Landlords Keeping Deposit

prudryden

I excluded out of court settlement as I said going to court. So, that was potentially a good point. As you know, there are two sides generally represented by a lawyer or a team of lawyers. Each lawyer has a story and you are right, many lawyers know they have a poor case but will attempt to create a believable story which will win the day. One wins, one loses thus the 50/50. I was speaking generally, not on this particular case. Again, a potentially good point you made. So, on average, each lawyer should theoretically have a 50/50 record. But you do have some that have above average results and some that are below average. Sometimes, if, as you say, you know your story is a losing one, but you still present it on the off chance it may carry the day. Sometimes, it could be prudent to get another mind to work on your losing story to make it a winner.

ladyofelysium

Okay, I need help composing a letter to them about the deposit not being protected. I want to give them the chance to settle out of court, but let them know that I will take it to a small claims court if I need to and, obviously, let them know about the possible fine too.

GuidoT

See this post which includes a letter before action (LBA).

ladyofelysium

Thanks. The letter I am planning to send them reads as follows:

---

Dear Mr & Mrs X,

Letter Before Action

Return of deposit: [Address]

I sent a letter on the 2nd April 2011 regarding the return of my deposit of £825.00 following my departure from [address] on the 28th March 2011. In particular I requested a copy of the certificate you would have received upon receipt of placing my deposit into a tenancy deposit protection scheme. I received a response from yourself on the 11th April 2011, but there was no mention of who my deposit was protected with nor did I receive a copy of the certificate.

As you should be aware, you are required to place my deposit into an appropriate tenancy deposit scheme within 14 days from the date of receipt of such, you are of course past this date and in any event the term of the tenancy has expired, thus putting the matter beyond doubt that you are now too late to protect the deposit.

Accordingly you are in breach of section 213 of the Housing Act 2004. Pursuant to sections 214(3) and (4) of the Act you are required to return the original deposit of £825.00 to myself.

Please remit the sum of £825.00 to:

NAME
BANK DETAILS

If you fail to pay the above sum by the 22nd April 2011 I will commence legal proceedings to recover the above sum as a debt. From commencement of proceedings you will be incurring an additional liability for our costs in pursing the claim, for any legal advice you may choose to take yourself and for interest on the outstanding sum. Please note that the courts have often imposed a penalty of 3 times the amount of the original deposit for non-compliance of registration of the deposit.


Yours Faithfully


X

N79

Looks fine. Signature block should be yours sincerely (as the letter is addressed to a known person).

Good luck.

ladyofelysium

I'm getting a lot of people telling me to seek free legal advice before I proceed any further with this. Is this something a lot of people do in this case?

BitterAndTwisted

Why bother? I doubt tying up the resources of CAB will elicit any better advice than you have already received on this thread.

Sign and send your letters!

suited-aces

prudryden wrote: »

I excluded out of court settlement as I said going to court. So, that was potentially a good point. As you know, there are two sides generally represented by a lawyer or a team of lawyers. Each lawyer has a story and you are right, many lawyers know they have a poor case but will attempt to create a believable story which will win the day. One wins, one loses thus the 50/50. I was speaking generally, not on this particular case. Again, a potentially good point you made. So, on average, each lawyer should theoretically have a 50/50 record. But you do have some that have above average results and some that are below average. Sometimes, if, as you say, you know your story is a losing one, but you still present it on the off chance it may carry the day. Sometimes, it could be prudent to get another mind to work on your losing story to make it a winner.

Don't let this poster's shocking grasp of probability dissuade you, OP.

ladyofelysium

I just got an email this morning to say that my depost has been protected with The DPS. I didn't think a landlord could do that once a tenancy has ended? =/

I also just tried to start reclaiming it back and got this nice bit of info:

"A Repayment Request can only be submitted once a deposit has been protected for a period of 28 days, please try again after this period."

So now the LL have decided to protect the deposit I'm pretty sure I wont be seeing any of it back now.

BitterAndTwisted

I think you're right, I didn't belive that a landlord could protect a deposit once the tenancy is over. Can you get back on the site and check what the alleged starting-date of the tenancy was claimed to be?

In any case, get back onto the site and claim the whole of your deposit once the 28 days have elapsed. The onus of proof for any disputed deductions is on the landlord.

I wonder if there would be any point in contacting DPS by phone and telling them when the tenancy ended?