UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi!
I have come back from a short trip away to find my partner is out of work and my ex landlord wants more money from me - I moved out of a privately rented house on 11th August and have had all of my deposit and excess rent paid back to me.

New tenants moved in over a fortnight ago and the landlord is saying there is a flea infestation that is my fault as the new tenants do not have pets, and they will be looking to me to pay the invoice.

I handed the keys back on 14th September, I spent over £500 replacing all but two carpets, cleaning the remaining and redecorating the house - I am adamant I did far more than I needed to to ensure I received all of my deposit.  I do not believe this infestation is down to me as the house has been animal free for nearly two months and there has been a constant flow of people to that house and no one noticed a thing. Not only this, but my animals had been flea treated within a month of me moving out so there were no fleas when I left! There was no trace of any in the following month when my partner and I were in and out sorting the house out.

My question is, is there anything they can do? What should I do and am I likely to be held responsible?  Clearly they didn't notice anything themselves when they did several inspections prior to agreeing to the release of my deposit, as he found other things that he asked me to pay for.

Please help!

To be frank, your animals are the most likely cause of any flea infestation.

However, in my mind, the purpose of the deposit protection schemes and the way deposits are returned to Tenants (or deductions made by the Landlord are agreed) is designed to - and should - operate at a moment in time. I don't think a Landlord can keep dipping back into a pot of cash they think might be eternally available to them... hence I would simply ignore any and all correspondence from the Landlord from this point on.

If you want, you could formally let the Landlord know that your deposit of £X was returned after various inspections and you now consider the matter closed.

Then see if anything else happens... but don't get into a to-and-fro.

No there is nothing they can do.

And relax.

Thanks guys - I did think it was the case. Asked me to paint the entire house when I had been there nearly four years and there were just a few scuffed 'lived in' marks too, I did all but one room so he has definitely had his money out of me.