How do I take Landlords to court for not dealing with our deposit correctly?

far2812

Hi All

I have been advised by the deposit protection scheme to take the Landlord's agent to court because they did not deal with the deposit in the correct way!

The DPS have asked that I do pursue this as it is why the law was set up and Agents seem to think they don't have to comply.

We generally had a nightmare with the Agents in any event

Any advice would be very gratefully appreciated

Thanks all

x

poppysarah

Pursue it.
Do they offer help with the process?

Jowo_2

Was your deposit protected late or not protected at all? Unfortunately, because the legislation was so poorly drafted, many judges do not issue a penalty to a landlord who protects it later than the 14 day deadline.

Your agent is obliged to give you the landlords address within 21 days of a written request.

This post here seems to give detailed info on the procedure and the thread itself also provides a link to CAB info on deposits. You will also find the Shelter website handy.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=21171725&postcount=28

far2812

Hi they did protect it but 3 months into the tenancy agreement,

They never gave us the Landlords address - just stated care of themselves!

What d'ya think?

Jowo_2

I think you should do more research on the likelihood of receiving the compensation. In all my time of browsing forums that have addressed this particular problem, I have only come across one tenant who successfully taken their landlord to court for the late protection of the deposit and received the x3 deposit penalty. Most landlords who protect the deposit but do it late seem to get away with being punished.

The impression I get is that the wording of the legislation is weak, such that the judges interpret it that the landlord should do it within 14 days but the penalty is payable if it reaches court and they still haven't done so.

Still worth you double checking, though.

MissMoneypenny

Look on the nearlylegal blog for some reading on this. It seems to be a bit of a postcode lottery as to what the judge does. The law does imply the LL should protect the deposit, but the poor wording of the law is sometimes allowing bad landlords, wriggle room.

I did write to my MP about the poor wording of the law and he wrote the relevant mininister, but until MPs and their immediate families are banned from being landlords (or we get honourable MPs) I think it will take an appeal case to get a ruling for all other judges.

MissMoneypenny

If you are planning on staying in the house, they can't issue a section21 to remove you, if they haven't protected the deposit.

Even if they do protect the deposit now, if a judge rules they should have protected the deposit within 14 days of receiving it as the law intended, then they still won't be able to issue you with a Section 21.

far2812

thanks missmoney penny!

Where is the nearlylegal blog?

I do believe that the law was taken out for a reason and the Agent has not complied so I believe they should be punished!

Fire_Fox

far2812 wrote: »

Hi they did protect it but 3 months into the tenancy agreement,

They never gave us the Landlords address - just stated care of themselves!

What d'ya think?

A tenant does not have to be supplied with with the landlord's address, simply an address in England or Wales where notices can be served. The letting agent's address can be used to satisfy this requirement.

mummym_3

hi if you do take them to court expect a long haul, we are currently taking our old letting agents to court as we didnt find out until leaving the property that the deposit hadnt been protected, we moved out in febuary and have a court date for november. x good luck if you go down that route x

BitterAndTwisted

It's a nice idea to screw money out of unreliable letting agencies and landlords but you can only go to court of the deposit hasn't been protected. Your deposit has been protected now, so you can't take them to court. No free money for you this time round