Legal assistance with rental problems | Legal aid centre

Questioner

Dear, I rented a boat a while ago to go sailing with some friends for an afternoon. After returning there was a good atmosphere, nothing wrong and we got the deposit back. A little later I get a call from the landlord asking if we had barbecued on the boat. We hadn't and that was the end of that conversation. The next day I get a call from the owner saying that we had, that there was a big burn mark on his boat and that everything would be recovered from us, with an invoice via email that same day. After that I tried to convince him via a few messages back and forth that it wasn't us and he seemed to leave it alone (he said he would call me after the weekend and he never did). Then today I get a letter from the collection agency asking me to transfer the money plus 20% on top for the collection agency. We didn't barbecue, what can I do about this?

Lawyer

Well, if there is a lease, there must be an initial statement with the defects and afterwards also at the delivery. If this is missing: then the landlord must prove that the defect did not already exist at the time you rented. For example with photos. Moreover, you have witnesses. I would not pay without further ado. Just refer to article 7:224 section 2BW.