tell my LL to keep Deposit as last rent payment?

olly300

Why are you worrying when you haven't done anything yet?

Remember not every tenant that posts here posts the full story and whilst judges give both parties the benefit of the doubt, if you don't behave reasonably they can award against you.

If you have the address of the landlord then:
1. Write a letter to him and send it by recorded delivery giving your 2 months notice and include an address that he can send the deposit cheque to.
2. Pay the rent until you move out. (If you don't then you are not acting reasonably as contracts in the UK are undertaken in good faith.)
3. A week or two before you move out while you are packing start cleaning the place from top to bottom - not forgetting to clean the lampshades, corner of the rooms, oven, behind the fridge and skirting boards and other nooks and crannies that can be forgotten.
4. Take pictures on a correctly timed and dated digital camera of all your efforts. Then back the card up either on your computer or on a CD, and don't delete the pictures on the card.
5. Move out and wait 14 days for the deposit cheque.
6. If it doesn't arrive then send a "Letter before Action" again by recorded mentioning the lack of protection for your deposit which is a breach of legislation and the fact that you will take him to court within 7 days.
8. Wait for the cheque to appear.
9. Delete the pictures on the digital camera card and get on with your life.

If you need to take court action then we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

poppysarah

You should report the landlord to H&S ASAP.

tbs624

Meena - I’m really sorry to hear that as a tenant you are feeling stressed out to the extent that you are lying awake at night worrying.

Can I just check - you say that your LL is hard to get hold of - how do you pay your rent and do you have an address for your LL, as required by law?

Please say if there is no address on you r tenancy agreement or elsewhere as this may make a difference to your situation.

tia_meena wrote: »

.. My landlord should have protected my deposit when I signed another assured shorthold tenancy agreement in Jan 2008, which he still hasn't done!

Most decent LLs will err on the side of caution and register the deposit where a contract has been renewed after April 2007, but here haven’t been enough cases through the courts to determine this one yet.

tia_meena wrote: »

- There was no schedule of inventory or schedule of conditions. Does this makes it even worse to get my deposit back as I can’t proof what fitting/ furniture were in the flat and the condition of it.

An inventory helps protect both LL and Tenant, but the LL would need to be able to show what was in the property & its condition if he wanted to deduct from your deposit.

tia_meena wrote: »

-I read on this forum about the gas safety checking on a yearly base. My landlord hasn't done this. I got a new boiler at the end of 2006, after I reported the heating not working and since then there has been no checks, also none before the boiler switch. I’m going to call the H&S department, but can I do this without having contacted the landlord first demanding these checks? I mean; does there need to be proof that I tried to get this done?

It’s a criminal offence to not have annual safety checks & gas safety certificates on gas appliances. You can ring the HSE straight away (and the private Sector Rentals Team,/Env Health dept at the Council) - if your LL intended to get it done he would have done so by now. Tenants do not have to “police” their LLs, especially if as you say, the LL is someone you find it difficult to deal with. There is no set procedure that says “you must speak to the LL first”.

tia_meena wrote: »

Also my LL has a building management company, so surely once he gets a call from the H&S he might be able to provide back dated certificates? I believe he MUST have a CORGI registered engineer as an employee. ”.

The LL should have a Tenant copy at the property and a LL copy of gas safety certs, kept for at least 2 years - he can’t simply get one backdated and say he just didn’t give you your copy. (and if you suspect any CORGI registered gas bloke of being part of anything like that you have to report them to CORGI).

tia_meena wrote: »

-Last year the landlord made an entry – no notice, no missed calls trying to contact me – to look at some leak in the flat underneath mine, and surprised my friend (a guest from abroad at the time) who called 999 as she kept asking to identify himself which he didn’t, so hence the call to 999. I’ve changed the locks since then. I’ve read that’s not against the law as long as I put the original locks back at the end of the tenancy. Is this correct?

Your LL cannot simply demand access, except in a genuine emergency: even then he should not simply enter the property. Some tenancy agreements say that the LL has the right to retain a key and if you have damaged the door in any way by fitting a different lock instead of just changing the cylinder you may have to pay for it to be made good but I think most people would understand your actions.

I think that Olly300 has given some good suggestions above but clearly only you can decide whether you want to take the risk of your own option 1 - if the LL feels that your deposit does not cover any damage/cleaning etc , he can take you to court for the final month’s unpaid rent and possibly land you with a CCJ which affects all your financial dealings, not just any other rental. That said, you may feel that given the way he operates he is unlikely to look to legal means to recover any money.

How much is the deposit in relation to one month’s rent btw?

