tenancy deposit problems

goldenyaris

Not sure if this is the right category to post this but need advice on this please:

I am having a problem with my previous letting agency.. It has now been 1.5 months since I moved out and my security deposit still hasn't been returned..

I have tried calling them several times but my phone calls get ignored, they don't call me back, when I get to speak to someone they have told me for the last couple of weeks that the money is going to be in my account on Monday, Tuesday etc. etc.

I finally got sick of calling and went to the letting agent's office and they told me they had to clean the house and showed me a cleaning bill of 300 GBP which would be taken off our deposit.

I shared the house with 4 others so the reduction of deposit wouldn't be that much between all of us, but they had not contacted me once during the 1.5 months to tell me anything of this "cleaning" bill and they claim they spoke to my ex-housemates about this and because they had not responded, none of our deposits have been paid out.

First of all - surely they will need to contact us individually? I don't live with my ex-housemates anymore so there is no way I would have known about this bill, and the agency had my phone number and email address but had made no attempt to contact me personally.

Also, if I was required to sign that I agreed to this reduction for "cleaning", then why was I not informed this on the many times I phoned them and was told "it's gonna be done on Monday" ?

Because I was fed up with dealing with the letting agency, I signed the cleaning bill hoping it would put an end to the matter and I would get my money, which I now regret doing.. The agency told me because I had now signed this , my deposit would be in my account the following week.

It has now been 2 weeks since this even and still no sign of my deposit and my calls are being ignored again.. surprise surprise.

From advice I got in a different thread I contacted the 3 deposit protection schemes today and all 3 of them confirm that my deposit was never registered with them and therefore my landlord has broken the law.. I was told to send a Letter Before Action but to the landlord and not the agency ? But the agency are the !!!!!!s who keep telling me they are going to return the deposit I paid them but don't ?

So my questions are (sorry about this very long post) - who do I send this letter to and who do I take legal action against, the letting agent or the landlord (who I've never met or heard anything about) ?

And also, this "cleaning" bill they issued, wouldn't that be quite invalid if they broke the law in the first place ?

Btw, the letting agent is just lets in Brighton, and I have heard only negative stories, like mine, from other tenants of theirs so if this post results in nothing else but warning people about this agency, then that's still OK.

sooz

Write to your agent, with a copy to the landlord, & the council's private housing officer too.

Request the full return of your deposit with no deductions, in 7 days, due to non protection of the deposit. If it is not returned in full, you will persue the matter & claim for 3 times the deposit as penalty for their failure to protect it. (you may or may not succeed, it's complicated , but do threaten them with it)

You may also want to ask the private housing officer if the house was registered as an HMO.

Send the letters recorded delivery & keep a copy.

goldenyaris

thank you !