Hi, I am new to this forum, however believe in the intelligence and knowledge of the esteemed members of this Forum.
I had rented out my flat to a property management company in 2013 for 11 months. The agreement was that they would sub lease it to appropriate tenants and manage the sub lease and other services and deposit my account with the monthly rental as agreed with the property management company. I also received the security deposit from the company as agreed in the lease.
In 2014 when the lease expired, I asked the company to handover my flat back. However upon inspection of the flat, I found that the flat was in very bad condition. The flooring was spoiled and there were damages to one of the bathroom doors and other repairs which had to be undertaken immediately before I could rent it out again. Also the standard expectation is to deduct one month's rent as re-painting charges. When the flat was handed over to me, these issues were extensively discussed and though the company was not still convinced I deducted the required amount for the repairs and re-painting and returned back the balance deposit amount. However now after almost 6 months of the lease expiry, the company has served a legal notice highlighting non return of deposit amount and cheating and other charges.
I would want your advice on how to respond to this notice and whether I should respond. What are the implications of not responding. The notice says prosecution will follow if I do not return the money within a stipulated time. Though I do not have proper bills for the repairs ( as they were mostly done by local contractors), I can definitely provide adequate breakup and proof of the expenses and reasons for the deduction. I also have some photos of the flat's condition I had taken during the handover.
Also pls suggest/ recommend a good lawyer that I can consult with for the response to this notice. Pls advise what is the approx cost to engage a lawyer for replying to the legal notice and what follow up actions / charges are involved.
Thanks in advance..
