Should i pay bond back

[therapy]

I was hoping that you may be able to answer some of my question regarding a house that i rented out to a previous tennant.

We had our tennancy agreement that i as landlady signed and Miss Thompson as the tennant signed.

She had brought in 2 dogs against the agreement and they had ruined some of the property ie the back door frame which they had chewed, Miss Thompson had replaced the wood but it was no near perfect as before.

Also kitchen floor i had tiled after she had moved in, it wasn't finished around the edges as she said the tiler ( my brother in law)was weird and was doing a rubbish job.

some of the tiles had cracked around the edges , near the work surfaces, which is understandable.

That is not my complaint the complaint is that she had the dogs in the house which had urinated on the tiled floor and the tiles have had to be lifted and thrown due to the smell.

Who is at fault me or my tennant?

She wants all her bond money of £340 back on friday 15/9/2006 and won't accept the fact that she has broke the tennancy agreement by having the dogs in the property.

What should i do about the door , even though the piece of wood is in place and the door works should she be charged?

Should i charge for the floor?

Other items in the property have had to be replaced such as toilets seats, redecorating due to paper being pulled off, replacements plugs and lots of other things

I wanted to send her a letter of the damage she has caused but i find her really intimidating and very aggressive and she has threatened me, plus the fact she has moved next door to the property that i rented her and as now started to annoy my new tennant asking him to ask me for the money

Please respond ASAP shes making my life hell

Yours sincerely

Deena Brooks

[Trenners]

Hi Deena,

The purpose of the Security Deposit / Bond is so that the landlord can "make good" any damage caused by the tenant (or people invited onto the premises by the tenant).

The cost to repair damage caused by the tenant and the pets should be deducted from the Security Deposit. This would include the door frame, tiles that have been damaged by the pets, etc etc

Only charge for damage caused by the tenant though - not "fair wear and tear". For example, the toilet seat might have needed replacement because of its' age - and the tenant shouldn't expect to pay for that.

Write a list of all the items that have been damaged and get a realistic cost estimate to repair the damage. Send this list to the tenant and deduct the cost estimate from the Security Deposit. Return any balance owing to the tenant.

Keep all receipts as the work is done. Be prepared, in the future, to show these receipts to the tenant.

Hope that helps ....

Mark