Bear in mind that what you read on this board is generally people’s opinions/interpretations (which may or may nor be based on qualification or experience) so balance it by also seeking your own clarification. You could talk to Shelter 0808 800 4444 or to the Tenancy Relations Office on the private sector rentals team at the Council: no cost but valuable guidance given.

tia_meena

My deposit is £1200. My rent is £1126 (rent has been increased since I moved in in 2005)


This morning I called the 3 deposit schemes organisations and have confirmation that my deposit is not protected. :mad:
Rather than fighting my deposit after I’ve moved out, can I now send my LL a letter – before action – that I demand my deposit back (since it now 7monhts after singing the agreement) and if I don’t received it within 14days I will claim the 3x deposit back through the court?

redcar_2

The other alternative to give him is to lodge the deposit with one of the schemes now. If he will not do either of these you can then go to the court. The courts are even more grey on renewals than other areas so your best chance of a quick resolution will be to avoid going to court.

Premier_2

tia_meena wrote: »

My deposit is £1200. My rent is £1126 (rent has been increased since I moved in in 2005)


This morning I called the 3 deposit schemes organisations and have confirmation that my deposit is not protected. :mad:
Rather than fighting my deposit after I’ve moved out, can I now send my LL a letter – before action – that I demand my deposit back (since it now 7monhts after singing the agreement) and if I don’t received it within 14days I will claim the 3x deposit back through the court?

Please be very clear on this. You should not be claiming for 3x compensation. You should be claiming for the deposit to be protected or for it to be returned in full. You inform the court to award you compensation if at the time of the hearing the deposit has not been protected or returned to you in full. That means, in the event that the deposit should have been and is not protected by the time the matter gets to court, that you would actually get either 4x the initial amount back (3x compensation plus original amount) or 3x compensation and an order that the LL must protect the amount.

tia_meena

Do I still need to ask him to protect my deposit? - he had 7months time for that! If I send him a letter demanding to protect my deposit or return it, than of course he will quickly protect it.
Doesn;t the law states that he should have done this within 14days? Why give him another change? He has been really dificult with repairs etc,, see earlier posts and I feel I should get my deposit back on the bases that he hadn;t secured in within the required time.

I'm about to give my 2 months notice, so I might as well wait then and until he doesn;t return the deposit so I can take him for not protecting it as well.

Have there been cases where a tenant asks for the deposit back - during the tenancy?

sorry to be so difficult on this. I feel the LL will just get away with everything!

tbs624

Premier wrote: »

Please be very clear on this. You should not be claiming for 3x compensation. You should be claiming for the deposit to be protected or for it to be returned in full. You inform the court to award you compensation if at the time of the hearing the deposit has not been protected or returned to you in full. That means, in the event that the deposit should have been and is not protected by the time the matter gets to court, that you would actually get either 4x the initial amount back (3x compensation plus original amount) or 3x compensation and an order that the LL must protect the amount.

Meena has said that her tenancy started in 2005 and has subsequently been renewed. The Courts have not definitively ruled that the scheme registration rules apply to renewed deposits held under Tenancy Agreements, although many think that they should do where there has been renewal on or after April 06 2007.

Meena - you didn't reply to my query on whether the LL has given you an address on the tenancy agreement (for himself or an agent acting on his behalf)? Rent is not collectable if the LL does not give the T this address - check whether there is what is called a S48 notice at the start of your tenancy agreement or a separate notice given to you at the same time.

Try to get an appt with the Tenancy Relations Officer at the Council to go through all of this.

Edit -just seen your new post above: given that your LL is clearly difficult to deal with the TRO may be your best source of local support (may have slightly different title, depending on which council,but is in private sector rental team) Any LL who won't deal with repairs, get gas safety checks done etc is probably not going to play ball over your deposit, as you say. There really haven't been sufficient court cases yet on the topic of tenancy renewals and deposits - many feel that the legislation is poorly worded and open to differing interpretations.

moneysavinmonkey

you can send a letter asking for return of the deposit or protect it and then it is likely that the landlord will protect it -if that is what you want, as then you don't have to worry about him keeping it when you leave?

As for claiming 3x deposit there a few obstacles...

as your first tenancy started before the legislation came into effect then it's not obvious whether it definitely should be protected.

the landlord could protect or return the deposit before the court hearing

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have you called your landlord to discuss the options with him yet? Have you even given your 2 months written notice yet?????

tia_meena

Hi, thanks for the reply.
There is an address from the LL on my tenancy agreement.

when I signed a new tenancy agreement in Jan 08 it was the first time that the agreements mentions the deposit scheme. So it is in the tenancy, would be binding enough for me to say this in breach of the agreement and I demand my deposit back?