Flat were renting in receivership

tranmereforever

hello all,

just to give an update, I have tried the above schemes and they have no record of the deposit in them, I have also tried ringing the Landlord but after initially telling us he would let me know by the end of the day (this was Friday last week) who it was with and what the scheme number was he is since not answering his phone

We really are not in a position where we can afford to lose our deposits and am starting to worry a little bit now

tbs624

You may want to consider writing to the LL (hand deliver it/post rec delivery tomorrow) Head it "Letter Before Action" and in the letter, clearly state the property address, and the dates of your tenancy. Confirm the date on which your deposit was paid, and who you paid it to. Refer also to the letter about receivership and when this was received.

Tell the LL that the Housing Act 2004 clearly states that any deposit received after 6 April 2007 must be scheme registered, and "prescribed information" on the scheme given to the tenant, both within 14 days of receipt of the deposit. Then state the attempts made so far to establish where it has been scheme-registered (keep it factual - just dates, times, who spoken to, response if any).

Include a sentence to the effect that the Housing Act states that any LL who fails to do both of these things must either return the deposit in full to the tenant, or scheme register it immediately and provide the necessary information, and that an amount of 3 times the deposit may also be claimed by the tenant. Finish by saying that unless you receive payment of this amount within the next 7 days, you intend to begin proceedings through the county court for recovery, which will include interest plus court costs.

It is worth you knowing that any S21 notice requiring possession of the property by the LL on expiry of your fixed term next month will not be valid until and unless he registers that deposit.

It's still not clear from your original post whether it is a LA or the LL who is in financial difficulty?

Bear in mind that even if you go to court and get a judgement you may have difficulties getting an enforcement if someone is in dire financial straits. If on the other hand the LL is trying to play you for a fool then the letter may be enough to bring a cheque to your door.

I would also talk to the Tenancy Relations Officer at the local Council - private sector rentals team, as they like to know which LLs on their patch aren't complying with deposit legislation.

GDB2222

Is there much point in chasing the landlord, who is probably running from all sorts of creditors?

Debt_Free_Chick

tbs624 wrote: »

Bear in mind that even if you go to court and get a judgement you may have difficulties getting an enforcement if someone is in dire financial straits.

As an aside .... And this is a big issue with those LLs that do not protect deposits. IMHO, the DPS should work so that the tenants pay their deposits directly into the DPS and the DPS holds that money "on behalf of the tenant". The tenant would need to pay the deposit before the keys are handed over. On exit, the default is that the tenant gets the deposit back from the DPS, unless the LL raises a dispute. Sorted

tbs624

GDB2222 wrote: »

Is there much point in chasing the landlord, who is probably running from all sorts of creditors?

The OP hasn't yet made it clear whether it is the LL who is in difficulty, whether the LL is letting as a company, or whether there is a separate Letting Agent involved - see the comment about "flat in receivership" in post 1.

tranmereforever

sorry, when we moved in we paid our deposit to a letting agent and then we were assigned a managing agent ( i think the letting agent was just finding the property for the landlord ), its the Landlord that is trouble and the recievers have placed a new managing agent in charge to replace the ones we were assigned at the time

what happens to that deposit when we give it to the initial letting agent, do they hold on to it? or do they pass it to the Landlord?

GDB2222

Could be that they have it, more likely if nobody said anything about it that they passed it on to the landlord. Clearly, you should ask the two sets of agents, as nobody here can know what happened.