Tenant's Deposit. Please Help

KSoni

Hi Everyone,

I am a long time user of this wonderful site and I have learned a lot. This is my first Thread. I do apologise for the long post but, any of your valuable suggestions are most welcome.

Please somebody help me. The details are as under.

I rented a property privately through an estate agent and lived there for 15 months. I never dealt with the landlord directly. I paid monthly rent in the bank account of the agent. The agent arranged for the annual gas safety certificate. The agent sent me the notice for extension of my lease after the expiry of 12 months of assured shorthold tenancy.

On 27th April 2010, the agent served upon me the notice on behalf of the landlord to vacate the property by 09th July 2010. However, I found another property and served one month's notice upon the agent on 18th May 2010 saying that, I would be vacating the property on 19th June 2010. The agent acknoledged my notice and calculated the pro rata rent to be paid upto 19th June instead of 9th July. I also confirmed in writing that, I would be handing over the keys to the agent at his office on 19th June 2010 at around 04:00 pm.

On 19th June 2010, I did vacate the property and handed over the key to the agent. Got a written acknoledgement for that as well.

Now, this became ugly on 21st June 2010. The agent wrote to me on 21st June 2010 saying that, I did not serve the notice directly to the landlord in accordance with the provisions of my agreement, so they would deduct the rent from 19th June 2010 to 9th July 2010 from my deposit. I checked my agreement and found that, I was supposed to serve all the notices to the landlord on his home address.

However, I carefully checked the original notice dated 27th April and found that, it contained the home address of the landlord but signed by the agent.

My point is as under.

I always had a reason to believe that, by dealing with the agent, I was dealing with the landlord. Also, when I served the agent my notice to vacate the property early, he did not indicate that the notice was to be served on the landlord directly. He accepted the notice.

Under section 11b of the code of practice for letting agents, the agent must communicate with the client landlord in the event of any notice of termination being served on him.

I wrote a letter to the landlord and the agent seperately on 6th July 2010 asking for the explanation. No one has bothered to reply me yet.

I want to know, whether I have any valid legal point.

I want to take the matter against the landlord in small claims court for my deposit.

I want to take the matter against the agent in Ombudsman for Estate Agents for compensation for stress that has caused because of this.

I want to report to the office for fair trading and local trading standards.

Can I make a criminal action for the Fraud as well, because they both are in real breach of Section 4 of the Fraud Act.

Thanks for reading and if possible please state your viewpoints.

Regards,

clutton_2

is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

"" want to know, whether I have any valid legal point.

I want to take the matter against the landlord in small claims court for my deposit.

I want to take the matter against the agent in Ombudsman for Estate Agents for compensation for stress that has caused because of this.

I want to report to the office for fair trading and local trading standards.

Can I make a criminal action for the Fraud as well, because they both are in real breach of Section 4 of the Fraud Act.""

surely all you really want is your deposit back ??

CloudCuckooLand

Overkill, is the first thing that springs to mind.

Perhaps they did inform the Landlord "in a timely manner".

You are required to tell the Landlord before the due date. Which you did not do.

What punishments are they allowed to pursue against you, for your admitted failure to read and adhere to your own obligations?

KSoni

clutton wrote: »

is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

"" want to know, whether I have any valid legal point.

I want to take the matter against the landlord in small claims court for my deposit.

I want to take the matter against the agent in Ombudsman for Estate Agents for compensation for stress that has caused because of this.

I want to report to the office for fair trading and local trading standards.

Can I make a criminal action for the Fraud as well, because they both are in real breach of Section 4 of the Fraud Act.""

surely all you really want is your deposit back ??

Thanks for the reply. I do want my deposit back. I know, there should be just one civil remedy availed for one wrong. I will go fo the best one.

Wee_Willy_Harris

KSoni wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I do want my deposit back. I know, there should be just one civil remedy availed for one wrong. I will go fo the best one.

clutton wrote: »

is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

Is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

KSoni

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

Overkill, is the first thing that springs to mind.

Perhaps they did inform the Landlord "in a timely manner".

You are required to tell the Landlord before the due date. Which you did not do.

What punishments are they allowed to pursue against you, for your admitted failure to read and adhere to your own obligations?

I am sorry I forgot to mention the following in my original post.

I did try to contact the landlord directly in april via telephone calls, text messages and a post. He never replied to any. He never returned any calls nor reply to my texts. I tried to convey my intention to move out of the property since the property was in disrepair. When I receive a notice from the agent on 27th April 2010, I thought, the landlord wants to communicate with me only through his agent, as he always had.

I really appreciate your conerns about overkill. I do not want to take excessive measures and weaken my case. Can I take seperate legal actions against the landlord and the agent.

Thanks a lot for your valuable time to reply.

KSoni

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Is your deposit in a Deposit Protection Scheme ?

Yes it is.

mynameisdave

KSoni wrote: »

Can I make a criminal action for the Fraud as well, because they both are in real breach of Section 4 of the Fraud Act.

I'm not a lawyer, solicitor, or police officer but I can't see any legal grounds for this to be the case. They have not acted dishonestly.

Wee_Willy_Harris

KSoni wrote: »

Yes it is.

Thankyou.

You say...

KSoni wrote: »

I rented a property privately through an estate agent and lived there for 15 months.

And...

KSoni wrote: »

The agent sent me the notice for extension of my lease after the expiry of 12 months of assured shorthold tenancy.

How long was this extension for, and did you have to sign anything?

KSoni

In summary,

The landlord did not want to communicate with me directly. (I made 15 calls in 45 days. No one was answered. I left voicemails each time in a polite tone. He never returned my calls. I sent 4 text messages in 45 days. None was replied with.) I wrote 2 letters.

I relied upon the agent and communicated with him. (I relied upon the agency relationship and the codes for practise as the agents are the members of few organisations including ARLA, NAEA and OEA)

I don't know what I have done wrong, so that they have detained my deposit.

KSoni

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Thankyou.

You say...



And...



How long was this extension for, and did you have to sign anything?

After the assured shorthold tenancy, it was converted to statutory periodic tenancy whereby the landlord must give the tenant full 2 months notice to vacate the propery. The tenant can give 1 month's notice and vacate.

Notice from landlord to tenant = full 2 months. He cannot break the monthly cycle.

Notice from tenant to agent = One month any time. He can break the monthly cycle.

Thanks.