Landlord trouble

Hi,

I'm having trouble with my former landlord. When I moved in, there was a lot of damage to the flat, but I was too stupid to document everything. As a result, moving-in inventory is pretty much blank. Then the landlord decided to sell the flat and kicked us out. On the moving out, landlord would not inspect the flat while we were still in it, once we moved out he came up with reasons to keep most of 2,200 pound deposit including ridiculous stuff like we broke a 3" marble slab and have to pay 1,500 to repair it! Actually, he sent in a pictire of the slab with thousand scratches, which were the when we moved in, then pointed to one of them and said we did it.

Should I take him to court (I hear small claims court is available here) - or should I just consider it a part of the cost of living?

BTW, I couldn't break the marble slab even if I tried... Of course if it's going to end up in court, it is going to be his word against mine...

Thanks!

Mike

If you didn't check through the inventory when you moved in and note any damage then, you don't have a lot to go on. When did you move in, was it before or after April 6 2007? If it was after your deposit is supposed to be with one of those tenancy deposit places who will make the decision in the event of a dispute like this.  Also, are you delaing direct with the landlord or through a letting agent? If it's an agent check if they belong to any of the professional associations for letting agents, like ARLA. You may have recourse through their compliants procedure.

Did you ever take any photos while living there that can be dated (i.e. off a digital camera)? Depending upon when they were taken, this might provide you with some other evidence.

When I moved in, there was a lot of damage to the flat, but I was too stupid to document everything.

Sorry Mike, but.. you said it. 
It's a hard and expensive lesson to learn, but you've got to document stuff like that.