Landlord wont give back deposit.

I am having issues with my old landlord. I rented a property through an agent, but the landlord didnt use the agent to manage the property. I left 2 months rent as deposit and also paid the last months rent up front. The landlord didnt want to employ a company to do a inventory, so the agent visited the property before and after we moved in and took pictures of the apartment.
We had some money issues while in the property and the landlord agreed to lower the rent by 200 euros. While in the contract, we missed the penultimate rental payment.
While in the property we had a problem. We noticed the bath was leaking and while showering, water went down the side and caused damp on one of the walls. I let the agent know and they told the landlord. Nothing was done. I chased it up and after another couple of weeks,someone came to fix it. The repair was terrible and didnt fix the problem. I again made the agent aware, who told the landlord.
The land lord is now saying that the damp was our fault and we should pay for the repair.
Also the landlord is saying we damaged the sofa. We didnt. You cannot see any damage in the pictures the agent took.
The landlord is also claiming we should pay the full, unreduced rate of rent for the penultimate month that we didnt pay.
This all adds up to 3 euros short of our deposit.
Where do I stand on this? Please help.
Thanks

Dear Amber,

If the modification to the original lease reducing your rent has been made in writting, then your Landlord is not entitled to claim the full rent. You can pay the lower agreed amount, and he should take you to Court if he disagrees. However, it would seem from your description that this was a verbal agreement in which case you will need strong evidence to prove that in fact there was an amendment made to the terms and conditions. Evidence can be for example proof that you have paid the "new" rent (for say, 4-7 months?) without the Landlord ever requesting anything back from you; or perhaps any written communication between you and him agreeing a new rent.

In terms of the deposit, it is hard to advise you without looking at the documentation. However, it is likely that under the agreement the Landlord is allowed to forfeit your deposit to compensate any damage outside the normal wear and tear of the property which was caused by you. Your obligation to pay the rent is independent of any other obligations under the contract. If you believe that he has unlawfully forfeited your deposit (because there was no damage, or the damage was not caused by you), then it is your right to pursue your claim at Court. However, in most cases the costs of litigation outweigh any benefits of such for which reason many tenants decide to "take justice in their own hands" and avoid paying the last month rent demanding that the landlord deducts this money from the deposit. As I said, this position is not legal as your obligation to pay the rent is independent of his obligation to return the deposit. In other words, you are breaching the contract at the point you have stopped paying your rent. However it places the onus of litigation back on to the Landlord should he believe that he has a right to the rent and the forfeiture of the deposit.

We obviously cannot and do not recommend you or anyone to infringe the law and the best advice is to always use an escrow account/service to safeguard your deposit. However, in your case it is too late for such an option.

Kind regards,