Recovering deposit from property - Who is to fault

richard-

I moved out of a house, (it was shared with 4 people including myself).

I moved out before I had signed the agreement with the estate agents, I have the letter showing that my deposit is protected by the deposit protection service.

However the agency are saying I have to recover my deposit from the people in the house I shared with, because I initially paid it to them directly because I moved in later than the other 3 people into the property.
I didn't sign the contract on the property until another 10 days therefore they said I should recover it from them. I moved out within these 10 days not signing any contract.

The new person whom has moved in does not seem to have paid any deposit, the estate agency said they have only the rent paid for her :rolleyes: So this means she moved in without even paying any deposit, which I think the esate agencies fault :mad:

Who's fault is it, do I get my deposit from the new housemate, the people who live in the property or the estate agents.

I would of thought that the esate agents was clever enough to actually have a deposit from the new person not just use mine.

Soot2006

Do you have a receipt for YOUR portion of the deposit?

i.e. something that has YOUR name & the value of the deposit?

richard-

I dont have a receipt from the payment, I paid it individually to each person in the form of seperate cheques however the dps letter says my name and the total amount of the deposit paid so it is a portion of this split between 4

N79

Key question - has the new person who moved in replaced you on the existing contract or has the old contract been terminated and replaced with a new contract? IE have all the current occupants signed a new contract or has just the new arrival signed the current contract to replace you?

richard-

I didnt sign any contract, I believe the new person would of been added, as that was what was going to happen to me. All names would be shown on the contract.

N79

What a mess. If deposit is in TDS in your name then just apply to them for it to be refunded to you. It will then be up to the LL to justify not releasing.

richard-

I did try that, called yesterday and the person (the head person on the dps list has to give them notice to release the deposit).

They said the money is safe with them but maybe I should just inform them again that they should not change or update the details to remove me, because the person whom is charge to make changes (living at the old property) may imform them that a new person has arrived and that they should update the name on the dps list removing my name from the list without refunding.

Or is that not possible...