Landlords Keeping Deposit

ladyofelysium

Okay, so we just moved out of our rented accomodation where we've lived for 2yrs with and according to my husband who saw our LLs yesterday (I've moved already far away from the old place) they are not returning any of our £825.00 deposit back.

They are saying they want to replace the whole of a carpet that was damaged, I admit we did damage a small section so that's fair. I have been advised to demand it repaired, but not fully replaced.

They also want us to replace the front door (£600 for the door apparently) that we did NOT damage. Basically the internal locking mechanism has worn away over the last 20+ years the door has been in use (the locksmiths own words, not mine) and cannot be replaced due to the age of the door. The LLs are trying to make us pay for the door to be replaced. SO CHEEKY!!! It just so happened that the poor thing finally gave up it's struggle when we were living there, but it is general wear & tear and I refuse to accept financial responsibility for it.

I have checked 2 of the 3 deposit schemes online & they have not registered our deposit with either of them. From what my husband said he got the vibe that the sole reason they're not returning our deposit is because they can't afford to.. Err, yeah, pretty sure they didn't register it in 2009 when we moved in! Bad LLs!!

I'm quite upset about this as we've been really good tenants and really made sure the place was in tip-top shape for the next tenants. We even advised them to up the rent as we felt like the place was so much nicer than they were charging for! So upset

Anyway, I've drafted a letter and would really love someone else to have look and give me advice on it. I'm not the best letter-writer and I want to make sure I've got my points down right.

----

Dear Mr & Mrs X,

Re: Return of deposit

I am writing concerning the deposit my husband, Mr T, and I paid for [address], as we are not happy that none of the deposit we made of £825.00 has been returned to us. I request that you provide me a copy of the deposit protection scheme certificate you received when registering our deposit with a tenancy deposit scheme so I can contact the right scheme if it becomes necessary to take the matter up with them.

As we left the property in good condition, please send a written breakdown of your anticipated costs, with three quotes for each item so I can agree on which contractor should be authorised. If the work has already taken place please provide receipts (not invoices) for each item. I would prefer to approve all costs before the work is undertaken.

We are prepared to pay for the following damage to the property caused while we were living there:

• Repairs to the entrance hall carpet only (with like-for-like carpet).
• Replacement of one set of keys only to the front and back doors of the property.

We are not prepared to pay for:

• The replacement of the front door to the property.

It is not our responsibility to pay for a new door as the wearing down of the internal locking mechanism (as noted by the locksmith you sent to inspect the door in Feb 2011) was due to general wear and tear over many years of use, which the locksmith himself stated. As you are also aware, the lock itself was not in a good condition on 31st July 2009 when we first moved in - We needed to request your assistance in getting the door open the first time we tried to enter the property. As the door needs replacing because of wear and tear, the cost of replacing the front door is not our responsibility.

We believe our deposit should be returned to us, minus the costs for the repairs to the carpet in the entrance hall only and for the replacement of one set of keys only to the front/rear doors of the property.

Please note:

• Tenants are not responsible for normal ‘wear and tear’.
• Landlords cannot deduct money for damage caused before a tenant moved in.
• Landlords can only deduct as much as is needed to repair or replace what tenants have damaged on a 'like for like' basis. For example, if a tenant breaks an old armchair, s/he shouldn't have to pay for a brand new one.

Finally, as agreed at the start of the contract, we have already paid to you the sum of £200.00 (outside of our security deposit) for professional carpet cleaning. Mr T paid this to you, with cash, on 28th March 2011. I request that you send me a copy of the receipt for this service for my records.

I look forward to your reply within fourteen days.


Yours faithfully

Mrs T

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So I am sending this off tomorrow special delivery. So what do I do from here? Just wait for a reply? Anything else I should do / add / change? If they are given the chance to now put the deposit into the scheme what is the likelihood that we will get it back? What is the likelihood that we'll get the 3x deposit "fine" ontop of that too?

Thanks!!

BitterAndTwisted

You should mention in your letter that the deposit should have been registered with one of the three deposit-protection schemes by law and the courts have been known to have awarded three times the deposit as a penalty for not doing so. (Please note that this penalty is discretionary, not mandatory so it's not absolutely certain whether you would be awarded it should you need to go to court.) You should give your landlord something like ten days maximum to respond or you intend to take the matter to the Small Claims Court. And then do it. it will cost you something like £50 to start a claim.

Deposits cannot be protected once a tenancy has ended so your landlord will not be able to do this retrospectively.

You should also note that replacing damaged items like-for-like would require a deduction to be made to allow for the age of said item. Take that carpet for instance: if one is prepared accept that the useful life of a carpet in a rental property was ten years (not very likely) and when your tenancy ended that carpet was five years old, you have deprived the landlord of five years use of the item, so your liability would be to compensate the landlord for 50% of the original cost. Not 50% of a different and more expensive replacement one.

