Agency and Landlord Deny Receiving Notice...

clutton_2

ah - ha ! poor OP did not have a copy of his AST - so cannot possibly know if s/he is breaching the contents or not !! LL may have shot himself in the foot here.....

mooks

I'm so impressed by the quality and comprehensiveness of the advice I've received - thank you so much everyone.

Just to go through some of the questions I've been asked:

Inventory - no inventory on moving in, and as a result, nothing on moving out. Because of this, I photographed and noted almost every square inch of the flat to cover myself when I did leave. On moving out, I photographed and noted every square inch again in case of any dispute - and also made it abundantly clear that should any dispute arise, that the landlord/agency would be required to meet with me at the property to do a walkthrough and so me exactly where any costs had been incurred, and to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I was responsible for this.

AST - I actually requested a copy of my tenancy agreement shortly after moving in, as I had grounds to believe I was misled by the agency on a number of issues. This wasn't provided, in spite of me requesting it both formally in writing and again verbally at a later date. I didn't receive a copy until I notified the landlord of my intention to serve notice - the letter I sent makes it very clear that I hadn't received a copy and was therefore unaware of the requirements in terms of serving notice. I was actually quite reasonable in extending my notice period by three weeks, given the fact the landlord took a month to respond, therefore cutting into the notice period that I'd set out for myself.

The deposit is held in a DPS, but given the fact that the agency is suggesting that my liability is more than the deposit amount, I'm not sure how this would work.

I think I'm going to e-mail the agency today or tomorrow to tell them that I will in no way allow them to hold me liable for their mistake in terms of their losing/mislaying/your guess is as good as mine my notice and that if they don't return my deposit within the legal timeframe that I will be going through small claims.

My experience with this agency is that they will often try to 'bully' you or make threats regarding financial liability, when in fact they don't actually have the legal basis to do this. I'm more than happy to call their bluff!

Thanks again all!

clutton_2

if the deposit is with DPS the you just need to register a dispute with them - as the money is actually held by DPS - have you actually checked that it IS registered ?

BTW - if there is no check in inventory your LL will have an almost impossible task to prove that you did any damage whilst a tenant.....

mooks

Bit of a development today - spoke to the landlord...

He essentially made me an offer - agree to forfeit my deposit and they won't pursue me for the two months they say I'll be liable for.

Well of course they'd say that...

Basically, that's saying to me that if I sign on the dotted line, it'll all go away, but that I'm basically paying out £1,500 for the agency's mistake.

I'll be checking my Tenancy Agreement in a minute - if it's referred to as a damage deposit, would I be right in thinking that it cannot be used to cover the cost of any outstanding rents or charges on the property? Ergo, they'd have to refund the damage deposit, but then pursue me separately for what they regard as outstanding rent?

muskoka

Mooks - There IS a law which states provided a letter is correctly stamped, correctly addressed and correctly posted, it is then legally assumed to have arrived at its destination. BUT, I cant remember the case this was. I studied law many moons ago and remember this as the case. HOPEFULLY, somebody can quote the case this refers to??

poppysarah

It's very basic case law.

Do not forgo your deposit.
They're trying it on.

Ring the cab or shelter.

tbs624

mooks wrote: »

AST - I actually requested a copy of my tenancy agreement shortly after moving in, as I had grounds to believe I was misled by the agency on a number of issues. This wasn't provided, in spite of me requesting it both formally in writing and again verbally at a later date. I didn't receive a copy until I notified the landlord of my intention to serve notice - the letter I sent makes it very clear that I hadn't received a copy and was therefore unaware of the requirements in terms of serving notice. I was actually quite reasonable in extending my notice period by three weeks, given the fact the landlord took a month to respond, therefore cutting into the notice period that I'd set out for myself.

