moved out 16 days ago still no deposit from landlord can I now ask for it back

markymark10_2

Hi There

I was wondering if any of you good people could give me some advice. I vacated my previous property on the 31st July, at the checkout the agent raised several issues regarding the condition of the property (dirty carpets,oven,blinds,marked paintwork) which I didnt dispute as we had to move in a hurry (due to the landlord wanting us out as he was selling the property) & I didnt have time to do everything (my wife usually does the all the cleaning but has veen very ill).

I pointed the above out at the checkout but the agent was adamant that the deposit would be retained until the landlord was prepared to let us know what he intended to do regarding the damage, he also stated that in his opinion most of our deposit would probably be used up to pay for the costs of cleaning & redecorating the property.

Our tenancy agreement states that the member must tell the tenant within 10 working days of the end of the tenancyif they propose to make any deductions from the deposit.

Its now over 10 working days since we vacated & I have heard nothing from either the agent or the landlord, ive checked my deposit online today & no claim has been made against it. Am I now at liberty to request that the deposit is repaid or as the damage was pointed out at the checkout will I have to wait to see if a claim is made by the landlord.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

BitterAndTwisted

Contact the agents in writing and request that they advise you of what deductions the landlord is planning to make. I think they should have advised you within 14 days but it could be that the LL hasn't been able to get contractors/cleaners round to provide quotes yet.

Then, once you know what the proposed deductions are you can decide whether to contest them or not, depending on what they are and how fair you think they might be.

How much notice did your landlord give you when they decided to sell the property? Was it adequate time to get the property back in the same condition as at the start of your tenancy?

markymark10_2

Its a long story but i'll attempt to shorten it, the landlord ring my wife & informed her he needed the property back as he wanted to sell it, (shes ill at the moment & was stressing over being made to move from an area she loves).

I knew that there was another house in the same estate up to rent but we had to act fast so I ended up serving notice on him, I managed to negotiate a 3 week notice period based on us being able to make an offer on the other property & moving quickly thus giving him some key selling time before the winter to market his house.

He was aware of my wifes illness seemed sympathetic to the fact that we would struggle to get the house up to scratch & although we were in contact constantly when he wanted me to show estate agents round prior to our move but since we moved he has stopped returning my phone calls which is why i'm expecting a hefty claim on the deposit.

sequence

Did you get any of that confirmed in writing ?

theartfullodger

Definitely expect it back by now IF you & Landlord agreed to an early surrender of the tenancy, in writing...

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/deposit_protection_schemes

Cheers!

Lodger

preable

If it was me i would have refused to move for him messing ou about then all he could do leagly is searve you a notice and then take ou to court and that would have all took 3-4 months

markymark10_2

Many thanks all, I would have stayed & made it difficult for the landlord had my wife not been so stressed out & unsettled by his decision to give notice. Ultimately I wanted to do what was best for her & fortunately we managed to get a nice house on the same estate, she would have been constantly worried by the process if we had stayed.

However I did indicate to the landlord that if he didnt agree to an early termination of the tenancy & we lost the other property that we could have been in the property until he served court proceedings on us which is probably why he allowed us to go early.

I do have a letter & email from the lettings company which confirms he concented to let us terminate out tenancy early due to wanting to sell the property, I have no assurance regarding the deposit however.

theartfullodger

markymark10 wrote: »

I do have a letter & email from the lettings company which confirms he concented to let us terminate out tenancy early due to wanting to sell the property, I have no assurance regarding the deposit however.

I think that would be consider by deposit adjudicator or small-claims-court judge sufficient. Write him a stiff, calm & polite letter mentioning Housing Act 2004 Sections 212-215.

Cheers!

Lodger