Before you send off your letter you should treble-check with all three deposit-protection schemes that your deposit has most definitely not been protected. Then send two copies of your letter from two different post offices by first-class post retaining proof-of-postage. The reason for doing this is that sending it by a signed-for method does not prove that it has been received as it can be declined at the door and then not collected from the sorting-office. The Post Office could almost certainly lose one copy of a first-class letter but a court would not accept that they could lose two posted on the same day, therefore they would accept that at least one copy would definitely have been received by your landlord.

Good luck!

ladyofelysium

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You should mention in your letter that the deposit should have been registered with one of the three deposit-protection schemes by law and the courts have been known to have awarded three times the deposit as a penalty for not doing so. (Please note that this penalty is discretionary, not mandatory so it's not absolutely certain whether you would be awarded it should you need to go to court.) You should give your landlord something like ten days maximum to respond or you intend to take the matter to the Small Claims Court. And then do it. it will cost you something like £50 to start a claim.

Deposits cannot be protected once a tenancy has ended so your landlord will not be able to do this retrospectively.

You should also note that replacing damaged items like-for-like would require a deduction to be made to allow for the age of said item. Take that carpet for instance: if one is prepared accept that the useful life of a carpet in a rental property was ten years (not very likely) and when your tenancy ended that carpet was five years old, you have deprived the landlord of five years use of the item, so your liability would be to compensate the landlord for 50% of the original cost. Not 50% of a different and more expensive replacement one.

Before you send off your letter you should treble-check with all three deposit-protection schemes that your deposit has most definitely not been protected. Then send two copies of your letter from two different post offices by first-class post retaining proof-of-postage. The reason for doing this is that sending it by a signed-for method does not prove that it has been received as it can be declined at the door and then not collected from the sorting-office. The Post Office could almost certainly lose one copy of a first-class letter but a court would not accept that they could lose two posted on the same day, therefore they would accept that at least one copy would definitely have been received by your landlord.

Good luck!

I can't check the third deposit scheme because it requires a unique ID code that apparently I would've received once my landlords deposited my money into it, I've not received any sort of ID. With the other 2 websites I entered the information required multiple times, as we moved in at the end of July 2009 I even double check putting in August 2009 incase it was deposited then. I put in our surname and then their surname incase there was an error with it. There is definitely nothing on the other two schemes for our money.

I'll edit the front of the letter to state the facts about the scheme that you mentioned. I'm not bothered at all about this 3x deposit fine to be honest, I just want our deposit back. I refuse to pay for a non-working door when it's not our fault it stopped working, it was general wear and tear over a long time!

Thanks for replying :]

BitterAndTwisted

Just to be absolutely certain about your facts I would suggest that you phone the schemes up to see if they can check on your behalf that the deposits have most definitely not been protected.

I know you're not particularly concerned about the three-times deposit as penalty but from the sounds of it your LL seems to be unaware (or don't care) that the deposit should have been protected. This would suggest that they're not aware of the possible penalty either and mention of it in your letter might concentrate their minds somewhat.

I'd fight tooth-and-nail to avoid being charged for that new door. Is there any possibility that you could get that locksmith's observations in writing to strengthen your position?

Cool_Mint

It does sound like they don't have the money to pay back your deposit but I wouldn't feel too sympathetic if I were you, it wasn't their money to spend and ideally they should have kept it in a separate account. I'd probably call them or talk to them in person and ask why they are having trouble paying, if they can't make a full payment in one go they can still pay you off in installments.

BitterAndTwisted

No, you have misunderstood: they should NOT have kept the deposit in a separate account. They should have registered it in one of the deposit-protection schemes. This has been a legal requirement for all new tenancies which started since April 2007.

I would absolutely NOT negotiate repayments in instalments: I'd go to the Small Claims Court and if necessary get a charge put on the property. These people presumably own two properties: let them get a loan or remortgage to repay the OP and OH their own money!

prudryden

Did I miss something? Why does the LL want the door replaced, if it is the lock that is dodgy?

BitterAndTwisted

"The lock can't be replaced due to the age of the door" apparently. This sounds like the biggest load of bullwhotsit I've ever heard.

prudryden

Yea, those bronze age doors can be problematic!

DannyboyMidlands

Send the letter but state that if the matter is not dealt with in the next 14 days, you intend to start proceedings at the small claims court. This is really easy and can be done online. Don't take any crap from them.

You should also go round in the dead of night and throw bricks through the windows.

PPPingu

ladyofelysium wrote: »

Mr T paid this to you, with cash,

I pity the fool who messes with Mr T!