UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello all, sorry for long silence on these pages. Things have gone very well and I have had no problems to report... until now.

I have a tenant who left 3 months ago and did quite a bit of damage to the property. I have been able to maintain most of the deposit to help pay for it but it does not cover the cost of the damage caused by the tenant.

Does anyone have experience of pursuing tenants directly for damages, i.e. through a court case? Am I being over optimistic in assuming that might be possible?

1. How much deposit did you retain?

2. What is your estimated total cost to make good the damage?

3. What proportion of the damage could be attributed to wear and tear that you would have had to address at some point anyway?

4. Do you have contact details / address of the tenant?

5. Do you have the time and the enthusiasm to pursue a court case?

6. Do you know that they would be able to (and likely to) pay if your case against them is successful?

7. How much are you willing to lose in the event that the case is not successful or they still don't pay?

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Courts dont like double claims for the same debt, so you would need to make a very clear distinction between what your claiming and what the deposit covered to have a real chance.