Landlord problems questions

kurjam

my landlord, kept my £600 and wrote to us 2 months after moving out, he stated he had to redecorate and put new carpets down.... i have since seen this house on the internet for sale and he has done no redecorating or new carpets etc, where do i stand ??? i think my deposit was just held by his solicitor......not in a protection scheme

tbs624

charmed-imsure wrote: »

......You may be entitled to up to 3 x the deposit value in compensation if the landlord breaches anything to do with the tenancy or deposit... which scheme is yours held in?

my highlighting. See my comment below on the "compensation" issue but these particular rules within the Housing Act 2004 refer specifically to Tenancy Deposits - that is, scheme-registering them and the provision of the "prescribed information" - and have absolutely nothing to do with any other type of breaches of contract by the LL.

Sazzyukrafc wrote: »

I....We have also since be advised that because they didn't register this by a certain date (14days after the tenancy starts I think) that they have broken some legislation there, although I'm not 100% sure!

Unfortunately, the court cases so far indicate that where a LL or LA scheme-registers the deposit at any time up until an actual court hearing there will probably no award made to the Tenant for the fact that the date of registration was outside the 14 days mentioned within the Housing Act 2004.

Sazzyukrafc

That's interesting - why bother having these legislations if no action is taken when they are broken!

Should I still mention this in the letter to show they have not complied to other legislations?

N79

Sazzyukrafc wrote: »

That's interesting - why bother having these legislations if no action is taken when they are broken!

It seems fairly clear that the intention was to allow Ts to persue the 3 times deposit if LL was in breach of their statutory obligations. However, parliament drafted and approved a very badly worded bill. The actual wording of the law does not make clear exactly when the penalty should be levied. It is therefore down to judges to decided what to do.

Since the 3 times fine is a penalty and because in the past English civil law has avoided issuing penalities (penalties are for the criminal courts) judges are very reluctant to do so.

Ultimately blame the government for passing a badly worded law. And yes, they were warned that the wording did not make sense at the time.

Sazzyukrafc

Thanks for that N79.

Can anyone advise me about notice periods?

With a six month tenancy agreement, do you have to give notice that you will be leaving once it is up?

My understanding is that you have to give notice if you intend to leave the property before your six month tenancy is up, not if you intend to leave when it is due to end.

sooz

If a tenant has a fixed term, they are not required to give notice to leave at the end of the fixed term, although it is polite to do so.

tbs624

sooz wrote: »

If a tenant has a fixed term, they are not required to give notice to leave at the end of the fixed term, although it is polite to do so.

However, although the OP has said their deposit is with the DPS other readers of the thread may like to bear in mind this, from a recent TDS adjudication:

[FONT=&quot]“The Adjudicator found the Landlord was entitled to deduct £575.00 for 1 months rent in lieu of notice. The Tenants argument that his liability had ended at the expiry of the fixed term was not sustainable. A statutory periodic tenancy would follow and the tenant liable for 1 month’s rent[/FONT][FONT=&quot].” ?? [/FONT]:think:

MissSunshine

Do you live local to the letting agent?? If so could you spare the time to go sit it out there until they resolve the deposit issue once & for all, and if you have children take them with you

Sazzyukrafc

Thanks for that - I'm going to dig out our tenancy agreement when my fiance is home - I can't get it myself, too much heavy stuff in the way

As far as I am aware, the tenant must give one month's notice if you intend to leave the property before the tenancy finishes and the landlord two months. But you do not need to give notice if you leave when the tenancy ends. We were polite and let them know we wouldn't be renewing it about two days short of a month.

Oh...I don't have any children unfortunately!...although I do have two cute cats, but I'm not sure what they'd think of me bringing my cats in...lol!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has advised me on this matter, I really appreciate it.

sooz

tbs624 wrote: »

However, although the OP has said their deposit is with the DPS other readers of the thread may like to bear in mind this, from a recent TDS adjudication:

[FONT=&quot]“The Adjudicator found the Landlord was entitled to deduct £575.00 for 1 months rent in lieu of notice. The Tenants argument that his liability had ended at the expiry of the fixed term was not sustainable. A statutory periodic tenancy would follow and the tenant liable for 1 month’s rent[/FONT][FONT=&quot].” ?? [/FONT]:think:

Are they just making up the rules as they go along? :think:
A statutory periodic tenancy would not follow unless the tenant stayed beyond the end of the fixed term.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/renting_and_leasehold/ending_a_tenancy_or_licence