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advice needed, landlord did not use deposit service
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patbal2000
Posts: 27 Forumite
Hi
I'll try to be as brief as possible,
Basically my partner and i moved out of a shared house in november 2009, into a 1 bedroomed flat, we paid a deposit of £400 and a months rent in advance,we signed the tenency agreement,
fast forward 9 months (July 2010) we decided to terminate our agreement and find somewhere else to live, advised our landlord that we were moving out and that when we hand over the keys, we would like to get our deposit back ASAP as we needed it for essentials for our new place,he said that he would need to see the flat before he would give it back, which was fair enough,
After about a week of no contact, we rang him and arranged to meet up with him, he brought along one of his 'friends' looked like a big bloke, more there to intimidate than listen, anyway our landlord refused to give back the deposit as there were "problems" with the flat ( we left it in a really good conditon, even re-painted the walls where the damp had come through), we told him to prove it but he said that he couldnt but to take his word and that he had to re-paint the entire flat, we then asked him if our deposit had been paid into the deposit protection scheme, he said yes, so we asked for the proof of this, he looked confused and said that it was at home somewhere, we have since found out that he had not paid into any of the 3 schemes at all,
So what I am asking for is :
What is my next course of action ?
I have spoken with a couple of friends and tried to find some advice online but am slightly confused by it all.
Thank you in advance and sorry for waffling on
I'll try to be as brief as possible,
Basically my partner and i moved out of a shared house in november 2009, into a 1 bedroomed flat, we paid a deposit of £400 and a months rent in advance,we signed the tenency agreement,
fast forward 9 months (July 2010) we decided to terminate our agreement and find somewhere else to live, advised our landlord that we were moving out and that when we hand over the keys, we would like to get our deposit back ASAP as we needed it for essentials for our new place,he said that he would need to see the flat before he would give it back, which was fair enough,
After about a week of no contact, we rang him and arranged to meet up with him, he brought along one of his 'friends' looked like a big bloke, more there to intimidate than listen, anyway our landlord refused to give back the deposit as there were "problems" with the flat ( we left it in a really good conditon, even re-painted the walls where the damp had come through), we told him to prove it but he said that he couldnt but to take his word and that he had to re-paint the entire flat, we then asked him if our deposit had been paid into the deposit protection scheme, he said yes, so we asked for the proof of this, he looked confused and said that it was at home somewhere, we have since found out that he had not paid into any of the 3 schemes at all,
So what I am asking for is :
What is my next course of action ?
I have spoken with a couple of friends and tried to find some advice online but am slightly confused by it all.
Thank you in advance and sorry for waffling on
0
Comments
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First: was there an inventory when your tenancy started? No inventory equals no proof of the condition of the property at the start, so no deductions can be made.
Second: Write to the landlord requesting the return of your deposit in full and give them 14 days to return it. Use the words "Letter Before Action" as a heading and warn him that you intend to go to the Small Claims Court if it's not returned in full. Send two copies of your letter from two different Post Offices and get proof of postage. Keep a copy of your letter for future reference.
Third: If necessary go to the Small Claims Court. It will cost you about £50 and your costs should be awarded to you if the court finds in your favour, which they probably will.
It's an offence not to have protected your deposit in one of the three approved schemes if your tenancy commenced after April 2007 and fines of three times the deposit have been awarded, but it's not guaranteed.
Good luck and please let us know how you get on0 -
thanks for your quick reply, can you also tell me, if i do take him to court can i claim interest on the deposit that he owes, or would it just be for the deposit plus fines
also there was no inventory done when we moved in0 -
patbal2000 wrote: »thanks for your quick reply, can you also tell me, if i do take him to court can i claim interest on the deposit that he owes, or would it just be for the deposit plus fines
The judge will then decide how much you are actually owed if you provide a breakdown if you go to court.
However be warned that tenants do not receive interest on their deposits in the period they are kept by the landlord, so you need to decide whether to claim interest from the date the deposit should have been returned or earlier.
Finally in your "Letter Before Action" give him a clear time limit of 14 days to pay up stating the first date you asked for the deposit back.I'm not cynical I'm realistic
(If a link I give opens pop ups I won't know I don't use windows)0 -
what would be a realistic rate for the interest, and would i base it on a daily, weekly or monthly rate, we moved out back in july of this year, and he has refused to give back the deposit since then, we kind of gave up asking after a while but with january coming up and everything0
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patbal2000 wrote: »what would be a realistic rate for the interest, and would i base it on a daily, weekly or monthly rate, we moved out back in july of this year, and he has refused to give back the deposit since then, we kind of gave up asking after a while but with january coming up and everything0
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it would of gone into an account to get the interest on it, trying to save for a wedding, how long can i claim the interest for ? its been about 5 months since we moved out0
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patbal2000 wrote: »it would of gone into an account to get the interest on it, trying to save for a wedding, how long can i claim the interest for ? its been about 5 months since we moved out0
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so realistically then, if i say 2.5 % per month interest from 1st august until now, would that be ok, or pushing it ?
I will be sorting out the letter when i finish and getting it in the post after christmas might even be nice and give him an extra week to respond0 -
Normal commercial rates for overdue debtor accounts are often 4% above base PER ANNUM, worked out on a daily basis. As the BoE base-rate is .5% it's hardly worth bothering. To be honest I wouldn't claim for the interest as that could make you look a tiny bit greedy to the court.0
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patbal2000 wrote: »so realistically then, if i say 2.5 % per month interest from 1st august until now, would that be ok, or pushing it ?
I will be sorting out the letter when i finish and getting it in the post after christmas might even be nice and give him an extra week to respond0
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