Anyone an estate agent that can help?

[emzul]

If anyone could offer me some advice I would be so grateful!


Basically, my husband (we are now separated) lived in a rented fully furnished apartment for 4 years.

He lived in it with his friend for the first 6 months, then his friend wanted to move out and so I moved in. They were on a rolling monthly contract and I gave his friend my deposit from the house I had moved out of and said I would take his half of the deposit for the flat when me and ex moved.

Now, I have never signed a contract at this apartment. I have spoken to the letting agents numerous times and they always said I needed to be on the contract and they would send one out. They never did.
They said I would need to pay an admin fee and they would have to take a deposit from me, but because they never sent me a contract or chased it up with me to pay anything I just left it at that.

Because of how long we were there and the fact that household items dont last forever, things inevitably started to break/not work properly etc. Just small things like the shower head was starting to come off, so I called them (ex would NEVER call them, he is too lazy) and they would happily come out and fix things. The washing machine broke one day so I called them and they sent a guy out. The next day I put a wash on and went out for an hour, came back and the kitchen was flooded! Turns out the plumber hadnt screwed something in properly and hence the flooding.

I called the letting agents and they said we should have contents insurance to cover the cost of the flooring, as the landlord only had buildings insurance (surely a furnished flat HAS to have contents?). They told me it would take over a week to fix and they would need to tear up the whole floor in the kitchen and the lounge. Charlie was only a few months old so there was no way I was letting them do it then, so I said can I leave it for now? The floor was ok, just some of the laminate had split, so there were slight gaps between some of the slats(?) but it was fine for the time being.

I should also mention that before Charlie was born I paid for the spare double bed to go into storage so that the spare room could become Charlies room

Anyway, whenever me and ex discussed moving, I always said we needed to get the floor sorted before we moved because we wouldnt get our deposit back. He would always shrug it off and say its their problem etc. Just his mentality

So, last September we split up, I stayed in the flat for a month while he moved back to his Mums to give me time to move out and found a new place. Ex said he was going to stay in the flat and get the floors sorted etc.

I found a place unfurnished and asked Ex if I could take the spare bed out of storage to my new place and if he ever moved out I would return it, seemed sensible, I needed a bed, and I was paying for one to stay in storage that he didnt need. He said that was fine.

Now, he has said 3 or 4 times that he wanted to move, so I have said each time, give me as much notice as possible so that I can return the bed (and wardobe) to the flat. He always said he would. So out of the blue one Thursday night he texts me to say he is moving out THAT WEEKEND.
I said do you want the bed back and he said no because they will keep the deposit so I may as well keep the bed.....

Turns out, he stopped his Standing Order to pay the rent for July, they contacted him and told him they would use the deposit as the rent and give him til the 24th of July to get out. He never told me this at all! He told me that they had just given him til the 24th and then he had to move, implying that they were allowing him to stay there without paying the rent.... half of that deposit is mine by rights!

So now the letting agent has emailed him saying they have called the police and are pressing charges for criminal damage, this is what they found:

• Broken door handles
• Broken blinds
• Broken wardrobes
• Laminate damage
• Missing bed and wardrobe
• Bedroom cabinets damaged
• 5 missing spotlights
• Broken lock
• Broken over door

I knew about the floor and obviously I have the bed and wardrobe, but the rest is nothing to do with me.
He is being his usual flippant self and saying he will "see what happens" rather than actually ringing to see if they can come to an arrangement.

Can anyone help and let me know, where do I stand in all this? Also, his old flatmate emailed me to say his Mum got a letter (he put her as next of kin, NOT guarantor though!) because they still have him listed as a tenant?!

Sorry its a massive long story, but I was wondering if/what they can do to me, if anything. I am happy to return the bed and wardrobe.

Thanks in advance for any help. This is yet another reason in a long list that makes me question why the hell I married this guy.....

xxx

 

[LDC]

Well if you never signed a contract then nothing is liable to you; my house is in my sole name so if my husband wanted to sell the house (for example) he can't because its in my name. It's the same thing.

If you never signed a contract you have no legal liability to the house/flat, even though they were clearly liaising with you regarding the flooring at the time and anything that broke whilst you were there.

Plus I'm assuming they have no address for you anyway.

It sounds like they just didn't take his mate off the contract which is why he's now got a letter - which IMO is unfair if he's not responsible for any damage but that's the law. I hope your ex isn't a douche and let's him take the blame for it, hopefully though his friend will be able to prove when he moved out and Called the estate agent himself to tell them he was moving out (this should have been in writing anyway).

Give the bed and wardrobe back - you shouldn't have taken it out anyway, I'd have took them out of storage and moved them back in once you'd moved out.

Bottom line though, if you're names not on the contract you're not liable, same as a mortgage.

X

 

[emzul]

Well if you never signed a contract then nothing is liable to you; my house is in my sole name so if my husband wanted to sell the house (for example) he can't because its in my name. It's the same thing.

If you never signed a contract you have no legal liability to the house/flat, even though they were clearly liaising with you regarding the flooring at the time and anything that broke whilst you were there.

Plus I'm assuming they have no address for you anyway.

It sounds like they just didn't take his mate off the contract which is why he's now got a letter - which IMO is unfair if he's not responsible for any damage but that's the law. I hope your ex isn't a douche and let's him take the blame for it, hopefully though his friend will be able to prove when he moved out and Called the estate agent himself to tell them he was moving out (this should have been in writing anyway).

Give the bed and wardrobe back - you shouldn't have taken it out anyway, I'd have took them out of storage and moved them back in once you'd moved out.

Bottom line though, if you're names not on the contract you're not liable, same as a mortgage.

X

Thanks for the reply. Im not sure whats happening with his friend who moved out, I definately remember telling him he needed to send a letter to the letting agent to let them know he was moving out, but I dont think he ever did this? but he can prove where he has been living for the past 4 years so I dont think they will be able to do much about him.

As for me, I have emailed the letting agent about returning the bed and they have not gotten back to me so I have sent them a letter explaining that I will return it if they can give me a time and date so I can arrange to get someone to help me move it. I would never have taken it if I had know he was going to just up and leave in the space of 2 days! I would have had them sent straight back after I moved out, but since I had to buy a washing machine/sofa/fridgefreezer and other stuff, I really couldnt afford to buy a bed and a wadrobe at the time. If I had known he was going to do all this I would have contacted the agent before he moved and told them I had the stuff. But he told me he was staying until at least New Year.

He irates me so much, all he had to do was return their call about the floor. They called him a few times and told him when they could come out and he never ever got back to them, he is the laziest person I have even known!! I dont know what he has done to the rest of the flat, he mentioned one of the drawers had come loose on the wadrobe but that was it.

I told him to contact the landlord and explain everything and see if there was anyway they could come to an agreement, but as per usual he has just shrugged it off. It will catch up on him one day.

Thanks for the reply x

 

[suzib76]

Yu don't stand anywhere, legally you have nothing to do with it, which from your point of view is good because the police are becoming involved (although I'm sure they would call it a civil matter)