Withheld Deposit

clutton_2

legally as i have already said... the LL is perfecty entitled to claim rent AND marketing costs until he can replace you with a tenant of his choice.....

just bite the bullet and move on

alm721

I think clutton is right here, unless you have it in writing from the ll that he agreed you didn't have to pay until the new tennants were in I think you'll be very unlikely to win on this. You have said that the la told you that the new tennants were moving in immediatly, is this in writing (the immediatly bit?) If not it would be your word against theirs and you wouldn't win as the ll will be able to prove when you left and when the new tennants moved in and he will have you ast where you agreed to pay until new tennants were in.
Whilst you are right that this has been poorly dealt with, legally you are liable.

Note_of_Dis-accord

He took the keys from me before the end date which we agreed, and therefore denied me access to a property he was expecting me to subsequently pay for.

I've checked the TDS rules and he had 10 days to pay me back my deposit; which he didn't. That should have been paid by 7 Sep. He waited untik 14 Sep to even tell me that there was a gap and that I should pay; and this info was only after I asked when my deposit was getting paid back. I think he's in breach of his responsibilities to me through the TDS and that he should have presented me with a bill within the 10 period and have told me there was going to be one!

BitterAndTwisted

I think you are wrong: you were legally liable for the whole of the rent until the LL had new tenants move in and start paying it. Why should the LL suffer the loss of a week's rent when you were contracted to pay it for the 12 months until December? As Clutton has pointed out, the LL could have charged you for the marketing fees to find new tenant so I think you've got off very lightly indeed.

Note_of_Dis-accord

Can I just ask you all to read what I post before you make a comment.
I did pay for the marketting fees, he did agree a date to let me go early and he did not tell me there was a gap in the tenancy and has yet not paid me any of my deposit back despitet hat being a requirement of him. You lot are obviosly greedy narrow minded LL just like this chap!

I am a LL to and I do ok, I sleep well at night and look after my tenants!

tbs624

Note_of_Dis-accord wrote: »

£273 - the tenants came in 10 days after us and are paying £75 per month more than we did.

I can understand your first frustration, but that didn't happen

So you have already paid rent for August up until 28th, yes?

Note_of_Dis-accord wrote: »

told him that he had not told me this before we handed the property back, and that because of this, and that he had agreed to release us from the AST and accepted the property back before 28 Aug, that he could not expect to receive this additional rent from me. I also stated that there was no mechanism to break rent down on a pro-rata daily basis as rent should be collected monthly and that his rent for Sep was covered by the new tenants.

You're legally bound to pay the rent until the new T moves in, as others have said. This *can* and should be apportioned on pro rata basis, because the LL cannot double dip by charging you a whole month and charging a T for a part of that month at the same time. Monthly rent multiplied by 12 , divided by 365 = daily rate.

They can't use the higher rent figure that the new T is paying for their calculations for your outstanding rent. Have they worked out the figure owing correctly?

BitterAndTwisted

I am not a landlord but I honestly think that your landlord has been pretty decent. They could have held you to the terms of the contract and you therefore could have had to pay the whole of the rent until December. I think you're being rather unreasonable under the circumstances.

olly300

Note_of_Dis-accord wrote: »

Can I just ask you all to read what I post before you make a comment.
I did pay for the marketting fees, he did agree a date to let me go early and he did not tell me there was a gap in the tenancy and has yet not paid me any of my deposit back despitet hat being a requirement of him. You lot are obviosly greedy narrow minded LL just like this chap!

I am a LL to and I do ok, I sleep well at night and look after my tenants!

No we aren't greedy landlords.

There have been a number of disputes on here that have gone to court and the tenant while in the right hasn't won their full deposit back because both parties are given the benefit of the doubt by the judge.

In your case if you take it to court you risk losing the 10 days rent plus court fees unless you have it in writing from the letting agent or landlord that the new tenants are going to take over your tenancy immediately.

So do you have this in writing? If not you have learnt a lesson - if you don't have a paper trail create one. Don't rely on verbal agreements only as it's easy for people to lie.

tbs624

Note_of_Dis-accord wrote: »

He took the keys from me before the end date which we agreed, and therefore denied me access to a property he was expecting me to subsequently pay for.

I've checked the TDS rules and he had 10 days to pay me back my deposit; which he didn't.

If it's actually TDS that has been used then see this:

At the end of the tenancy

7.1 The Member must tell the tenant within 10 working days of the end of the tenancy, (or as specified in the tenancy agreement) if they propose to make any deductions from the deposit.

7.2 If there is no dispute the Member will keep or repay the deposit, according to the agreed deductions and the conditions of the tenancy agreement. Payment of the deposit or any balance of it will be made within 10 working days of theLandlord and the Tenant agreeing the allocation of the deposit.

If the new Ts didn't move in until early Sept then that is when your tenancy will be deemed to have run to, in the absence of anything from the LL in *writing* confirming that he had consented to it ending prior to that.

Therefore it would appear that he *has* told you within 10 days of the tenancy ending that he wishes to make deductions.

Once you have agreed with him, he has a further 10 days in which to send you any undisputed balance but if you think you have grounds to disagree, then pursue it to court or the scheme arbitration folk.

It is, however, unlikely that you'd win without something firm and unequivocal in writing from your LL backing up your understanding of what had been agreed.

Note_of_Dis-accord

He did agree to the early release and the date specified in my request. This was in writing through the LA, I have not recieved one bit of correspondence from LL at all, despite me writing to him twice prior to leaving. I think I might have mentioned this on this thread before.

He has made no attempt to inform me of anything within the 10 days from my liability ending; key hand back date he said nothing to me at this point either. The issue of Deposit was only mentioned when I raised it.

The LA agent confirmed to me that LL knew the date that the new tenants were moving in as he'd agreed to it. This the LA confirmed was before we handed the keys back and before our agreement with him ended, (agreed request for early release date). I should have had access to that property from 21 Aug to 7 Sep, if he wanted me to pay for it. He made no attempt to inform me; I think he's been underhand or cocked up and is now trying to back pedal. If he'd been upfront before I left and told me the exact dates and what was expected of me I'd would have paid the bill. He didn't and the LA even stated to me that I was being immediately followed by new tenants.

Apologies to anyone who may have taken offence earlier'; its frustrating when the full picture isn't being read. I appreciate all of your views