Would this or would this NOT be illegal?

[el Chi]

So so so. I've left my old student house and moved on, but there's still some problems with my old land lord regarding our deposit and what state we left the house in and all of that.
But this situation's a real puzzler.

We haven't lived there for about 2 months now but now he's claiming that over the last weekend someone went into our old house (henceforth referred to as "the pit") kicked open a locked bedroom door destroying the door frame, messed up the place and took a poo inside somewhere just on the floor. Pretty horrible stuff.
According to neighbours he says he spoke to, there was a gang of 5 or 6 of guys, all pissed (one naked at one point) and they went through the front door without having to break in, which means they had keys.

He claims one of us never gave back their set of keys for "the pit". This I'm not entirely positive about, but I'm pretty sure that we left them all in the locks of our bedroom doors (front door key would've been attached). He also claims that neighbours described one of the people as "fair hair, medium height" which vaguely describes two of our party and as far as I am aware neither of them were around at the time.
Thus he says his only logical conclusion can be that it was one of us. I can see his point here, but I'm a tad suspicious.

There are one or two factors about his story that I'm confused about, but my main one is this: He hasn't contacted the police.
He claims that, as there was no break in, nor was there anything to steal and because it was seemingly committed by drunken students, the police wouldn't be interested.
I maintain that as a fairly extreme act of vandalism and, surely, criminal damage (not to mention a count of exposing oneself in public) the police would indeed be very interested. And even if they weren't, then surely it would be better to report it rather than do nothing at all?

Any thoughts/opinions would be most appreciated.

 

[CptStern]

So so so. I've left my old student house and moved on, but there's still some problems with my old land lord regarding our deposit and what state we left the house in and all of that.
But this situation's a real puzzler.

We haven't lived there for about 2 months now but now he's claiming that over the last weekend someone went into our old house (henceforth referred to as "the pit") kicked open a locked bedroom door destroying the door frame, messed up the place and took a poo inside somewhere just on the floor. Pretty horrible stuff.
According to neighbours he says he spoke to, there was a gang of 5 or 6 of guys, all pissed (one naked at one point) and they went through the front door without having to break in, which means they had keys.

He claims one of us never gave back their set of keys for "the pit". This I'm not entirely positive about, but I'm pretty sure that we left them all in the locks of our bedroom doors (front door key would've been attached). He also claims that neighbours described one of the people as "fair hair, medium height" which vaguely describes two of our party and as far as I am aware neither of them were around at the time.
Thus he says his only logical conclusion can be that it was one of us. I can see his point here, but I'm a tad suspicious.

There are one or two factors about his story that I'm confused about, but my main one is this: He hasn't contacted the police.
He claims that, as there was no break in, nor was there anything to steal and because it was seemingly committed by drunken students, the police wouldn't be interested.
I maintain that as a fairly extreme act of vandalism and, surely, criminal damage (not to mention a count of exposing oneself in public) the police would indeed be very interested. And even if they weren't, then surely it would be better to report it rather than do nothing at all?

Any thoughts/opinions would be most appreciated.

not your responsibility ..once you've ended a lease no matter what happens it's no longer your responsibility ..you can leave the door open and someone could detonate a small nuke destroying the entire block ..still not your responsibility

btw you are not by law forced to turn over keys at the end of a lease ..that's the landlord's responsibility ...tell the guy to take you to court ..guarentee he'll leave you alone



check your lease it should be very specific about damages incurred while under lease ...I really dont think he has a case here

 

[el Chi]

That's what I'm wondering - it all sounds a bit suspect. I'm going to ask my parents to question these neighbours to see if his story checks out.
My housemate's dad drew up the lease (the old one was complete out-dated nonsense and completely unenforcable by law) so we have a good knowledge of what is and isn't our responsibility.
It's the police thing that confuses me the most.

If I'm perfectly honest, one of the "fair hair, medium height"s is often an angry drunk, but not THAT angry and apparently he was at his usual hometown. I dunno - that's my main concern. But if it WAS him then he can foot the bill and face the consequences.
Even so, I really don't like my old landlord. He's a nasty man and I want so much for him to be lying.

 

[CptStern]

the landlord doesnt have a leg to stand on ..he could never prove you are responsible. As soon as your lease ended you're not responsible for what happens afterwards. I wouldnt even give him the time of day ..just say "prove it in court" ..he cant, the judge would throw it out

 

[Murray_H]

the landlord doesnt have a leg to stand on

You're not wrong: Mr. Chi's landlord

 

[el Chi]

Are you sure? I mean I believe you under Canadian law, but whether that's true in the UK I'm not positive. Not that I'd want to call your advice into question, natch.
I'm really suspicious. We don't like him, but not THAT much.

 

[CptStern]

Are you sure? I mean I believe you under Canadian law, but whether that's true in the UK I'm not positive. Not that I'd want to call your advice into question, natch.
I'm really suspicious. We don't like him, but not THAT much.

well canadian law or not, the landlord is binded by the lease ...once the lease is over so is your responsibility


oh and I've been a landlord in the past I know the ins and outs

 

[el Chi]

Cool. I didn't wanna second guess you, just checking.
So, if it's outside the contract, then it's NOT our responsibility, thus he can't deduct any kind of money (or monies or whatever) from our deposit, correct?
The only possible way he could get compensation would be if he took one or all of us to court (be it petty claims court or proper court), in which case he would need to register a complaint with the police, correct?

So basically, he either has no idea what he's on about, or he's a liar. Or both. Correct?

 

[CptStern]

Cool. I didn't wanna second guess you, just checking.

you should second guess me because I'm canadian and I'm not familiar with british laws ...although just from what you've said it doesnt seem like he has a case ...basically he couldnt prove that it was your negligance that caused the damage ...he'd have just a hard time proving it wasnt him who left the door unlocked

So, if it's outside the contract, then it's NOT our responsibility, thus he can't deduct any kind of money (or monies or whatever) from our deposit, correct?

well technically he can but it's your responsibility to file a complaint at that point ..check the legality ..there's no security deposit here in canada so that doesnt apply here. But again once the lease is terminated you forfeit all responsibility

The only possible way he could get compensation would be if he took one or all of us to court (be it petty claims court or proper court), in which case he would need to register a complaint with the police, correct?

no he wouldnt have to file a complaint with the police ..however if he wants to sue you for damages he can ...although like I said he doesnt have a leg to stand on ...leases are often hard to enforce

So basically, he either has no idea what he's on about, or he's a liar. Or both. Correct?

both, most likely the latter. You have to call his bluff ...you may have to take him to small claims to get your deposit back but I wouldnt budge an inch if I were you

 

[PickledGecko]

When I lived in a Uni owned flat they specifically said that if even one key is not returned then they’d change the locks and charge us for it. It seems to me that they knew their liability for damage would start as soon as our lease ended and wanted to make sure that nothing like this could happen. I’m guessing since 2 months went by and your Landlord didn’t mention that he was one set of keys down, that he’s bullshitting and trying to find an excuse to keep your deposit.

 

[Yuri]

Poo on his head. What would he say to that? Nothing. Except maybe "How in the hell did you just manage that?!"

 

[baron insig]

thats lovely erestheux, woudl you liek to do the honour : /

On topic, confront him. Ask him to state what u say he says into a voice recording device and then ask him where he woudl liek to take his claims and what physical evidence he has to back such up