Can he get his deposit back?!

over-rated

Hi there everyone, I hope you are all having a great day!
I need a little bit of advice, our mate is living with us at the moment as his old flat-mate was messing him about with rent, and in the end, his landlady said they had to leave. No worries, he's living with us for the time being! HOWEVER, getting his deposit is proving to be quite difficult. He had already agreed with her that she should keep half to cover the rent defict and had arranged with her for cleaners to come and clean the place properly (she would pay and keep it out of the deposit, all agreed over the phone) She then sent the cleaner home, refusing to pay him and decided on a whim to go to paris for a long weekend, locking up the flat so he could not get in to get the rest of his things!
Unfortunatley, he was not aware of the tennency deposit protection scheme BUT he moved in and signed the contract only 9 months ago which means he SHOULD have been covered (april 07 it started) Is there any way he can get what he feels is owed (the place was left in a better place than when he moved in there, I helped him in and out!!)
Oh, also, there was no inventory done for the place, I'm not sure if this will affect anything!

Thanks for taking the time to read, I look forward to seeing if anyone has any ideas for him!

iscrimger

The tenancy agreement should state under what terms the deposit is returned. As you said it was agreed she should keep half for the missing rent - this is understandable.

However it would then appear your mate is due the other half. You should read the tenancy agreement to see if cleaning etc was a term of the deposit being returned. Normally the deep cleaning of a flat/home at the end of a tenancy isn't taken out of the deposit and the work is covered under costs generated through 'agency' fee's etc.

The tenancy agreement will state what costs can be deducted from the deposit.

Every tenancy should have an inventory - for protection of the landlord and tenant. This will detail everything within the property and it's current state. At the end of the tenancy the tenant can replace any missing/broken items at their own cost or leave them and risk having the amount deducted from the deposit. Not having an inventory leaves both parties free to do as they wish, she could claim the cooker was broken and buy a new one using the deposit. Your mate could dispute this but as there is no written document stating if it worked or not there is little to prove or disprove this.

He should not have returned the keys until all of his belongings had been removed. Once the keys are returned the contents of the flat are no longer the tenants as they no longer pay anything to reside at that address.

princeofpounds

This is complicated because there are a couple of issues involved.

his old flat-mate was messing him about with rent, and in the end, his landlady said they had to leave.

OK, so there are rent arrears, which your mate is probably jointly and severally liable for.

Did the landlady issue a proper notice to quit? Unfortunately reading on he seems to have surrendered the property so it's a bit of an academic question now.

HOWEVER, getting his deposit is proving to be quite difficult. He had already agreed with her that she should keep half to cover the rent defict

Ok, is this in writing? If so, it's uncontested so set that money aside as it's the landlady's.

and had arranged with her for cleaners to come and clean the place properly (she would pay and keep it out of the deposit, all agreed over the phone)

Again, is there any evidence for this?

She then sent the cleaner home, refusing to pay him and decided on a whim to go to paris for a long weekend, locking up the flat so he could not get in to get the rest of his things!

Did the cleaner actually do any work? If she ordered him, then him not being paid is between him and her, not your mate. Your mate was an idiot for surrendering the property to her and leaving his stuff at the same time. However, she is bound to store the belongings for a reasonable amount of time and make reasonable efforts to contact your friend and arrange pick-up.

However, if he still has his keys, all his stuff is there and he has never in writing or conversation to third parties actually surrendered the tenancy, he is in a strong position as she could be accused of illegal eviction. Need more detail to figure out what actually happened here.

Unfortunatley, he was not aware of the tennency deposit protection scheme BUT he moved in and signed the contract only 9 months ago which means he SHOULD have been covered (april 07 it started)

Yes, he should have been. He should have received prescribed information within 14 days containing details of where it was protected. He should contact the three schemes to see if it was held in any of them.

Is there any way he can get what he feels is owed (the place was left in a better place than when he moved in there, I helped him in and out!!)

Yes. He should write via recorded delivery to the landlady. He should state what deposit deductions he agrees with, and what he disputes and wants returned. He should note that the deposit should have been protected and refer to the relevant legislation, and as it was not and they are in dispute, he is considering taking legal advice and taking her to court where there is a 3x penalty for not protecting deposits.

He should also state that she is holding his property and that he wants to collect it and is being prevented from doing so by her failing to make reasonable effort to contact him about it.

He may also wish to mention issues of lack of gas safety certificates (did he ever get one?) and maybe even illegal eviction (if he never actually voluntarily surrendered the property).

This should sort her out, but if it does not he will have to go through with it to progress. She may make an offer to return the disputed amount in the deposit, or she may retrospectively protect the deposit which will give your mate access to arbitration.

Oh, also, there was no inventory done for the place, I'm not sure if this will affect anything!

Yes, it makes it even less likely the landlady can make any deductions. However, where he has already made written concessions that is evidence for her.

Go to landlordzone forums for more specific advice on how to proceed.