Landlord witholding deposit because of outstanding bills

GarethK

Today i checked out of my rented property and all was ok, no damage and the deposit will be released.... once i've paid for my utility bills! I have no problem in the principle but the reason i left the property was redundantcy and i dont have the funds until the deposit comes back to pay for my gas and electric. Can a deposit be witheld in this way? The bills are in my name not the landlords so i cannot see the problem.

Gareth

bazzais

How does the landlord know are they opening your mail? Are the bills still going to your old place?

If so I would advise that you change the address with your utility companies and the landlord will never know if you have paid them or not they cant obtain information about your bills.

Ta

Baz

GarethK

The mail is being redirected, we did a final reading today so he knows the gas/elec is not yet settled, my question was can deposit be withheld for the outstanding bill? As its a damage deposit it should be returned if there was no damage and the bill is my problem not the landlords. Never come across this one before but need to know where i stand as i am stuck until some money comes through.

bazzais

I am not really sure of the law mate I am afraid, but I would have thought that your bills and the way you handle them has absolutely nothing to do with your landlord.

Just explain to your landlord that you have paid by card over the phone last night (even if you haven't) and you want you deposit back.

Ta

Baz

GarethK

The landlord will be checking the account which is with scottish power. The deposit is held with the DPS and would go straight into my bank account so it wouldnt really work that well writing a cheque out.

paintpot

If the bills are in your name then the utilities will chase you not the landlord. for any unpaid bills However, landlords take this approach due to hassles for unpaid bills e.g bailiffs turning up on their new tenants or the bills being in no ones name so the landlord is then chased.

If I were you, I would contact the utilities and ask them to send you the final bill to your new address asap and/or show the landlord copies of (old) bills being in your name and perhaps this will back up that you have actually reigistered them in your name and have been paying your bills and haven't racked up huge bills that are still outstanding, give the landlord your forwarding address so if he has problems he can at least notify the utility provider, exchange meter readings (both sign agreement on this), and explain that you can't pay without the deposit.

The landlord (rightly or wrongly) can make life difficult in terms of the timescale in returning your deposit so offer some or all of the above (whether you agree with them or not), be polite and businesslike and hopefully he will be reasonable in return, see he will not have any problems and will promptly return your deposit.

Personally, as I always contact utilities myself regarding change of tenants I don't insist on evidence paid utilities before returning deposits although I might if I had a diffcult or unreliable tenant as I have bought or manage properties where unpaid utilities by previous tenants (and existing) have plagued me.

I hope this helps

SingleSue

But surely with the data protection act, the utility company is not allowed to give out details like that to anyone other than the account holder.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

I can understand the principle entirely..

I am familiar with a national commercial landlord who continually has issues with tenants who fail to pay utility bills to the point where the Utility company will not supply the property full stop unless a reasonable size bond is supplied up front.

No new prospective tenant expects to have to pay this so the landlord has too...

It sucks for you, but I can totally see his point of view..

paintpot

SingleSue wrote: »

But surely with the data protection act, the utility company is not allowed to give out details like that to anyone other than the account holder.

Purely going on my experience, when I have change of tenants I will ring the utilities with the reading of the outgoing tenant and the reading for the incoming tenant and give names, they always confirm with me whether the old tenant or new tenant have indeed contacted them themselves and take details off me of who they are if they haven't already contacted them and the readings. That's the same whoever the provider is.

I did inherit a tenant who had lived in the property for over three years (property was previously managed by an agent who obviously didn'tcontact the utilities) and the bills were addressed to the occupier even after 3 years. I "intercepted" some mail addressed to this "problem" tenant. The utility provider had a court order to enter the premises by force to cut off the gas due to an unpaid bill. I managed to sort it out before it reached the point of the door being smashed in :eek: by providing the name and a tenancy agreement to back up what I was saying..

bazzais

The data protection act would be a barrier between your landlord and him getting any information on your bills.

I also thank you both (last ops) for pointing it out from a landlords perspective, I had no idea this kind of practice took place.

Ta

Baz

Premier_2

GarethK wrote: »

The landlord will be checking the account which is with scottish power.

He can check all he wants, but they won't discuss anything with anyone but the account holder.

GarethK wrote:

The deposit is held with the DPS and would go straight into my bank account so it wouldnt really work that well writing a cheque out.

If that's the case, just request your deposit back from them. The LL will need to specify the actual amount he disputes and you will automatically get back the remainder (if any)

In the case the LL does dispute some or all, just ask the scheme to arbitrate over it.