our possessions

[shelby 1]

can u please tell me if our ex landlord can keep some of our things we have left on the property even though we have offered payments for arreas and he has kept deposit because decor was not to his standards

[Twenty20]

Not entirely clear on what you mean here.

If you have vacated the property why did you leave some of your things behind? If the tenancy has terminated and you have left property there then the landlord can legally charge for storing this on your behalf.

If you owe the landlord money, as you say you do, then he needs to go through the Courts to get back what you owe him unless he accepts what you are offering him.

I dont understand why you still have property in the house if youve vacated it.

[shelby 1]

we had left a suite in the front room which had arranged to collect and lots of garden things ie shed girls play hoouse,pool etc he had agreed this would be ok he has since been into the propery and has moaned about decor being a little diry and upstairs carpets being a little dirty he wants it left like a show home really as if it hasnt been lived in.he has now said that he is keeping the rest of our things untill we have spoken to his solicitor he is saying as well as keeping the deposit he wants to charge us 150 pound a day for everyday he is off work as that what he earns he has only got to magnolia the walls so it wouldnt take him that long he wouldnt even discuss us setting up paying him back for arreas because he w ants to speak to his solicitor but in the mean time i wanted to know if he could legally keep our things we do stilll do have keys for the property so would we tresspassing if we returned to fetch our goods

[bednobs]

why havent you given the keys back??
Of course you would be tresapassing if you went there, its not your house and you are not paying to live in it. The landlord is perfectly entitled to keep your deposit if he has to paint/clean because you left the place dirty. Painting a whole flat takes a significant amount of time its not just a case of slapping paint on the walls. if you had left the place clean none of this would have happened. if you also had rent arrears, then i'm not surprised the landlord dosent really want to negotiate directly with you, and would rather do it via his solicitor

[shelby 1]

duh cuz it was arranged to get rest of stuff i didnt leave place dirty and nobody said it was a flat he had problems with it cuz it didnt look brand new how do u leave a place looking brand new when u have 5 kids and lived there for couple of years and y should i decorate when he wouldnt sort damp

[shelby 1]

any way dont need any more advice now he is letting us collect rest of our things as he was advised against keeping it then we shall hand keys back .thankyou

[DONNAKEBABUK]

It is illegal for someone to keep someone elses property to with what they will. Essentially this is a Criminal Offience pertaining to The Theft Act.

Your Rent Arrears and Deposit are a civil matter.

Frankly, as a Landlady, I wish that ALL my Tenants would remove their furniture prior to leaving my properties. I am left many a time having to get vans etc to take stuff away (good stuff at that) to the tip. Which is costly - on me.

If the flat was damp (not condensated) then your Landlord would have been legally obligated under The Landlord and Tenants Act to rectify this matter, however, this would not have given you a civil legal right not to pay your rent.

I am interested to know if you were in receipt of any HB? If so, how did you manage to get into arrears ?

Hope your move goes well.

katie. x