Deposit Protection Scheme- help!

l_beale

Hi,
I don't know if anyone can help me but i am looking for some advice in regards to the DP scheme.

I was recently living in a house with a private landlord and due to some disagreements (i.e. he would let himself in with no notice, he would go through people's underwear in the washing machine, he didn't like my bathmat- the biggie!) and asked me to move out before the end of my contract (6 months- i was 4 months in). I agreed as i felt like i wasn't allowed to live like a normal person under his rule. So i moved out and i was only returned £259 of my deposit out of £400. He kept the rest of the rent as i moved out under 4 wks notice, does this even count if the contract was not finished and he asked me to move out?

Also i found out that my deposit was not protected in the scheme. I found out that i can take my landlord to the small claims court, but its £50 and for only the £140 i'm not sure its worth the hassle? however i noticed that he can technically be fined 3 times my deposit i.e. £1200 for not putting this in the scheme. Is this still a possibility even though i have now moved out? but technically is my tenancy still valid until mid october?

Please can someone help me as i don't know what to do???

moneysavinmonkey

Do you have any proof that your landlord asked you to move out early? - ie written letter/ witnesses. Without this I think you are going to struggle.

If you do have proof then it could still be worth filing small claims action - remember in the event that you win the judge will order the landlord to pay back your court fee too.

You can also put in a claim for 3x as your deposit was not protected but your landlord can defend this by either handing back your deposit in full or protecting the deposit before the hearing. (assuming you have an AST tenancy and are in england) In either case you would get at least your original deposit back so IMO still worth doing. edited to say: it does not matter if your tenancy has ended.

If the £50 is a lot of money to you the other thing to consider is the likelihood of the landlord paying up even if you won - if he has no money or flees the country you will find it difficult to get your cash even if a judge says it is right.

l_beale

Thanks for your advice! Unfortunately he asked me over the phone so I technically have no proof. The £50 of court fees I would happily pay even if I only got the £140 back, as if I did win I do not believe he would disappear as he rents out two houses next to each other and he can't resist not turning up for a day or two!
If the situation does come up mentioning I left early then surely I could highlight the fact that he does not give 24 hours notice when he enters the property ( I have other tenants in the house who can back me up on this- so does this mean he has broke the tenancy/ my rights?)
I'm also tempted to mention to Inland Revenue how much cash he collects each week as it clear that he is laundering it somehow!?
Sorry to bombard you with more questions! Thanks!

Premier_2

Get over it and move on with your life!

By the LL giving notice you leave the property and you doing so, it would probably be considered that the TA was ended early by mutual agreement.

You are entitled to ask for the return of your deposit in full since it was not protected but the LL is also able to ask you for the rent up until the period his notice expired, notwithstanding the fact you moved out beforehand.

A hotline set up to catch income tax cheats has been flooded with calls from people making malicious and unfounded allegations, MPs have been told...

Part of the problem was people "snitching" on their "next door neighbours" without having any concrete evidence, said Mr Hartnett.

"I am not sure whether snitching is a particular English disease or not but there are undoubtedly callers to our evasion hotline who think that by simply calling the line whatever they say, accurate or inaccurate, they can cause pain to somebody.

"I think it would be fair for us to say we have been a bit disappointed by the quality of some of the calls, which has made it hard for us to justify starting an investigation." ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7448962.stm

Dithering_Dad

l_beale wrote: »

I'm also tempted to mention to Inland Revenue how much cash he collects each week as it clear that he is laundering it somehow!?

Perhaps this was why he was so interested in your smalls in the washing machine. He could have been moving them to make way for his money?

moneysavinmonkey

as you have no proof of being asked to move out early I don't think you would win the case to get your full deposit back.

You could still try for the 3x deposit amount but this is no way guaranteed as mentioned before and you are going to need proof of deposit paid + tenancy agreement which it sounds like you might not have??

The other things that you have mentioned are breaches of your contract (and possibly criminal under harassment laws) but are unrelated to your deposit, You are going to be difficult to prove or get any compensation/reprisal for these so tbh it's probably not worth the effort.

If you really think your landlord is avoiding tax (I don't think you quite mean money laundering as this is something totally different) then by all means report it to HMRC:
http://www.taxevasionhotline.co.uk/

Debt_Free_Chick

l_beale wrote: »

I'm also tempted to mention to Inland Revenue how much cash he collects each week as it clear that he is laundering it somehow!?

By all means shop him, but you have no way of knowing whether or not he declares the cash as income.

My OH gets a lot of cash in settlement of his bills, but it's declared. Accepting cash is not a sure fire cert that a person is fiddling their tax.

Do you think that Woolies is fiddling? They take loads of cash each week

My view is that HMRC are unlikely to investigate claims of cash, without some other indication or evidence of tax fraud

tbs624

l_beale wrote: »

....I was recently living in a house with a private landlord ...

Do you mean you were renting a house from a private LL who lived elsewhere or were you actually sharing the LLs house, ie renting a room and enjoying use of communal areas? Was it an AST or a Lodger Agreement?

l_beale wrote: »

........due to some disagreements (i.e. he would let himself in with no notice, he would go through people's underwear in the washing machine, he didn't like my bathmat- the biggie!) and asked me to move out before the end of my contract (6 months- i was 4 months in).

What were his specific reasons for asking you to move out?

If he was a non-resident LL was there anyone else who was witness to him asking you to move out?

If there were other tenants were you on your own individual contract or was it a joint contract?

Did he register anyone else's deposits, if other tenants/lodgers were there?

You should get all your info on the tenancy together and go along to see the Private Sector Rentals Team at the Council - you may need to arrange an appt first. They can tell you what, if anything can be done, and if he is doing anything remotely "dodgy" they are the best people to take it forward.

Andy_Hamilton

How long before your orginal contract did you move out? i.e was it a 6 month contact and you moved out 4 months into it?
If he has no proof that you asked to move out sooner he would have kept all the deposit, keeping a certain amount for moving out too soon indicates that it was his intention that he wanted you out. There is absolutly no reason that he can have his house back then get paid for having his house empty.

Send the numpty a letter stating the above and ask for the remaining money. Also include that you really should not be having to sort this yourself as the deposit should be protected. At the bottom give him an ultimateum that if he does not return the extra money you will be taking the matter to court and include the 3x deposit for your inconvenice.

£60 on it's way.