Advice needed on getting the most of my deposit back

thefa

Hi, new to this section of the forum so hope I have it in the right section. Basically, I'm moving out of my current rented room in an owner occupied house and am worried about getting screwed out of my deposit by the landlady when I move out. She is the main reason I am moving out as she misled me on certain aspects of the facilities I could use, criticised me for unreasonable and petty things and has begun putting up the rent after me only being there a few months. At this point, I'll mention that theres no contract and everythings done in cash.

I have a €200 deposit with her and wish to get as much of it back as possible since its around 3 days work at my current wage. The problem is (unknown to her) I met another former tenant of hers who had moved out a month after I moved in and he shared some of the same grievances I did and out of his €200 deposit had gotten back €50. I thought this was some kind of joke but he went on to explain how she kept the other lot to cover his portion of the next electricity bill and to fix two small holes he had put in the wall to put up one of those tv mounts.

I've done no damage to the place besides an old lamp of hers which was already falling apart and I left on the ground and the shade came off. Also I got charged 12 euro and so many cent(yes it was down to the cent) when the last electricty bill came in February and that was one month of my tenancy. The bill came to around €60 iirc but I didnt complain as it still seemed cheap. I havent got any notice from her of any bill coming in recently.

I questioned her about when I will get my deposit back and she said when I'm moving out but she'll have to check for damages. I imagine she'll try chancing her arm again. Is it reasonable for me to assume that I'm entitled to at least €150 of my deposit back(3 x €12.__ since there's no bill & €10 replacement lamp if needs be)? If I'm not satisfied with how much of the deposit she offers do I have any form of recourse available to me?

Thanks for any advice.

ztoical

As it's a rent a room scheme you have very little rights I'm afraid. You don't fall under the prtb so you would have to go the route of small claims court. You could try asking threshold for advice but as it's rent a room they may not deal with you.

tanyabond

If she does happen to pull the fast one, you can still threaten her with going to prtb with this case and see if it works (in case she doesn't know). Maybe even say that you grouped in with her previous tenant and are going to file a complaint together. Most of the times people wouldn't want to have any stir...

groovyg

Well if she pulled a fast one on the previous tenant then she is likely to do it too you too. If she doesn't give it back you could just trash the place causing at least 200 quids worth of damage. sorry I'm not being very helpful :rolleyes: