Please help re flat deposit

Mrs_pbradley936

Last post for a while I promise but if the agent claims not to be involved because the dispute is between you and the landlady you may be able to get them with this "You can use a garnishee order to force a third party who either holds money belonging to the debtor or owes the debtor money" I think I remember you saying that the agent still has your money but the landlady will not them them release it to you.

epoman

I have not read the whole thread, but in case no one has suggested it, you can make an application to the court to make an order either dispensing with service or allowing service at the last address you have or even upon the estate agent.

It should be perfectly possible for an enquiry agent to locate the landlady. If you want me to recommend an agent then let me know.

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Bad news it seems - I have spoken to a legal helpline (free) on 0845 345 43 45 and they were very helpful.

The upshot is, that unless I have her REAL address, the court action is unlikely to succeed and it will be a waste of our £80 to file the claim. He said that filing at her last address, or filing at the letting agent address was irrelevant as both are c/o addresses and not her real address.

He said we needed to find her real address somehow, as if she returns the claim form unopened via Royal Mail, that the court can ask us to serve it on her personally?

This is so wrong - how is it fair that a landlord can provide any old address to the letting agent, when it's clear that a tenant can't then take them to court at that address!

The letting agent signed us on 1 month before the Tenant Deposit Scheme was introduced, so we are not protected by that.

It's clear that the landlady knows exactly how to work the system, and it's why she has rejected our last (3rd) letter as 'gone away', because she knows no-one can physically serve documents on her.

A tracing agent will apparently cost us hundreds of pounds, so in effect she has won.

EagerLearner

pbradley936 wrote:

Last post for a while I promise but if the agent claims not to be involved because the dispute is between you and the landlady you may be able to get them with this "You can use a garnishee order to force a third party who either holds money belonging to the debtor or owes the debtor money" I think I remember you saying that the agent still has your money but the landlady will not them them release it to you.

Thanks P - the letting agent does have he money and won't give it to us unless she signs authorisation. I don't know if that means she can't have the cash either unless we sign the form, but I am pretty sure that is what the letting agent said.

pavlovs_dog

dont give in eager learner, there must be some way to make the old bag pay :mad: you cant let her get away with this!!!

sm9ai

Wow, long read, and this really sucks.

Out of interest what have you tried in ways of getting her address.

Have you tried typing her name or phone number into google, or going through the phone book.

Also perhaps getting here Car Number Plate and tracing that somehow?

irnbru_2

EagerLearner wrote:

It's clear that the landlady knows exactly how to work the system, and it's why she has rejected our last (3rd) letter as 'gone away', because she knows no-one can physically serve documents on her.

Don't give up!

It doesn't matter that the LL knows how to work the system, it matters that the system works.

Is the address the LA has for the LL the c/o address?

I would go back the CAB (or Shelter) and explain to them what you've been advised.

EagerLearner

sm9ai wrote:

Wow, long read, and this really sucks.

Out of interest what have you tried in ways of getting her address.

Have you tried typing her name or phone number into google, or going through the phone book.

Also perhaps getting here Car Number Plate and tracing that somehow?

Hi sm9ai - thanks for your post - I have looked online but she seems to not exist on those kind of records. Plus there are 2 possible spellings for her last name. Council won't give me her details even under data protection when I stated we are taking legal action against her.

I have a friend who works in financial industry that could maybe look up info but he's on holiday for another week and I've no guarantee he can do it for me as it's a new-ish job for him.

If anyone's in that industry and is feeling generous I'd be eternally grateful, I don't see how else we can get her.

EagerLearner

irnbru wrote:

Don't give up!

It doesn't matter that the LL knows how to work the system, it matters that the system works.

Is the address the LA has for the LL the c/o address?

I would go back the CAB (or Shelter) and explain to them what you've been advised.

Hi, thanks but right now the system is not working for us...

By providing a c/o address to the letting agent and to us, the landlady knew legal action couldn't ever successfully be taken against her.

The people I spoke to this morning say it's just the way it is and they've had lots of calls from people in this situation, who are not covered by the Tenant Deposit Scheme.

The only way is to find her address, we don't know her car licence number (and I think the car is always driven by the other woman, who owns the c/o address, as she is her decorator and they always travel together). We only have the address we used to rent, which she owns, and the c/o address of her decorator, which is useless I guess.

Letting agent have not responded to our warning of court action, they are the only ones we can take to court at the moment as we have their real address, but they must also not be too worried as they know the address we have for the landlady is not real. Maybe they also think if we take them to court that the judge will say it's not their fault as they're 'stuck in the middle'.

I really don't know what else to do - after all this - looks like a dead end and she's grinning on the other side of the wall with our deposit, not a damn we can do.

OscarWildChild

EagerLearner, have you tried checking the electoral register held by your local council? The full version of the electoral register has both the names & addresses of everyone eligible to vote...