The Deposit Protection Service - 5 months on and still no money back

sooz

I've not yet had a problem getting money out of the DPS. If both parties agree, it is really easy.

The last one I did was only a few weeks ago, & both I & the tenants agreed to how it would be returned. We were doing it online together, but the tenants had managed to lose their confidential repayment ID. They only had the deposit ID with them, & thought this was enough. In this case we had to wait an extra day, so that they could phone the DPS and get this emailed to them. As a LL, I can request my repayment ID's to be emailed to me, & they arrive in minutes. Even with this 'delay' we both had our money, with interest, in our banks in 4 days.

I've just checked, & I can change my contact details online instantly, as presumably, can the tenant.

It is important for both parties to ensure that their contact details held with the DPS are correct, before the end of the tenancy.

JennyP

I have actually been moved for the first time in my life to contact my MP about the Deposit Protection Scheme.
I'm a landlord not a tenant. Like you, I'd never used it before so was maybe a bit naive. My tenant moved out, giving no notice, left the place in a state, he'd decorated (against terms of the tenancy agreement), kept cats (no pets allowed, again in the agreement), not maintained the garden - it was like a jungle, though again in the agreement, this was a condition. He'd left masses and masses of rubbish for me to clear out. It was hideous. Food waste, crawling with maggots. Really the man and his family lived like total filthy slobs. I thought naively that I would get the deposit back, and though it wouldn't cover the clean up AND the missed rent, that would at least be something.
They awarded it to him, on the grounds that I didn't give enough evidence. I stated that I had photos but the letting agent said there was nowhere to include them so I put would be provided on request.
I agree that tenants need to be protected from awful landlords but good landlords also need some degree of protection from awful tenants. It's not that all tenants are great and all landlords bad, and I don't think the scheme realises that.
Sorry, i have hijacked your thread somewhat.
When the scheme works, it works well. My other tenants just moved and the deposit was returned to them within a couple of days of them leaving.

Poko_2

I am in exactly the same boat as JennyP.

Basically, the DPS "misplaced" all of the evidence that I submitted to them after my tenants trashed the house and left.
3 months later(!), the DPS informed me that my claim had failed due to "lack of evidence" even though I sent them a TON of evidence and summarily ruled in favour of the tenant. I only rent out one property and this really has left me in a bit of difficulty as the repairs cost in excess of £2000.

I agree that if a situation is resolved amicably, and you have minimal dealings with the DPS, then I can imagine that everything should go smoothly.

The DPS arbitration process simply does not work, and I would be very interested to hear of any of the other 880 cases that have gone to arbitration, and how they were resolved. I have requested a full investigation and I am going to my MP, various media, and I happen to know a minister in the current Labour cabinet.
Trying to talk to anyone in the DPS other than one of the first line staff is impossible, and this simply isn't the way an arbitration process should work.
I bet quite a few tenants are also having problems with the DPS.

tbs624

Poko wrote: »

.... I would be very interested to hear of any of the other 880 cases that have gone to arbitration, and how they were resolved. ...

Here's a few cases for you.

It would be interesting to hear what response you get to your various complaints. At what point did you learn that the DPS had "mislaid" your evidence? Did you not get the opportunity to produce duplicates?