Please help re flat deposit

EagerLearner · 29 July 2006 at 10:24AM

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice - there is an address on there but it says 'c/o' which makes me think it's not her real address - plus it was 2 years ago and I am sure she'd said around 8 months ago she was moving, therefore we never got new address. She has always been very cagey and we were one of the few tennants she allowed to call her - she asked us several times never to give her contact details to the other 2 flats in our building, even though she was managing their properties (she refused to pay agents to do this, then didn't want the tenants calling her when they had a problem!)

You can see why she is such a nightmare to deal with. She now has the nerve to say 'Hope you had a nice holiday' - why I oughtta....

Anyway, still no address, no cheque, no list - nada.

I think we will have to call the agents again Monday and ask for the address - they are obviously ignoring our e-mails and just printing them to add to the file as they don't care anymore and are awaiting landlady sign-off. What worries me is they could take 28 days to give that address if they wanted to.

Trying to think positive thoughts... but other thoughts creep in as to what sort of junk mail she could get if we got her address! Bad karma I know, but keeps me going he he...

Mantra:

At least a large part of £625 will come to me...
At least a large part of £625 will come to me...
At least a large part of £625 will come to me...
At least a large part of £625 will come to me...
At least a large part of £625 will come to me...

Thanks guys - will keep you posted!

EagerLearner · 31 July 2006 at 4:18PM

Dear all,

Latest news - the agency have now told us that from now on we have to liaise with the landlady direct as they are spending too much time on it :mad: , and were never managing agents so should not be spending 'so much' time on it! I think this is not right so have asked them to put it in writing in an e-mail. She then contradicted herself by saying they would 'continue to chase' but that we should communicate directly with the landlady and that they had still not received any paperwork.

When I repeated to the agent my request for her address, she said 'unfortunately we can't give you that (it would be illegal), as it is a 'care of' address'. When I asked, 'if that's the case, why did you accept (an illegal) address in the first place?' she did not have an answer.

This is getting harder and harder - if we write to the 'c/o' address I am sure the landlady will deny having received anything even if we send it Special Delivery.

What can we do?

irnbru_2 · 31 July 2006 at 4:26PM

EagerLearner wrote:

What can we do?

Who did you pay your deposit to? The landlady or the letting agent?

EagerLearner · 31 July 2006 at 6:02PM

Hi - we paid it to the agent who hold it for both parties until the tenancy comes to an end.

The agency tell us that as the landlady has not written to them yet they can't do anything further apart from make the odd chasing call, but they have over 200 properties that are active, whereas this one is not as she ditched them (and us) to rent privately.

Without her signing a release form, we do not get any funds at all. But without her sending paperwork, we don't even know what funds she plans to let us have - we know it's probably £0. Then on top of that her address is c/o so we can't even be sure she'd get any chasing letters we send (or more importantly that she'd admit to receiving it).

Murtle · 31 July 2006 at 6:23PM

Send a copy of the letter as suggested above to the agency, send one to the agency addressed to the landlady highlighting that it is the case and send one to the care of address. If that gets you no where, pay the £2 to get the land registry info and add it to your costs when it goes to court!!

Sounds like a nightmare that I hope ends soon

x x

EagerLearner · 31 July 2006 at 6:28PM

Hiya - we have texted landlady but no response. As you say, we will have to write to agency x 2 and c/o address x 1. Searching land registry would do no good would it as the address is 'care of'?

Murtle · 31 July 2006 at 7:11PM

Personally I would stop texting her. There is no documented copy of what was texted and she could claim harrassement. Ensure all further communication is written, preferably by letter. Always put time lengths when you expect to hear back from them and be firm but polite.

I thought the land registry had to have the proper address? but don't know. If the care of address is the only one available then that's what you need to use.

Good luck!!

irnbru_2 · 31 July 2006 at 8:20PM

EagerLearner wrote:

Hi - we paid it to the agent who hold it for both parties until the tenancy comes to an end.

Your LA is acting as escrow.

EagerLearner wrote:

The agency tell us that as the landlady has not written to them yet they can't do anything further apart from make the odd chasing call, but they have over 200 properties that are active, whereas this one is not as she ditched them (and us) to rent privately.

You've moved out this property on 4th June, so you're approaching 2 calendar months.

EagerLearner wrote:

Without her signing a release form, we do not get any funds at all. But without her sending paperwork, we don't even know what funds she plans to let us have.

I think you've been reasonable. Time to stop.

You need to exert pressure on the LA to return the money - they must have procedures in place which compell both parties to act in a timely manner.

Get your forms ASAP for small claims court. Fill them in. Don't submit to the court just yet. Send a copy to the your old address marked FAO the owner. Send a copy to the LA. Do this by recorded delivery so they recieve it by Monday 7th August. Inform them that on Monday 14th August you will submit it to the small claims court and let them decide what % of your deposit should be returned.

They may acquiesce, they may fight. Either way you'll make progress.

Small claims info and moneyclaim.

EagerLearner · 1 August 2006 at 9:38AM

Thanks Irnbru & Murtle,

Here is the letter we thought we'd send her tomorrow:

"Dear xxxxxxx

Re: Return Of Deposit – ADDRESS XXXXX

We vacated the above property on 5th June 2006, having cleaned and left it in good order as per the check out instructions from our letting agent.

Our deposit was due to be returned to us on 4th July. It is now 8 weeks since we vacated the property - the property has been let to another tenant and our deposit has not been returned, we have not been given any written explanation for this delay and the letting agent have had no written correspondence from you.

We now have no option but to commence Small Claims proceedings. If you are happy for this matter to be settled in court, you need do nothing now: you will receive a summons in due course stating the date and time of the hearing. Otherwise, please ensure that your payment of six hundred and twenty-five pounds (£625.00) reaches us within SEVEN DAYS of the above date."

The only problem is, we don't know if we can claim the full £625 in court so is this the amount we should put down in the last paragraph? We always expected an amount to be deducted (maybe £100?).

I will get the forms at lunch today - should I fill them in and send a copy with the letter tomorrow or is that too much? Should I send another letter in 7 days (if she doesn't answer the above) showing a copy of what will be submitted to Small Claims, with 3 days for her to pay up for example?

Scarlett1 · 1 August 2006 at 10:16AM

EagerLearner have you thought about actually going back to the property and knocking on the door and asking for LL's address from the new tenants

Even if they dont give it to you, you can bet that they would inform her that you have been round asking and it will show the lengths you are willing to go to reclaim the deposit, it might prompt her to have the funds released

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Please help re flat deposit

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free