Landlord not returning deposit - Letter format

vikramrkin

My background:

Rented a property and had to leave in 3 months, breaking the contract. Found another tenant before I left, so no loss of income to landlord.

Landlord had agreed to pay the full deposit, but is saying he has no money now. I waited for 2 months and am considering him a written notice to go to the court. Since I am very new to all these, I need some advise in getting the letter right. Here is what I am planning to send him. Any suggestions would be great.

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Letter starts

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Date: 18-Nov-2009

From:
<<My address>>

To:
<<His address>>

Dear XXX,

Sub: Refunding £xxx.00 towards my house deposit

I am writing to you to inform you that you have still not returned the security deposit for the property I rented from you at the address <<property address>>. On <<date>>, when I vacated the property, you had agreed to return the full deposit (£xxx.00) to me in 15 days.

It’s been more than 45 days since you agreed to return the money, but you have still not done it. Each time I have contacted you, you have asked for more time and promised to pay, but have failed to do so.

Please treat this as a notice from my side to pay the money you owe me. If you fail to make the payment in 30 days of receiving this letter, I will consider the option of going to the court. For your convenience, I can also accept payments spread over 3 monthly instalments.

Since you have failed to place the security deposit in any deposit protection scheme, as per the law, you are liable for a fine of upto 3 times the deposit and any legal charges.

You can prevent both of us from going to court.

Thanks


<<My full name>>
M: <<Mobile No>>
Email: <<m[EMAIL="vikramrkin&#64;yahoo.com"]y mail[/EMAIL] id>>

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Letter ends

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Thanks,
Vikram

neas

so he agreed to null the original contract? Also while you found a tenant where there any other costs involved?

Tenant reference checks, administration fees etc? I know my landlord pays a letting agent to draft his tenancy documents (100 quid or so)..

It is true he should've put it in a tenancy deposit scheme though. My point is... are you sure you are whiter than white in this case? that he cant just come and claim losses from yourself for breaking the contract?

Jowo_2

Nothing particularly wrong with this - brief and simple is best. The Shelter website probably has a sample template, plus info on how to proceed with an unprotected deposit. Don't forget to put the property address for the rental property, not just your current one and include 'Letter Before Action' as a subject heading.

Not sure you should offer to give him the option for installments though - you could be sending letters like this for each and every payment. If the small claims court finds in favour of you, some kind of repayment plan could be agreed (this is an assumption, you'd need to verify this).

Your timelines contradict each other - in one para you give him 15 days, in another 30 days. Don't give him a further month.

You do know that if he has no money, in some respects, the court judgement could be a waste of time and you may struggle to enforce it? Do you know if they are employed?

vikramrkin

neas wrote: »

so he agreed to null the original contract? Also while you found a tenant where there any other costs involved?

Tenant reference checks, administration fees etc? I know my landlord pays a letting agent to draft his tenancy documents (100 quid or so)..

It is true he should've put it in a tenancy deposit scheme though. My point is... are you sure you are whiter than white in this case? that he cant just come and claim losses from yourself for breaking the contract?

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, he did agree to null the agreement and allowed me to move on.

As far I know, the new tenant and the landlord did an agreement which you can buy from WH Smith, and costs £5. This is what he had done with my contract also. Apart from this, there was no cost involved. The landlord had to come and see the new tenants twice before finalising the deal (He travelled from central london to Ilford, in the evening, after completing his work).

I am not sure if anyone can claim lossess for this.

Thanks
Vikram

vikramrkin

Jowo wrote: »

You do know that if he has no money, in some respects, the court judgement could be a waste of time and you may struggle to enforce it? Do you know if they are employed?

He always told that he is struggling with his finances. But I know for sure that he has a full time job as an optician in a hospital and also gets rental income from three properties in London (worth atleast £2500 a month). Worst is he and his kids live in a lavish flat in central london, paying £1800 a month as rent and he is refusing to pay back my deposit of half that amount (£950).

G_M

A LL who uses a WS Smith contract? Does not do tenant referencing? Does not place the deposit in a registered scheme?

What's he called? Micky Mouse?

Offer no compromises. So no installments and minimum time to pay before court action.

tbs624

"Letter before Action" as heading

"Tenancy Deposit Return" not "Refunding £xxx.00 towards my house deposit"

You don't need to "inform" him that he hasn't repaid you - he knows he hasn't.

Confirm property address, original FT dates, that you moved out early by agreement (having found an acceptable replacement T) and that you left the property in the same condition as when originally let, save for fair wear and tear. State simply - "you agreed on a x date that you would return my deposit but despite further requests from me on x, y an z (dates) you have failed to do so."

Tell him simply that under the Housing Act 2004 LLs are required to scheme-register all tenancy deposits, if received after 6 April 2007, and to give the T certain "prescribed information". State that as you didn't receive any notification from him as the LL you have checked with each of the three schemes , who have confirmed that no registration was made.

Tell him you are giving him a maximum of 10 days in which to return your deposit in full , or you will begin a court claim for its return plus the penalty * payment of 3x the deposit amount , for non-compliance with the tenancy regs, plus court costs. As others have said, don't offer him instalments or up to 30 days to pay. (*it is a penalty, not a fine)

If he hasn't registered your deposit then its likely that he hasn't done for his other two properties so cc: the letter to the Tenancy Relations Officer at the local Council (Private Sector Rentals)

If you get no response then get that court claim under way

DVardysShadow

What the others say. Threaten to seek penalty for not putting deposit in a scheme. Don't offer instalments - although this may be in your mind, if you offer it before he asks for it, it becomes another piece of elastic to stretch.

vikramrkin

tbs624 wrote: »

"Letter before Action" as heading

"Tenancy Deposit Return" not "Refunding £xxx.00 towards my house deposit"

You don't need to "inform" him that he hasn't repaid you - he knows he hasn't.

Confirm property address, original FT dates, that you moved out early by agreement (having found an acceptable replacement T) and that you left the property in the same condition as when originally let, save for fair wear and tear. State simply - "you agreed on a x date that you would return my deposit but despite further requests from me on x, y an z (dates) you have failed to do so."

Tell him simply that under the Housing Act 2004 LLs are required to scheme-register all tenancy deposits, if received after 6 April 2007, and to give the T certain "prescribed information". State that as you didn't receive any notification from him as the LL you have checked with each of the three schemes , who have confirmed that no registration was made.

Tell him you are giving him a maximum of 10 days in which to return your deposit in full , or you will begin a court claim for its return plus the penalty * payment of 3x the deposit amount , for non-compliance with the tenancy regs, plus court costs. As others have said, don't offer him instalments or up to 30 days to pay. (*it is a penalty, not a fine)

If he hasn't registered your deposit then its likely that he hasn't done for his other two properties so cc: the letter to the Tenancy Relations Officer at the local Council (Private Sector Rentals)

If you get no response then get that court claim under way

Thanks a lot, those are the facts/terms that I didnt know . I will change my letter now.

parallax_20

It sounds like this LL hasn't followed the correct procedures for protecting himself or his tenants by taking shortcuts to save some money. I bet he probably hasn't declared his rental income to the tax man either, so whatever he's already saved in rental income should be enough to repay your deposit back without question. If I was this landlord I would be very worried by the prospect of being taken to court. Not only for failure to register your deposit into a recognised scheme, but also what other fines may be imposed by the judge for non-compliance with landlord rules & regulations if it were to come to light during court proceedings.

Good luck.

billi-jo

my landlady only just protected my bond the other week when i asked her if it was protected we have lived on our house since june 2007, but the new contract started on june 2009, are we still entitled to claim, or has she breached the contract as i want to move before june 2010 but dont want to loose the bond or her take us to court, any advice is much appreciated. Thanks