I've posted a few times about the trouble I had with my previous landlord. When we moved out we paid him a lot of money- 750 for bills plus 250 towards some painting (I had marked the ceiling- we told him at the time and he told us not to worry about it but when it came to moving out he demanding payment so we paid for an easy life).
There was nothing in our rental contract saying we must pay for cleaning when we moved out, and he told us all along he'd sort that. Then when it came to moving out he said it was left very messy (it wasn't) and demanded 98. I wasn't happy about this but he began sending emails daily and for an easy life I said if I can see an official receipt then I'll pay.
The receipt he provided was a hand written scribble on a lined piece of paper. No heading, no company name, VAT number etc. Just Cleaning = 98 so I didn't pay it and blocked his email and telephone number.
It is now 5 months since we moved out and he's written a letter to our new address (which he can only have got from the estate agent I believe?) saying if we do not pay by May 31st, there will be interest added and he will take legal action. He's also sent the same letter to some old UK addresses of mine, a random Doctor, and a lawyer.
I don't feel like I can talk to our estate agent now as he's obviously giving my address out without confirming with me first, he also ignored a few emails I sent to him some months ago regarding another matter.
I don't really know how I'd go about getting legal advice and I can't afford to be paying out lots when the issue is only over 98.
Any advice? Can he take legal action in this case? Should I just continue to ignore him? I really do not want to pay this out of principle. If I pay it, whats to say he wont come up with ANOTHER excuse for another few hundred? I don't want to be bullied into handing over endless amounts of money to someone who failed to mention any of this to my face in the times we met after moving out- he was more than happy and polite. Only once everything was sorted and he knew he wouldn't see us again, the sexist ("as a woman you should have been more clean") emails demanding more money began.
I have tried reasoning with him via email numerous times- I explained how the place was not left in such a state, how cleaning wasn't included in the contract, how a scribbled piece of paper does not qualify for a receipt.
I also mentioned how he failed to inform us that a week after we moved in the building next door would be ripped down and rebuilt. We had to suffer for months of jack hammering just meters from us whilst we slept, we had our possessions broken as they fell off the shelves on the wall, the place was constantly covered in dust and fumes and we did not kick up a fuss. If the place wasn't totally clean it was only because of that building work and the fact the landlord didn't even get a cleaner in until about a month after we moved out.