deposit protection scheme

barefoot20

Hi,

Would appreciate some advice. We moved out of a rented property a couple of weeks ago and our deposit is in the DPS. However, it was only placed in the DPS 6 months after the tenancy started after we raised the issue with our letting agent of never having received details – we have contracts etc to prove this. As it was not put in within 14 days, do we still have the right to claim for up to 3x the amount despite the fact it is there now? We don’t really want to do this as it seems unfair, as although he is dodgy we doubt he realised the implications!

However he is trying to claim £400 of our deposit for cleaning/dilapidation, which we dispute as wear and tear, and we would rather bring this up with him to get him to return the full amount rather than it go to adjudication. From the looks of the case studies we would be awarded the full deposit back anyway as he has no checkin/checkout, photos etc to back up his claim.

Thanks for your help…

clutton_2

did you sign an inventory when you moved in ?

anotherpaul_2

barefoot20 wrote: »

As it was not put in within 14 days, do we still have the right to claim for up to 3x the amount despite the fact it is there now? We don’t really want to do this as it seems unfair, as although he is dodgy we doubt he realised the implications!

I don't know the answer, but if you do manage to go this way and don't want the extra money, you could always make an ex-gratia payment of 2x the deposit back to the landlord. You'd probably need to take legal advice on whether you have a claim though - CAB?

barefoot20

No, no inventory. He also didn't make any checks of the property before returning the deposit to the previous tenants (they're friends of mine which is how I'm aware of this!), so I'm aware he could never prove we caused any so called damage anyway.

Thanks I think I will go to the CAB for a quick check...

clutton_2

dont bother with CAB - tell the DPS that you wish to reclaim all the deposit on the grounds that no inventory was done and they will initiate the Dispute Procedure - it may take 2-3 months

tbs624

barefoot20 wrote: »

Hi,

Would appreciate some advice. We moved out of a rented property a couple of weeks ago and our deposit is in the DPS. However, it was only placed in the DPS 6 months after the tenancy started after we raised the issue with our letting agent of never having received details – we have contracts etc to prove this. As it was not put in within 14 days, do we still have the right to claim for up to 3x the amount despite the fact it is there now? We don’t really want to do this as it seems unfair, as although he is dodgy we doubt he realised the implications!

The fact that the LL has now scheme-registered your deposit, albeit late, would on the result of some of the cases so far, mean that you would be unlikely to be successful in any claim for 3x the deposit amount.

barefoot20 wrote: »

However he is trying to claim £400 of our deposit for cleaning/dilapidation, which we dispute as wear and tear, and we would rather bring this up with him to get him to return the full amount rather than it go to adjudication. ..

Is this because you know that some of his claim may be justifiable? The whole purpose of Ts having their deposit registered byt the LL is that disputes can be dealt with by someone other than the LL. However, you can only be asked to return a property in the same condition as let, save for fair, wear and tear. Note that dirt or damage is not FW&T, but a LL would need to be able to prove the property's condition..

As Clutton says, raise the dispute with the scheme admin folk & take it from there. Keep copies of all correspondence and you may want to state clearly that the LL was late in registering, in case their records aren't clear. Were you given the scheme's prescribed information by the LL or have you had to seek that out for yourself?