Another Deposit Question... Sorry!

emmylou69

I was reading the other thread about tenancy deposits and thought I would check ours had been registered with one of the three schemes.

I looked at the tenancy agreement (we rented through a large multi national agency) and they said the deposit would be placed with the TDS within 14 days and we would receive proof of compliance. It also says if they fail to provide proof within 14 days we should seek advice from a solicitor.

I have kept all documents relating to this house together and we do not have this proof. We have never received it.

We are due to leave at the end of August (fixed term tenancy - we are buying a property now) and I need to know what to do - do I contact the agent and ask for confirmation now or is that the wrong thing to do? Should I contact a solicitor as they have recommended - and if so why?
I assume they have done it all above board (and just not confirmed it) but if not then I will be not paying the last months rent until I have confirmation that the deposit is secure.

Can anyone offer advice on what I should do?

Thank you :-)

princeofpounds

Ring the three schemes to check if it is registered.

If it is not, write a recorded-delivery letter to the landlord pointing out that it has not been protected, and request that it is protected within 7 days so they do not put themselves at risk of a penalty of 3x the deposit.

The LL should then protect it. If they do not, you take them to court for the deposit and the penalty.

There was a long debate over whether late compliance could avoid the penalty. The current situation is that it can, although there are a number of complexities to that as the legislation was not well drafted. The reason I am telling you this is that your desired result should be protection rather than holding out for any penalty.

emmylou69

Thank you princeofpounds, I will do this. Thank you for the advice

clutton_2

at one time some of the Schemes were sending out the Prescribed information to the tenant, then stopped, and left it up to the landlords, and it was a bit of a dogs dinner communication-wise.....

if the money is in the scheme.. then if a tenant takes a LL to court, a judge will probably not order any "compo" solely based the prescribed information not being sent to the tenant...

emmylou69

Thanks Clutton,
I am not seeking compo, just assurance that the deposit is safe before I pay the last month - we are talking £1000+ so I need to be sure.
I wasn't sure what the solicitor bit was about but presumably it is in order to sue them if they have not protected the deposit? Hopefully they have done!