH IT...
