Letting Agent gone bust

Dipak

Hello all,

I have a friend who is currently renting via a letting and last month her letting agent went bust and she has not been given her bond back and nor had it been passed on to the landlord. What can she do if anything to get this back?

Thanks,
D

Planner

Dipak wrote: »

Hello all,

I have a friend who is currently renting via a letting and last month her letting agent went bust and she has not been given her bond back and nor had it been passed on to the landlord. What can she do if anything to get this back?

Thanks,
D

Has the deposit been protected in one of the TDS schemes?

If it hasnt/it isnt want that has to be, then it will fall on the landlord to return it.

princeofpounds

T had a contract with L, not with A, who only had a commercial relationship with L.

L is completely liable for the timely return of the deposit, no matter what A has done with the money.

If the deposit has been protected with the TDS scheme, then proceed through that system as normal on departure.

If it has not been protected, then T must demand from L in a letter before action. If not received, T should begin small claims court proceedings via moneyclaimonline. If the deposit has not been protected and should have been (which is likely) then T can also sue for 3x deposit penalty.

Dipak

Thanks, how will she know if it is under the TDS scheme or not? the tennacy dont say nothing about it.

MX5huggy

When did the tennacy start? Not just when she moved in but when she last signed an aggrement?

If it is in a scheme she should have paperwork.

Dipak

MX5huggy wrote: »

When did the tennacy start? Not just when she moved in but when she last signed an aggrement?

If it is in a scheme she should have paperwork.

It started 21/11/2007 thats when she signed the agreement but she only has the tenancy agreement to hand and dont remember having any other paperwork. She's a pain i know :eek:

princeofpounds

Easy. She can ring up the three schemes to check.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenancy_Deposit_Scheme

If she has genuinely been given no 'prescribed information' then the L is likely in trouble. T can use this information to reach a settlement with L or pursue through court for deposit + 3x penalty + costs.

(Although practical cases have been split if the L acts to protect the deposit late, some awarding the penalty, some not. Not awarding it in my mind makes the whole idea of a penalty pointless, as it can always be avoided, but at least it helps with enforcement.)