Landlord not returning deposit

Thank you so much, GuidoT - we are incredibly grateful! It makes a lot of sense starting at £4800 and letting him deal with it from there - makes us sound more serious about it as well, which should help. I think we'll use your amended letter pretty much as is, and see what the 'legal team' come up with in response...

Thanks once again - we owe you a drink! :beer:

Letters got posted off this morning - I think in the end we just requested the 1200 for now.

So, I guess we just sit tight for a few days now, and see what comes of it. Thanks for all your advice! I'll let you know how we get on.

K

Hello again.

So, since sending off the LBA we've heard nothing back from the Landlord - sadly no money has dropped through the letterbox! Due to some unrelated personal circumstances, we've only just got started on putting together the information for the court. I've copied in below the wording we are using, and the details of the documents we're thinking of providing. Is there anything we've forgotten about? Comments would be very welcome.

"The Claimant claims under the Housing Act 2004 section 214(1)(a) that the deposit of £1200 as required in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy originally dated 11th March 2009 in respect of the premises at ADDRESS, made between the Claimant and the Defendant was not paid in to an appropriate tenancy deposit scheme (in breach of section 213 (1) of the Housing Act 2004); or that the Claimant was unable to confirm from the Scheme Administrator of any tenancy deposit scheme that they held the deposit and the Claimant did not received the prescribed information concerning which Tenancy Deposit Scheme was to hold the deposit within 14 days of the Defendants receipt of the deposit (in breach of section 213 (3) of the Housing Act 2004).

The claimant asks that the court makes an order:

1. That the person who appears to the court to be holding the deposit of £1200 do repay it to the Claimant, in accordance with section 214(3) of the Housing Act 2004.

2. That the Defendant do pay to the Claimant, within 14 days of making the order, a sum of money equal to three times the amount of the deposit, in accordance with section 214 (4) of the Housing Act 2004.

3. The Claimant claims interst under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8.5% a year, from 7th February 2011 to 31st March 2011 of £14.53 and interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of £0.28.

The Claimant is therefore seeking payment of £4800, plus court fees and interest.

The Claimant encloses copies of:
* the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement signed on 11th March 2009 relating to the above named premises. Despite requests (email included), the Defendant failed to provide a copy of the agreement signed by the Defendant;
* email from the Defendant confirming the start of the Tenancy;
* email from the Defendant confirming an inspection of the above named property. The email conversation includes a request for documentation from TDS Ltd regarding the protection of the deposit. This documentation was not provided (in breach of section 213 (3) of the Housing Act 2004);
* confirmations from each of the three Government-approved tenancy deposit schemes that they did not hold the deposit for the above named premises for the entire length of the tenancy;
* emails sent to the Defendant requesting information about, and return of, the deposit. The Claimant additionally requested the return of the deposit on numerous occasions by voicemail since the end of the tenancy but the Defendant failed to return any calls to made by the Claimant;
* the Letter Before Action sent on 16th March 2011 to the Defendant's address on the Tenancy agreement (two copies), to the above named premises and to the Defendant's company's address and proof of postage for each letter. The Defendant did not reply to the Letter Before Action.
* Notes for the Defendant. "