Deposit not paid back by Letting Agency. Advice required.

danhenshy23

Hello,

I’m wondering if anyone can help me with an issue I’m having regarding the return of my deposit from my previous letting agency.

On 19/09/10 I moved out of my rental property which I had lived in for 12 months with a friend.
12 months previously, both myself and my flatmate made separate payments of £305 which made up our deposit.

Before moving out of the property, I enquired about the process of having my bond returned to me and was asked to provide a forwarding address for them to send it on to.

I was unable to attend the checkout, however my flatmate did and says that no major issues were found.
The place was deep cleaned before we moved out, so this was what I had expected. Having said that, nothing was signed and there was no mention of any deductions.

Four weeks after moving out of the property I called the agency to enquire about the whereabouts of my payment. I was told that I should wait a few weeks longer as they were during their busy period with a lot of students moving in and out of their properties.

A few weeks later I called back, as I had not heard anything from them, and was asked if I had put it in writing that I wanted my deposit returned to me. I told them that I hadn’t, but I had asked what I needed to do before I moved out.
I was then told to e-mail the Senior Property Manager to escalate this.

After e-mailing (on 5/11/10), I received a reply the same day telling me that the landlord had my deposit and that the letting agency were waiting for him to return it to them so that they could then pass it on to me.
I was also asked to pass on my details so that the funds could be transferred to me.

Now, having still not received any payment from the agency, I have started to get advice from other sources, one of which has told me that it is illegal for the landlord to be in possession of my deposit as this should be kept by the letting agency.

Is this the case? If so do I need to take this matter up with the agency (who all of my payments have been made to) or the landlord (who I have never met, had any direct dealings with, or even know that name of)?

Furthermore, during my original e-mail to the Senior Property Manager, I stated that as I had seen no documentation regarding the results of the checkout and therefore I wasn’t even aware of how much of the bond was even going to be return to me. I was advised to e-mail the person who carried out the checkout, which I did, but I have never received a reply.

Last week I e-mailed to Senior Property Manager again, to once again chase up my money, but have had no reply.

Next week is the 12th week since I moved out and I am running out of ideas as to what I can do. Tomorrow I will go to the office of the letting agency to chase this up in person, but I want to be able to come back at them if I get fobbed off as I have done previously.

Has anyone else had a similar experience in the past? How did you go about getting your deposit back, if you did at all?
Is there not a law which states that any deposit repayments need to be returned within a set timeframe? I have read through my tenancy agreement but have found nothing.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. This is not the time of year that one wants to be owed £305! L

Cheers
Dan

BitterAndTwisted

By law your deposit should have been registered with one of the three approved deposit-protection schemes. The responsibility for releasing it back to you lies with the landlord. The agent is a mere intermediary. If the landlord is not seeking to make any deductions from your deposit, and you should have been informed of them by now, then you should have received you deposit back some time ago.

Visit the agent's office if you like, and pick a particularly busy time while you're at it. If you don't get your money WRITE to both the landlord and the agent and head it using the words "Letter Before Action" giving them ten days to return your money or you'll be instigating proceedings at the small claims court. You should mention that you are aware that it's a legal requirement to protect your deposit and it's possible that you could be awarded three times the deposit as a penalty for not protecting it. That might make them sit up and take notice.

clutton_2

do you live in Scotland or England/Wales ?

mcc100

Several years ago I had a similar problem. At the time the rules were different and the landlady held the deposit.

She witheld a similar amount so I took legal action through the small claims court.

Just over a week before the court hearing I received a cheque from her for the full amount.

Send a letter to the letting agency stating that you require repayment of your deposit in full within seven days and if you have not received payment within that time then you will proceed with legal action through the small claims court.

It really is quite simple and can be actioned online.

BitterAndTwisted

OOOPS! I'd forgotten about the no deposit-protections schemes in Scotland. OP where is the property?

danhenshy23

Thanks for the replies.

The property is in England.

I have done a bit of reading up about the legal requirements of deposit protection and have checked to see if my details are registered with DPS, which they aren't.

Am I within my rights to get the landlord's details from the letting agency? I ask this as I know that the landlord uses this agency for a few of their properties, so fear they might protect him?

BitterAndTwisted

You need to check all three schemes to be certain whether it's protected or not.

The landlord's address should have been on your tenancy agreement or you can write to the LL c/o the agency.

danhenshy23

I have checked DPS and MyDeposit whose sites allow me to search by my surname, postcode and the month the deposit was paid. Both of which show no matches for my details.

TDS however ask me to enter my Tenancy UID Code, something that I have obviously never been given if it is the case that my deposit is protected with TDS.
When I visit the Agency later on, surely they would know if the deposit is protected and by which scheme?

I've been searching high and low for my documentation that I signed in September 2009, but can't seem to find it anywhere. I do have a Tenancy Agreement which was signed in March 2010 (the property was let via two 6 month contracts), however would it damage my case if I ended up taking this to the courts as I don't have the original documentation?

Finally, just so it is clear what actions I need to take, I know what needs to be done should the deposit have not been protected, however if it has, what do I do then?
Is it still a case of writing to the landlord with the same demands, but stating that I know the deposit has been protected?

On the Tenancy Agreement that I have, there is no mention of the landlord's information. It has simply been signed the the agency's administration on behalf of the landlord.

tbs624

danhenshy23 - I note that you have checked and your deposit has not in fact been registered but for future ref ( & for other Ts reading the thread) it is acceptable for the LL to physically hold the tenancy deposit even when the deposit has been scheme registered - only one of the schemes -DPS- requires that the deposit monies are physically paid over from the start of the tenancy. The other 2 - mydeposits and TDS - are insurance backed schemes.

Whilst you were still a T you had a right to request the LLs name and address from the LA and they would have been obliged to provide it. Your best bet, if that info was not on your tenancy agreement, is to download the info from the Land registry for a 4 quid fee.

This LA and LL have acted appallingly, from your account of events. It is not acceptable to keep a T hanging around for the return of their deposit. If they wish to make deductions they should have confirmed these in writing and you then have the right to challenge if you disagree with what they say.

Send a Letter Before Action (these 3 words must appear at the top of your letter) Keep only to the facts - list out all attempts made at resolve so far and tell them that if they do not return your deposit within 5 working days you will proceed to the small claims court. You can address it to the either/ both the LA and the LL. State that you aware that they should have scheme registered the deposit but that you have checked and they have failed to do so, depriving you of the right to use the scheme's arbitration scheme so you will also apply for the 3 x penalty payment to be awarded by the court, together with reimbursement of your costs.

Send two separate copies of the letter from different post offices, retaining a cert of posting for both or hand deliver with a witness present.

Was this a joint tenancy, with both of you signed up to the one contract btw? What has your former co-tenant done about their share of the deposit?

tbs624

danhenshy23 wrote: »

I've been searching high and low for my documentation that I signed in September 2009, but can't seem to find it anywhere. I do have a Tenancy Agreement which was signed in March 2010 (the property was let via two 6 month contracts), however would it damage my case if I ended up taking this to the courts as I don't have the original documentation?

The law requires that a deposit is scheme registered where it has been "received" by a LL after 6 April 2007. Even if you had lost your tenancy agreements there are other ways of showing that you had a tenancy for the relevant periods - your rent payments, Council Tax bills and electoral roll etc

danhenshy23 wrote: »

Finally, just so it is clear what actions I need to take, I know what needs to be done should the deposit have not been protected, however if it has, what do I do then?

Ring the schemes if you are still uncertain - their staff are used to such enquiries. If there is protection in place you then apply direct to the scheme, explaining the LL's tardiness to date.

Check whether this LA is a voluntary member of ARLA, NAEA, TPO scheme etc

danhenshy23

That's great, cheers.

It was a joint tenancy, however when we signed the agreemenrs, we opted to be considered as seperate, i.e seperate rent payments, seperate guarantors and seperate deposits. I had to go through a credit check and think I paid a one off admin fee to do this, which my flatmate didn't have to do as he had rented through that agency before.

My co-tenant has now gone on to occupy another rental property of that landlord, through the same agency. If there are to be any deductions from his part of the deposit, it is likely that he would actually owe the landlord some money to make up the deposit for the new property, so as far as I am aware he is doing little to chase up his part of the payment.

Due to the agency being unflexible with the dates that they could do the checkout, I was unable to attend, meaning that my flatmate was present.
He has recently told me that there were some issues found in my room, which would lead to some deductions, as well as some general wear and tear around the flat. I despute these, however like I said in my first post, I have never seen confirmation of any deductions from my part for the deposit.

My flatmate signed a document at the end of the checkout, but I myself have never signed anything.

Surely he wouldn't be able to sign against any probable deductions for myself, and surely the LA should have informed me of any issues (like I said, I provided them my new contact details before moving out)
Would this mean that any deductions they tried to make would be invalid?

I shall call TDS and see if they are aware of any protected deposit in my name. I will also visit the LA this afternoon to request the landlord's contact details. If they refuse I will send the Letter before Action for the attention of botht he LA and LL.