Landlady withholding bond - garden

nanaplough

We left a rented property one month ago now. On the day we handed our keys back to the old landlady she inspected the property, and decided that she needed to use some bond money to get some weeding and edging done in the garden.
As part of our tenancy agreement we were required to keep the garden tidy to a good standard, and as we had lived there for 2 years I had kept on top of this.
Our standards obviously differed, albeit slightly as after 2 years if all that needed doing was some weeding and edging I had clearly done work in it regularly.
Now a month has passed there is surely more work for the gardener to do than on the day we left the house, especially with the warm weather there has been lately.
What can I do as regards speeding the process up, and is there a time limit that our bond can be kept hold of? Don't want the £500 to be viewed as an opportunity to have a bit of a garden makeover.

GAH

Couple of questions

1) Was there a detailed inventory carried out when you moved in?
2) What deposit scheme did your landlord lodge the deposit with?

nanaplough

No, there was no inventory, and our agreement just states that the deposit is being held in accordance with statutory requirements.

GAH

Firstly, if the landlord did not provide you with a written inventory, then she has no leg to stand on in regards to dedcuting any money.

Secondly, the deposit should have been registered with one of the 3 deposit schemes, I would find out if she had registered it with one of these.

If she hasn't, she could be liable to pay back 3x the deposit if you were to pursue a claim against her.

Werdnal

There is a website that your can use to check which of the 3 main schemes the deposit was registered with - I'll try to find it on another site I use but I would agree with above, that part of the deposit registration requirements is that LL gives tenant a copy of the information as proof that the deposit is secure.

If you LL failed to do this, ask her where it is? Anyone can put anything in a tenancy agreement, but this does not confirm that the deposit was protected.

Once you find out which scheme she used, you can lodge a challenge for the amount she is asking for. If there was no written inventory, deposit schemes often favour the tenant, as LL need to prove the difference in condition between start and end of tenancy to have a valid claim.

If indeed, the deposit was not put in any scheme, tell your LL she is in breach of the deposit protection rules, and if she persists in trying to keep your deposit, then you will lodge a counter claim for 3x the deposit amount.

Also, she should not use the deposit for a "garden make-over" as this is classed as betterment, ie improving a property to a higher standard than it was at time you move in.

bristolben

GAH wrote: »

If she hasn't, she could be liable to pay back 3x the deposit if you were to pursue a claim against her.

Not so sure anymore: http://www.negotiator-magazine.co.uk/article/tenancy-deposit-protection-bites-the-dust-1772

GAH

Interesting article BristolBen.

The OP should still be able to get her deposit back based on LL bot producing an inventory.

may_fair

The three deposit schemes are:

DPS http://www.depositprotection.com/
TDS http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/homepage.html
MyDeposits http://mydeposits.co.uk/

If it is not protected with any of the three, and the LL refuses to return the deposit, your only option is to bring a county court claim.

Firstly, send the LL a letter before action demanding return of the deposit and giving a deadline to pay. Say you will start a claim in the county court if the money is not refunded by the deadline. (Keep copy letter and get a free certificate of posting, same goes for any other correspondence with LL).

You can start the claim online at Money Claim Online. The claim will be allocated to the small claims track; you don't need a solicitor and court fees are low (and are added to the claim). You may find it helpful to buy or borrow from the library a book on the small claims procedure, but there is also information on HM Courts website.

may_fair

P.S. Don't even think about bringing a deposit non-compliance claim for 3x deposit. The court of appeal judgment this week (linked to by bristolben) means that your claim would fail and you could potentially end up significantly out of pocket as non-compliance claims are not allocated to the small claims track.

nanaplough

I wouldn't be pursuing such a claim anyway. Just basically want my bond back asap without starting any claim processes

Werdnal

may_fair wrote: »

P.S. Don't even think about bringing a deposit non-compliance claim for 3x deposit. The court of appeal judgment this week (linked to by bristolben) means that your claim would fail and you could potentially end up significantly out of pocket as non-compliance claims are not allocated to the small claims track.

But there is no harm in making that suggestion to a LL who may be ignorant of the fact is there?

If it was politely pointed out that the rule surrounding non-protection can carry a penalty of 3x, and it would therefore be prudent of LL to consider returning the deposit, otherwise T will be taking legal advice. Might wake LL up to the fact that they have been remiss in non-protection, and T need not follow it through as a 3x claim, but take your earlier advice on a Money Claim Online.