Still Awaiting Return of Deposit

Paris_Anthony

Hi,

So I was living in rented student accomodation, and the contract finished on 28th June this year. I was out on time, and all up to date with my rent. Six weeks after the end of contract I recieved a letter stating the charges to my deposit. One of these was a £15 charge to hold my deposit in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which I've been told I shouldn't be charged for. This letter stated that I had a ten day window in which to dispute the charges (unfortunatly I was away when the letter came through and missed the ten days), and then my deposit would be released to my 21 working days after the ten days notice. It's now 3months later and I still haven't recieved my deposit back. I have had to move in with my Mum cause I can't afford a second deposit without recieving this one.

Are they allowed to hold it this long, and if so can I ask for the interest they would have made on it, and are they allowed to charge me for holding it in a tenancy deposit scheme?

Thanks

clutton_2

have you checked out all three tenancy deposit schemes to find out which scheme your deposit it lodged with... it is possible they are waiting for your agreement to the deduction..

If you were in a flat with severala other tenants, were you the "lead tenant" as normally with student lets only one tenant gets the full deposit and then distributes it between the others....

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

If you were in a flat with severala other tenants, were you the "lead tenant" as normally with student lets only one tenant gets the full deposit and then distributes it between the others....

The practice varies - lead tenant scenario not applicable to all J&SL contracts, DPS allows for deposit to be lodged as one or separately.

tbs624

Paris_Anthony wrote: »

Hi,

So I was living in rented student accomodation, and the contract finished on 28th June this year. I was out on time, and all up to date with my rent. Six weeks after the end of contract I recieved a letter stating the charges to my deposit. One of these was a £15 charge to hold my deposit in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which I've been told I shouldn't be charged for. This letter stated that I had a ten day window in which to dispute the charges (unfortunatly I was away when the letter came through and missed the ten days), and then my deposit would be released to my 21 working days after the ten days notice. It's now 3months later and I still haven't recieved my deposit back. I have had to move in with my Mum cause I can't afford a second deposit without recieving this one.

Are they allowed to hold it this long, and if so can I ask for the interest they would have made on it, and are they allowed to charge me for holding it in a tenancy deposit scheme?

Thanks

Ts *must* learn to read the schemes' Ts and Cs and acquaint themselves with timescales etc rather than just waiting for things to go wrong.

Your LL should have notified you of any potential deductions within *10 days* of the end of your tenancy and then once/if you had agreed the deductions the LL would have had another 10days in which to return the agreed amount. If you didn't agree then you had a right to pursue the matter to court or use the arbitration process.

You had an opportunity to dispute/agree the deductions - why have you not contacted the scheme to follow things up?

Some LLs do attempt to charge the Ts for scheme registration - something which does not seem to have been considered by our law makers. The LL is the only party who gets to choose which scheme s/he uses - there is a free one so IMO if the LL chooses not to avail himself of that one then he should pick up the (tax deductible) tab.

If the existence of a deposit reg fee was not made clear to you at the start of your tenancy then your LL should not be seeking to levy the charge now.

Contact the scheme and get confirmation of what has happened. It may be that the "lead tenant" situation did apply in your case? Do you have a copy of the deposit protection cert - it should indicate on there. Have your housemates had their deposits/deposit share returned?

Paris_Anthony

Hi, thanks for the replies.
There is no lead tenant; each room is let on a seperate basis, so my deposit is for my contract on my room. I have contacted the company, and the response was (and I quote) "Oh, they'll [the deposits] be sent out soon."
The charge is stated in my contract, but it also states that 'No later than six weeks following the termination of the tenancy the Landlord will refund the deposit excepting that part retained [for damages].'
The letter also stated that they would take it that I agreed with the charges unless I contacted them to say I disagreed, which I haven't, and no-one from the building has had theirs returned yet.
Thanks again

clutton_2

is the deposit with Mydeposits ? if so contact them and they will chase up the LL

""The letter also stated that they would take it that I agreed with the charges unless I contacted them to say I disagreed, which I haven't " - why not - they are not psychic ?

Paris_Anthony

I haven't disagreed with them over the damage charges because the charges were for the communal area in the flat and I was one of the first to leave, and because I do not know what state the communal areas were left in I have no basis for disputing it. The fact that there have been no charges against my personal areas of the property (I've always left my places in good nic) means that I don't believe they're trying to fob me off (also because I know what my flatmates were like). The other thing was that the charges were split between all tennants with access to those areas, so its a £10 charge to me personally, which I'm not bothered about.
And I wasn't going to contact them about the charge for holding it in a scheme until I knew where I stood with it (not setting myself up for a fall, anyone?), which, having re-read the (admittedly very small) small print, I have no basis for dispute.
The only point I am now disputing is the fact that i am still waiting for it after 3 months.

tbs624

Paris_Anthony wrote: »

The only point I am now disputing is the fact that i am still waiting for it after 3 months.

So contact the scheme via snail mail (RD, copy kept) and if no satisfactory response from them send a copy to the LL/LA, and tell the LA/LL that if they don't pay up with 7days you will begin proceedings for recovery.

clutton_2

have you been in contact with the deposit scheme ? - if not - do it today....

Paris_Anthony

Thanks guys, will do those monday