As the tenancy is an assured shorthold created on or after 28 Feb 1997, your landlord must provide you with written terms of your agreement *within 28 days of you requesting this in writing.* They cannot disadvantage you as a T by refusing to give you the relevant information and then get mouthy about notice periods & expect to be taken seriously . You may like to contact the TRO (tenancy relations officer ) at the private sector rentals office of your local Council.

mooks wrote: »

The deposit is held in a DPS, but given the fact that the agency is suggesting that my liability is more than the deposit amount, I'm not sure how this would work.

They would seek to retain your deposit and then presumably sue for the balance they think is due. However, they cannot simply retain it with no input from you: you can challenge any proposed deductions through either arbitration or at the County Court

mooks wrote: »

I think I'm going to e-mail the agency today or tomorrow to tell them that I will in no way allow them to hold me liable for their mistake in terms of their losing/mislaying/your guess is as good as mine my notice and that if they don't return my deposit within the legal timeframe that I will be going through small claims.

Don't use email - it should be good old snail mail, with 2 copies sent from different post offices/boxes and a copy retained by you.

mooks

Thank you again - this is incredibly useful.

I think this is going to have to go down the small claims route - obviously it's in their interest to keep the deposit, so they're not just going to return it that easily. I just have to be a bit forceful about it it would seem.

E-mailed the agency asking for a direct postal address so I could formally notify them of impending small claims action and - surprise - they didn't reply. I've also taken to confirming the key points of telephone discussions in writing. Let's be blunt - I'm recording everything and I've been conscientious throughout - while the LL and agency either don't respond or take weeks and months to do so. Top that with them not providing the AST on request and - as I found yesterday - that they haven't formally notified me of the DPS arrangements, and it's clear who's the more organised.

And they have the cheek to insinuate I didn't write to serve notice...

olly300

mooks wrote: »

Thank you again - this is incredibly useful.

I think this is going to have to go down the small claims route - obviously it's in their interest to keep the deposit, so they're not just going to return it that easily. I just have to be a bit forceful about it it would seem.

E-mailed the agency asking for a direct postal address so I could formally notify them of impending small claims action and - surprise - they didn't reply. I've also taken to confirming the key points of telephone discussions in writing. Let's be blunt - I'm recording everything and I've been conscientious throughout - while the LL and agency either don't respond or take weeks and months to do so. Top that with them not providing the AST on request and - as I found yesterday - that they haven't formally notified me of the DPS arrangements, and it's clear who's the more organised.

And they have the cheek to insinuate I didn't write to serve notice...

Any legal action you take is against the landlord not the agent. The agent is acting on behalf of the landlord.

Therefore all letters should be addressed to the landlord and sent to them directly.

However if you did during your tenancy ask for the landlord's name and address from the agent in writing, then you can send the agent a "Letter Before Action" stating you are going to take them to court for this information immediately.

And if you asked in writing* for the DPS information then you are going to have to take the landlord to court to get that information.

I have a tendency when dealing with difficult people and companies ( including landlords in the past ) of sending the same letter by at least two different methods i.e. post and email, fax and post, email and fax. At the end of the letter I would list the ways the letter was sent to them.

I also have a habit of sending the same or a similar letter to them more than once because they haven't answered me in the deadline I gave for a response written in the letter normally 14 days.
If you don't bother giving people or companies a deadline to respond they don't respond at all.

The only time a company bothered to take it before a judge they weren't believed.

*Email counts but people will try and claim like with letters and faxes they didn't receive them.

tbs624

olly300 wrote: »

Any legal action you take is against the landlord not the agent. The agent is acting on behalf of the landlord.

Therefore all letters should be addressed to the landlord and sent to them directly.

However if you did during your tenancy ask for the landlord's name and address from the agent in writing, then you can send the agent a "Letter Before Action" stating you are going to take them to court for this information immediately.

If the LA's address is the one provided in the tenancy agreement, under the requirements of the LL& T ACT s48, then the OP can send letters/serve notices for the LL at that address

48 Notification by landlord of address for service of notices

(1)A landlord of premises to which this Part applies shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant.