Please help re flat deposit

us,thecat&thedebt

Crikey what a thread!

just wanted to add my GOOD LUCK and HUGS

jennynoo

Hi EL
How's it going?

I half hate and half love flat hunting. I love looking round other people's flats but I hate being dragged out when it is cold and that depressing feeling when you realise you can't afford the flat you want :rolleyes:

Just sent letter number 3 today, using the wording from page 9 in this thread ie. you don't have to do anything now and will recieve a court summons in due course or pay up within 7 days. I'm really hoping I get a response this time, didn't get any response at all from the last two letters. Have sent this one recorded delivery but I'm sure the other ones (1st class) will have got there ok as well.

So it's fingers crossed all week for me and constant checking of my bank balance just incase she has paid up. I really wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for you. I hope it pays off for both of us and everyone else out there in the same situation. :T

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,

Sorry haven't been around much - been a bit crazy lately with family visits/work/looking for a new place.

Latest news re court is that the court date is set for 31st MAY so we have ages and ages yet to go I'm afraid. We won't worry about submitting our paperwork yet. Strange to think that we will be in our 2nd property SINCE the flat in question by then!

Re flat search, the place we saw this week was crazy - the guy wanted us to:

- pay a third of HIS buildings insurance (he lived upstairs)
- get locked into a 12 month contract (whereby if we left in month 6 for example, we would still owe him 6 months regardless)
- and the final straw was that he said the tenants would be responsible for carpeting the flat when they moved in!!!

So my weary friends, my faith in landlords is not at all restored, not even close. The search continues.

EagerLearner

Jennynoo - remember to check what your contract says the contractual address for the landlord is. If it says an agents address, cover yourself by writing to that - we did not and it would apparently have been better if we had done, but I don't believe that for a second as we'd have never got her in court unless we had used the *real* address we found online.

littlesaint

EagerLearner wrote:

Hi everyone,


Re flat search, the place we saw this week was crazy - the guy wanted us to:

- pay a third of HIS buildings insurance (he lived upstairs)
- get locked into a 12 month contract (whereby if we left in month 6 for example, we would still owe him 6 months regardless)
- and the final straw was that he said the tenants would be responsible for carpeting the flat when they moved in!!!

So my weary friends, my faith in landlords is not at all restored, not even close. The search continues.

What? This man will never get any tenants, unless he is charging 99p a week for rent.

I just saw someone asking for a two month deposit today on a £1,500 studio flat in central London! That means that some poor youknowwhat is going to have to fork out £4,500 in rent and deposit for the privilege of living there!

jennynoo

EagerLearner wrote:

Jennynoo - remember to check what your contract says the contractual address for the landlord is. If it says an agents address, cover yourself by writing to that - we did not and it would apparently have been better if we had done, but I don't believe that for a second as we'd have never got her in court unless we had used the *real* address we found online.

Thanks for the advice. The only address in the agreement is the landladies and it says notices should be sent to her address so it should be fine.

snoangel

Hi EL,
Have just spent the better part of five hours reading this thread,during toddler nap time and bedtime now, husband got no tea, will do him no harm. I admire you for sticking with this laborious and unfair situation.You are an inspiration. I wish you all the best of luck and will be watching avidly for news.
We have just returned from Oz where tenancy cleans are the norm but you get a chance to rectify the points listed and the deposits are all held in trust by a government body, I wish it was the same here. Especially now we are embarking on renting now.
Good luck.
Anyway, im waffling, go get them girl.

EagerLearner

Thanks Snoangel for spending 5 hours of your life reading through this - you won't get that time back you know!

We have a whole 3 months still to go - should get the official letter from court today or tomorrow as they told me verbally.

Plenty of time to put docs together, although it will be as simple as poss as to focus the judge on the deductions only.

clutton_2

""deposits are all held in trust by a government body, I wish it was the same here. Especially now we are embarking on renting now.""

From April 5th it will be the same here, when the Tenancy Deposit Scheme comes into force.

Mixed_Berries

Hi EL and everyone else,

I haven't posted much ( infact this is my first post and what a best place to post than here :beer: ) but I have been lurking around for ages .
I read this therad from first to last page today whilst trying to do my work and it truly inspired me to add my twopennce worth.

EL - I am so happy and somehow proud of you ( I don't even know you ) for following this trough and not letting go.
It has been such an emotional rollercoaster !!!
I have been trough a simmilar situation but resolved it outside of court by adding lots of pressure on LA and LL, called them constantly and threathened with SCC as well. In the end they caved in and we got our deposit back.

I have since then met a really nice ladlord which was a breath of fresh air - lived in his property for 2 years without any hassle and the LL has now sold us his property and helped immensly along the way to completion.

so just wanted to say - pls don't give up and don't loose your faith in LLords. there are some bad ones out there but there are good, honest ones as well.
But as you probably learned from here - one can't be carefull enough about those things and always read everything before signing.

I wish you all the luck with finding a new place to live.
My fingers are crossed for you.

Good luck.

MB