Renting & Deposits - deposit not returned within 10 days

pippaaaaaaa

I moved into a shared student flat last September with a year-long lease. It was then agreed with the landlords that they would release us from our contracts in May, and I was told by the agent that the deposits would be returned to us.

(I should add the deposit is £700 so I am VERY desperate to get it back right now!)

The letter releasing us from the contract stated our last day in the flat would be the 21st of May. As I understand it, our deposit HAD to be protected in a scheme as we moved in in September 2009, and that deposits must be returned within 10 days of the contract's end.

So, it is now the 31st and I haven't heard from the agent or landlord about my deposit - when I spoke to the agent about it after moving out, he simply said that it would take time for the landlords and builders to assess any repairs and deduct them from our deposit. I've fired off a quick email tonight asking why my deposit hasn't been returned within the 10 day deadline, and intend to call him and Citizens' Advice tomorrow. Has anybody been in this situation before and can advise me on the normal procedure for this? I'll still be calling CAB obviously, but as it's on my mind now it would be fab to get some information.

Jowo_2

How much rent did you pay the landlord on an annual basis and is the property in England/Wales?

Did you receive confirmation of which tenancy deposit scheme it was lodged in?

If no written confirmation, have you checked with each of the schemes if its been registered?

ceh209

Firstly, do you know if the deposit is protected or not? Ring and check with all 3 schemes if the landlord hasn't given you the details:

Deposit Protection Service 0844 4727 000
Tenancy Deposit Scheme 0845 226 7837
mydeposits 0844 980 0290

There are serious penalties (3x the deposit) in LL's don't protect the deposit - threatening him with that may be enough to get it back if you find it's not protected!

Secondly, you say the lease was a year long and you have it in writing that you could end it early. Did this letter say anything about the deposit? Are you up to date with rent up to this point?

Does your contract mention 10 days? Mine says 14 days... maybe yours is 10 working days?

pippaaaaaaa

Thanks for the quick reply!

By my calculations, the annual rent for all three of us would have been £18,720; the property is in London; I personally did not receive confirmation (have emailed my former flatmate who dealt with the agent and landlord, no response as yet) although I recall my flatmates saying they remembered receiving it quite some time ago, but being unable to find it. I've checked mydeposits, and there's no match for it on there - I'm in the process of trying to search without the registration number with TDS and DPS but it looks like I may have to email them for assistance as I don't have the deposit ID, do you know if this is correct?

pippaaaaaaa

ceh209 wrote: »

Firstly, do you know if the deposit is protected or not? Ring and check with all 3 schemes if the landlord hasn't given you the details:

Deposit Protection Service 0844 4727 000
Tenancy Deposit Scheme 0845 226 7837
mydeposits 0844 980 0290

There are serious penalties (3x the deposit) in LL's don't protect the deposit - threatening him with that may be enough to get it back if you find it's not protected!

Secondly, you say the lease was a year long and you have it in writing that you could end it early. Did this letter say anything about the deposit? Are you up to date with rent up to this point?

Does your contract mention 10 days? Mine says 14 days... maybe yours is 10 working days?

Thank you for the phone numbers, that's fab - I've already checked with mydeposits doing a postcode search with no luck, emailing the other two now

The letter didn't mention the deposit, simply that they had agreed to our request to vacate on the 21st notwithstanding our original contract; when I had a telephone conversation with the agent after this letter, he said that the deposit to be returned would be calculated soon. I'm completely up to date with rent

I took the figure of 10 days from the directgov website;

Moving Out
At the end of the tenancy, check whether you are leaving the property and its contents in the condition in which it was let to you - allowing for fair wear and tear- and check that you have paid your rent and any other expenses. Then agree with your landlord or agent how much of the deposit should be returned to you.
Within 10 days – you should have received the agreed amount of the deposit.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_066373

I'm not actually very au fait with this (this was my first time renting) so it's very possible I've misunderstood the 10 days?

ceh209

Hmm I hadn't seen that bit about 10 days before... seems like a guideline though maybe rather than anything in law?

But yes do actively chase the LL/LA - say if they don't respond to your email tomorrow morning, phone them in the afternoon. Keep phoning until they speak to you. Write to them and get it in the post tomorrow (preferably recorded delivery) saying as you haven't received notification within 10 days of any proposed deductions, you are now expecting the deposit to be returned in full.

pippaaaaaaa

ceh209 wrote: »

Hmm I hadn't seen that bit about 10 days before... seems like a guideline though maybe rather than anything in law?

But yes do actively chase the LL/LA - say if they don't respond to your email tomorrow morning, phone them in the afternoon. Keep phoning until they speak to you. Write to them and get it in the post tomorrow (preferably recorded delivery) saying as you haven't received notification within 10 days of any proposed deductions, you are now expecting the deposit to be returned in full.

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for - something practical I can get onto straight away.

I haven't yet contacted the landlords about it, just the letting agent - should I be sending an enquiry letter beforehand to the landlords or just go straight in and chase them? It seems a bit daft to ask this I suppose, but I'm just wondering if there's any etiquette to follow :rotfl:

ceh209

pippaaaaaaa wrote: »

I haven't yet contacted the landlords about it, just the letting agent - should I be sending an enquiry letter beforehand to the landlords or just go straight in and chase them? It seems a bit daft to ask this I suppose, but I'm just wondering if there's any etiquette to follow :rotfl:

Well there's plenty of people here who would point out that your contract is with the LL not the LA...
BUT, (If it's protected) the deposit is sometimes protected in the name of the LA. If all your contact is normally with the LA, then I'd get on the phone to them. If you're writing, it doesn't do any harm to send a copy to both

DVardysShadow

pippaaaaaaa wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply!

By my calculations, the annual rent for all three of us would have been £18,720; the property is in London; I personally did not receive confirmation (have emailed my former flatmate who dealt with the agent and landlord, no response as yet) although I recall my flatmates saying they remembered receiving it quite some time ago, but being unable to find it. I've checked mydeposits, and there's no match for it on there - I'm in the process of trying to search without the registration number with TDS and DPS but it looks like I may have to email them for assistance as I don't have the deposit ID, do you know if this is correct?

Keep an eye on the other tenants. At least 1 deposit scheme nominates a tenant as lead tenant and I think returns money as instructed by the lead tenant.

moromir

pippaaaaaaa wrote: »

deposits must be returned within 10 days of the contract's end.

I'm not aware of that rule in any of the 3 deposit schemes (although one of them I don't recall that well), I think you might find that they say the Landlord must notify the tenant within 10 working days if they intend to make any deductions - bearing in mind we've just had a bank holiday.