overpaid my rent and am £1000 plus out of pocket

Fire_Fox

Hello brokeinwales - glad you came across from DFW! You've had some great advice on this board - thanks to all as I know brokeinwales feels understandably out of her depth with this situation. Is there a template letter that she could use anywhere online?

brokeinwales

I’ve sent emails to all the deposit protection schemes, asking them whether my deposit was protected with them (only had one reply so far, negative.) . Have also emailed AND texted my landlady to ask for her address (did not say why), and added a question about what was happening with the deposit and the overpayment.
I’m not sure what to do about the bank. I physically went in to the branch to cancel, so they won’t have the call. They didn’t ask me to sign anything either, just told me it had been done.
Flipping heck this is such a mess…
I’ll check out the thread mentioned above, definetly.
A draft letter would be really helpful if anyone knows where I can find one (I don't speak legalese!)

think you should go to your local council and speak to the Private Sector Housing officer

how would I get hold of them?

Apply to the Land Registry for details of ownership of the property. This will cost you about £8 and give you the name and address of the owner of the property.

Is this something I need to do now - or only if I have to go to court?

Thanks everyone for this.

sooz

go to your local council website, & search under private housing. some councils call them a tenancy relations officer instead. there will be a number to call.

at the same time download the land registry docs. it will only cost you £4. once you've done this you have her address, & can do a letter before action, then go to court if necessary. you can't go court without her address

N79

brokeinwales wrote: »

A draft letter would be really helpful if anyone knows where I can find one (I don't speak legalese!)

It does not have to be in legelese - plain English will suffice (or Welsh if the LL and property are both in Wales and the tenancy agreement does not specify that all correspondance should be in English - this is not really a good idea though!).

You need to send the letter before action once you have an address. This letter is the opening salvo of going to court and is issued to show the court that you tried to resolve the dispute before resorting to court.

Many people here will help you with an LBA but before anyone wastes their time on a hopeless case it would be good to have a few more facts.

For the sake of completeness please can you confirm the following details.

1. Location of the property - just country is fine.
2. The rent and the rental period (weekly, monthly etc).
3. The date you moved in, the date you moved out.
4. Details of when you signed tenancy agreements (if only 1 then the date you signed it when you moved in).
5. Confirm that you have a copy of the tenancy agreement.
6. Confirm the contact details for the LL that were given on the tenancy agreement.
7. Confirm if an inventory was completed and signed by you at the start of the tenancy and if so, whether you have a copy.

brokeinwales

it will only cost you £4

I don't have £4!

For the sake of completeness please can you confirm the following details.

1. Location of the property - just country is fine.
2. The rent and the rental period (weekly, monthly etc).
3. The date you moved in, the date you moved out.
4. Details of when you signed tenancy agreements (if only 1 then the date you signed it when you moved in).
5. Confirm that you have a copy of the tenancy agreement.
6. Confirm the contact details for the LL that were given on the tenancy agreement.
7. Confirm if an inventory was completed and signed by you at the start of the tenancy and if so, whether you have a copy.

OK
1. In wales
2. Monthly rent
3. Moved in August 2007, moved out June 2009
4. Was given to us to sign about a week after we moved in.
5. No. Was never given a copy (despite requesting it)
6. I think the address was on the agreement, but obviously I can't check this.
7. No inventory was done at the start as far as I'm aware. though one was done at the end. It was a brand new refurbished and unfurnished flat when we moved in.

N79

Sorry, could you add the amount of the monthly rent (or at least confirm that it was greater than GBP20.83 and less than GBP2083.33. I know that this is very likely but it is an important detail).

superfran_uk

Emails and texts?? Easy to ignore. Grow a pair and RING HER (or get your OH, parents, a friend to do it if you really really can't although you will come up against harder things in your life I promise!) and demand your deposit back, plus the extra you're owed.

dfh

Tell her she has to pay you or you will be initiating court proceedings

N79

dfh wrote: »

Tell her she has to pay you or you will be initiating court proceedings

OP has no address so can not intiate court proceedings without first getting a reliable address to serve at. Hence my advice to get the address before making lots of threats of court. I agree thought that ringing would be better than texts.

See Eagerlearners marathon thread for the problems associated with claiming money back without a reliable address.

brokeinwales

superfran_uk wrote: »

Emails and texts?? Easy to ignore. Grow a pair and RING HER (or get your OH, parents, a friend to do it if you really really can't although you will come up against harder things in your life I promise!) and demand your deposit back, plus the extra you're owed.

I've tried ringing her several times - that was the first thing I tried - and I have been consistently fobbed off. I only started emailing so that I would have a written record.

(I now can't ring her anymore anyway, I can't afford the phone credit.)