Landlords Keeping Deposit

ladyofelysium

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

"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.

The door is over 20yrs old and is the type of front door that will only open and lock with a key and by pulling the handle right up. The barrel of the lock hasn't broken, it's the actual handle-locking system that interacts with the lock barrel that has worn away. Replacing the barrel, which has been done, doesn't fix the problem. I am a bit suspicious that it can't be replaced, but that's what the locksmith said and I'm no door specialist so I can't argue it. I'm not going to press the matter further simply because that door is not my problem. It's broken due to it's age, not due to any damage that I've caused.

I'm phoning the three deposit protection schemes now.

Alter_ego

It's not down to you to find where your deposit is protected. It's the landlord's obligation to inform you in writing within 14 (I think) days of the start of tenancy.

The only choice he has is which scheme he uses.

BitterAndTwisted

Well, if the landlord has neglected to inform their tenant what do you suggest they do about it? They need to know how and by what means they can recover their deposit. Threatening the landlord with claiming the three-times deposit as penalty won't bother them if it's protected and will, one hopes, elicit the required information if it is.

N79

Alter_ego wrote: »

It's not down to you to find where your deposit is protected. It's the landlord's obligation to inform you in writing within 14 (I think) days of the start of tenancy.

The only choice he has is which scheme he uses.

True, but if you don't check and start court proceedings and it turns out that the LL did send the information but it got lost in the post then you will end up wasting money on court application fees. Therefore everyone should check the three schemes first before starting court action so that they avoid incurring unnecessary costs.

ladyofelysium

Okay, two of the three schemes have replied to my via email today (so fast!) and have confirmed that it has not been registered with them, but to check with the others. Waiting on the final one to get back to me with a confirmation of whether it was protected or not.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Can i ask if you've had any outcome? - i have a similar situation so very interested to hear how this has panned out!

ladyofelysium

Update 1:

I finally got an email back from all 3 deposit schemes & they all have confirmed that our deposit was not secured with them. On receipt of the final email I looked at my letter & re-jiggled it a bit. I removed the whole section where I said I was willing to pay for X, cut down a few others bits too. It basically said about the deposit scheme, what I'm not willing to pay for and then asked for a receipt for the carpet cleaning. I changed the response time from 14 days to 10 days and the letter was sent on Monday and arrived yesterday.

I'll update when I hear back from them or if I don't & proceed to take this to a small claims court.

angrypirate

Thanks for the update. Keep us posted on how it goes. Good luck

ladyofelysium

Okay, the landlord replied and she did not mention the deposit being protected at all, she spoke nothing of it. All she did was talk about damage to the property & include photos.

She said the front door was never reported to them in time for them to do anything & the back door also would not lock, which I have no knowledge about. She said the garden will cost £300 to repair & the carpet £200 to repair. She also mentioned a few scratches to the rear part of the back door, a small car wheel left in the garden (which I honestly thought my husband had removed, my bad) & a small hole in one of the indoor doors which I am unsure whether or not was there.

So now what do I do? I'm worried that if we did take her to a Small Claims Court over the deposit not being protected than her claims about the damage would go against us. Should I just drop the whole thing? I've got [proof the deposit was not protected, but now she's said allllll this damage 'we done' is going to cost a lot, should I just leave it?

00ec25

so you're running scared now, looks like we chalk another one up to a bullying LL

just get a grip and stand up for yourself, you 've been told what you need to do