What can i do with my landlord?

Question

My landlord has informed me, over 30 days after i have moved out, that i am being charged on top of the deposit they are witholding.

They are only charging me to repaint all four rooms in house. We originally agreed, when we moved in, that we could re-paint the walls, The landlord stated that we could paint the in 'neutral/pastel' colours. The rooms were painted red (primary colour and neutral) and the others in grey and pastel green. They agreed for us to do this, but now argue that the property should have been left in it's original condition! We invited the landlord to the houser to inspect the property, but they refused. We acted in good faith, and felt we were abiding by our agreement. They stated that they would re-paint the walls for the next tenants, so the work they are charging us for would have been completed anyway.

They are charging us £320 to decorate each room. The rooms aren't big, is this a standard cost?

Also, we received a letter two weeks after we moved out, with a number of requests. We completed their requests, but they did not state explicitly that we needed to re-paint the walls by the deadline. It feels like they set us up to fail. I only received the final figure after i queried why they were going to withhold the deposit. I recieved this information 30 days after we moved out.

What can i do?

Answer 1

This seems a simply ruse to s***w you for as much as possible, knowing that you cannot return to debate the matter or put it right ... if indeed it needed putting right. You must decide if you are prepared to lose the deposit. If you are, then simply stick two fingers up to their demands.  Or if you want a more professional approach, get the CAB to draft you a letter!  This kind of bullying is all to prevalent.  

Answer 2

Well I think they are trying it on, and I would be inclined to write to them stating the facts you have in this question and the point that you will under no circumstances be paying for any further work. You can also say that you will be taking legal action against the return of your deposit in full.

Go for it.

Answer 3

When you paint rooms in such colors, you can expect to be charged to repaint them to a more neutral tone.  Bear in mind that red may take two or three coats to cover completely.  If you didn't want this expense, you should have simply lived with the colors provided.

Answer 4

You agreed to paint neutral/pastel colors.  Red does not fit that description and is a difficult color to hide. That room alone will need three coats of paint, The best you can do is ask for the invoice from the painting contractor to make sure you are not being overcharged.  

Answer 5

tell him 2 kiss ur **** an do ,it again he must be on l.s.d

Answer 6

This is complete twaddle.  You should be expected to hand the house back in the condition you inherited it less minor wear and tear. The issue seems to be that you used red as opposed to neutral/ pastel, but as they said they were going to repaint anyway they dont have much of an argument.  

£320 is way exsessive anyway, £ 100 per day for decorators plus paint, so £180 ish for a room. They are just trying it on basically.

I'd agree with one of the others, tell them to F off.  No chance in h**l they would win if they tried to get this money out of you through the courts. In fact I'd turn the tables and write to them saying YOU are going to sue for your deposit back as they have withheld illegally.  That should get rid of 'em!

Answer 7

Tell them to F off

They can't charge you £320 each room.

Paints like £50

They said you could paint it!

Answer 8

Hmmm. if the landlord said you can do it, and besides, if you've moved out, its not your problem really lmao. call NHBC for advice