Landlady trying to keep our deposit

We have had no end of trouble with our landlady. Every month she demanded double the utility amount agreed in the contract (70) and one month demanded 240. When we questioned this she admitted she had never received a bill, we made her go and get one and it turned out she had over charged us and owed us money.

We woke up one day and had no water, we called her and were told she'd get someone out within the next few days. Only when we pushed this did she get someone round.

But despite all this she always said we were her favorite tenants and always seemed quite sorry.

Until we moved out.

She's taken meter readings but wont give us the deposit until she receives a bill(despite claiming before that she doesn't receive any bills). She is accusing us of things such as;

* leaving all pots pans burnt (they were burnt when we moved in and we only ever used our own)
* scratching the kitchen surface by never using a chopping board- not true, we always used one when chopping and surely minor scratches would be normal wear and tear?
* glue stuck to cupboards from decorations that she 'cant get off'. We stuck a few plastic snowflakes with BLUE TACK and wash the cupboards down every other day they were SPOTLESS. And blue tack is pretty easy to get off!
* apparently broke the tv screen, however we moved out on Monday @ 6pm. She came over at 5pm for a preliminary look around and we were WATCHING the tv, she even commented on the film.
* dust behind furniture- true enough I only cleaned behind the sofa about once a month so it was probably a bit dusty but surel no reason to withold a deposit?
* 'never cleaned the kitchen in six months'- we are not animals. We cleaned the kitchen everyday. She came round monthly to collect rent- wouldn't she have mentioned something? She came round the day we moved out!

We have pictures of some of these things from the day we moved in, however not sure how effective that'd be.

We NEVER received an itinerary, so surely if we never signed anything saying 'this works, this is in good condition' then she has nothing to contest about?

When we moved in the kettle was broken and we were kind enough to buy our own and leave it for her when moving out.

The spare room had no bedding and we bought a duvet and pillows, again which we left when moving out.

Plug socket was hanging off and dangerous when we moved in, we fixed it.

Bath was blocked when we moved in, never drained, we fixed this.

We did ruin some placemats (the black paint came off when cleaning) so I bought new ones.

There was netting around the living room lights which was YELLOW with dirt- I took them off to wash them and they were so old the elastic had perished. I offered to buy new elastic myself and fix it up (would have taken 5 minutes) but she refused and demanded that she had to take them to a professional. I agreed at her taking 20€ for that out of goodwill.

No idea what are rights are or if its going to cost us more to fight this than to just swallow it. I'm absolutely fuming, we were relying on a decent deposit back to put towards our new, nicer, bigger, more expensive place.

Any advice??

see a lawyer

The last three places I have rented (not in Malta though), when I came to give notice to my landlord that I was leaving I told them I wasn't paying the last 2 months rent and they were fine about it. (The deposit was 2 months rent, not just 1). I guess they must have trusted me.

I did know for a fact that none of the 3 landlords were declaring the rent or paying any tax on it, so if they had started getting shirty or awkward I knew I always had that little ace up my sleeve ready to play :cool: So you could try that tactic in future, but it might not be so readily accepted down here, and it obviously won't help your current situation, unless your landlady is also a tax-dodger.

Have you tried getting back in touch with the letting agency who found you the place, they might be able to lean on her. At least let them know the situation you're in, your landlady will find it much harder to rent the place in the future without their help so if you can get the agency on your side, it might help.

You should have kept a spare copy of the key and you could have gone back and left a couple of dead fish at the back of the dishwasher. As a nice leaving present. :D

Hi ,

Do you probably still owe money for the utilities or are you paid up ?

If you don't owe money after moving out I would  agree with George. Also talk to the agent and threaten to name the agent and the landlady on the blog if things are not sorted out fairly.

You're landlady obviously wants to keep your deposit !

Regards
Ricky

I advise you to visit and discuss this with your local council. From what I read on internet, landlords are used to charging the tenants with utility bills and holding back the deposits. I hope, not all.
If you went through a letting agency, go and see them.
Also, say that you are going to take a lawyer and that you will do anything to get back your deposit and you will ask for a compensation.
From my experience, the thing which works is to put the person under pressure. Many people don't bear the red zone for more than 5 minutes.

Good luck.