Please help re flat deposit

Mrs_pbradley936

franklee wrote:

Are there any landlords here that have been asked for proof of id and address by their agents?

Well I am a landlord (well a landlady) and I have never kept my address a secret. My home address is on my tenancies but then I have never refused to give back a deposit either. Wear and tear is to be expected, accidents are insured against so that only leaves wilful damage and cleaning.

franklee

prudryden wrote:

I believe the contract has to have a "contact address". Thus, a C/O address is probably acceptable.

No the address has to be good for for the service of notices which the c/o address wasn't (otherwise EL would not have an address problem), and in addition the current tenant is entitled to the landlords home address.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/landlord's_address.htm

Oops, looks like EL's rent wasn't legally collectible

Mrs_pbradley936

Well done franklee this is what is says folks:


Under the requirements of section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 rent is not lawfully due unless the tenant has been given, in writing, an address in England and Wales at which notices can be served.

It is usual that the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord's address for service of notices.

prudryden

Sorry- I thought you were referring to her legal address where she actually resides, which doesn't have to be disclosed in the contract and, therefore, a C/O address is ok as long as she gets her mail there. Misintepreted what you said.

Edna_Bucket_2

pbradley936 wrote:

Well done franklee this is what is says folks:


Under the requirements of section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 rent is not lawfully due unless the tenant has been given, in writing, an address in England and Wales at which notices can be served.

It is usual that the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord's address for service of notices.

That is an absolute killer post IMHO - well done.

All the nonsense about the LA, the LL's returned Court notices, and the "chase" to locate her, goes out the window when faced with this, particularly as the LA are still dealing with her.

franklee

prudryden wrote:

Sorry- I thought you were referring to her legal address where she actually resides, which doesn't have to be disclosed in the contract and, therefore, a C/O address is ok as long as she gets her mail there. Misintepreted what you said.

An agent's address is OK for the tenancy agreement if it's good for the service of notices.

From that same page:

"The address supplied need not necessarily be the landlord's residence. The address can be that of the landlord's agent, for example: a solicitor, an accountant or a managing agent."

but in addition the tenant can request the landlords address in writing from the agent. From that same page:

"Some landlords prefer to deal through agents and remain anonymous as far as their tenants are concerned. However, under the provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, tenants of dwellings in England & Wales, who make a written request to an agent, have a right to the landlord's name and address.

This information must be supplied within 21 days. The legislation refers only to the landlord's name and address, not his telephone number or any other form of contact details."

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Great to read all your answers and the melting pot of thoughts - in answer to someone's question, we are taking the LA to court mainly because we wanted a double-barrel safety net that 'someone' would have to attend court and pay up and because early on in this post it was recommended we take both, as we were paying the same £80 fee.

The landlady is still slippery but the LA have answered the court.

I still think that we should be focusing on the landlady rather than the LA. IF we were to 'win' the case against the LA by showing the c/o address was not valid and they should not have returned the deposit to her knowing a) the receipts were questionable and b) we were still disputing the amount, we still won't get our deposit back from them. The judge will slap their wrists but I can't see more than that happening.

On the other hand if the judge sees in their favour, that the c/o address was acceptable and that they had a right to give her the deposit back as they were not managing agents, we've wasted time and may even get stung with their legal fees.

There seems no majority of certainty (if that makes sense) that we will get any further by taking them to court?

barnaby-bear

EagerLearner wrote:

Hi all,
On the other hand if the judge sees in their favour, that the c/o address was acceptable and that they had a right to give her the deposit back as they were not managing agents, we've wasted time and may even get stung with their legal fees.

There seems no majority of certainty (if that makes sense) that we will get any further by taking them to court?

The c/o address hasn't been acceptable though and most of british law is set by precedent and interpretation of spirit of the law

http://www.arla.co.uk/info/tenants.htm
Are Tenants Entitled To Know The Name And Address Of Their Landlord?
Yes, there are two or three bits of law covering this and it is a criminal offence for an agent (or whoever is collecting the rent) to fail to provide, without reasonable excuse, this information within 21 days of formal written request by the tenants.

Solicitors response:
http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/qa.ihtml?id=4&catparid=4&step=6
Question: As a landlord, can I provide a PO box to my tenants instead of my home address? It is sometimes necessary to separate my personal life from my rental business also for my family safety. Joan. London

Answer: My feeling is that a PO box address is not satisfactory. Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires landlords to provide an address in England and Wales for the service of documents and rent is not technically due from the tenant until this is done. I would imagine that this would have to include personal service and I do not think a PO box would satisfy this requirement. Also section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 provides that it is a criminal offence for the person who collects rent to fail to provide a landlords name and address if requested, and again I do not think a PO box address would satisfy this requirement (although this section will only come into effect if your address is requested in writing by the tenant). However the address given need not necessarily be your home address. If you have a separate business address this should satisfy both requireme

Print out a whole load of these -

clutton_2

""we still wont get out deposit back" - how do you know that ? you are pre-empting what you think a judge will decide. Judges have been known to make judgements which were, strictly speaking, illegal !!

it is always a minimum of 50% chance of win/lose in court - we all think the odds are well over 50% in your favour ...

irnbru_2

barnaby-bear wrote:

The c/o address hasn't been acceptable though and most of british law is set by precedent and interpretation of spirit of the law

So, given the limits on the Smal Claims Court, could a tennant seek to recover rent paid where no acceptable landlord address had been provided? For instance , if EL wrote off the rent except to the value of £5000 could they seek to recover that amount having been made aware of that the contract is invalid?