Tenancy deposit protection

the_little_prince

Hello,

I recently ended a tenancy on a flat which I had rented since mid 2010. About half way through my tenancy, in March, I asked (email) the landlord if the deposit oringinally paid was subject to TDP as apparently required by law since 2007. I received no response to this request and never had any information sent about it so I assume that the answer was no and that they simply trousered the money and I have to trust them not to go bankrupt...

The landlord is now trying to claim off me for damages and an overgrown garden, which I do realise is a different subject but I disagree with their claims. When we moved in there was no inventory done and the garden was not in A1 condition nor was the flat cleaned.

I feel that I may have a right to claim against them for failing to place my deposit into a TDP scheme in the first place.

I know there are pitfalls and that this is a completely seperate issue to the return of deposit but I feel that landlords should be encouraged to place deposits into the required fund to aid disputes at the end of the tenancy. Court action may help them to do this in future.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

I understand that they may be able to place the deposit in a fund retrospectively leading to me losing my court fees but the fact I requested information 3 months ago with no confirmation may alter this?

ta

BitterAndTwisted

Landlords cannot retrospectively protect the deposit. it's my understanding that none of the three deposit-protection schemes would accept registration after the tenancy has ended.

Contact all three schemes (DPS, TDS and MyDeposits) to confirm that your deposit has definitely not been protected.

Once you know that it hasn't WRITE to the landlord (not text, not email) requesting the return of your deposit in full, heading your correspondence "Letter Before Action" giving your landlord 14 days to respond. Remind the landlord that registration is compulsory and that the courts have been known to award the tenant three times the deposit amount as a penalty. Send two copies of the letter from two different Post Offices on the same day retaining proof of postage.

The issue of deductions is going to difficult for your landlord to prove if there was no inventory or other documentary evidence of the state of the property at the beginning of your tenancy.

If your landlord does not return your deposit you will need to start a claim in court. it's my understanding that the cost of this is about £50 and if the landlord loses costs should be awarded to you.

catwood1

Hi,

The deposit protection service is required to protect a deposit when requested even if a tenant has moved out and the tenancy has ended.

I moved out of my old flat 3 months ago and after asking 12 times for the information about which company had my deposit i contacted them and found out none were holding it. I wrote a letter to the landlord and agency asking for my full deposit back within 10 days or I will start court action. That was 9 days ago and today they sent me an email saying my deposit is now protect with the deposit protection service, I have spoken to them and they have confirm and advised me of the above. The law is a joke as a letting agency or landlord can not been punished for not protecting tenants deposit. I still havent had my deposit back so i will have to raise a dispute now. Its a joke!!!!

Yorkie1

There was a case fairly recently which basically says that if the LL protects the deposit at any time up to the court hearing for non-protection of the deposit, the 3x penalty won't be applied. I also recall references on here to cases involving non-protection of deposit needing to take the more expensive court route - though I could be wrong, hopefully someone else will clarify this point.

I'd concentrate on getting your deposit back.