Deposit Not Secured - and about to move out!

JenniferF

Hi,

Myself and my flatmate are about to come to the end of our tenancy (19 July).

I have recently been reading about Tenancy Deposit Schemes and have now checked all three companies, but have been unable to trace our desposit.

I have read plenty of literature on the internet about how to procede if you're still a tenant - i.e. apply for a county court order and they have to repay it to you or put it into a scheme straight away.

However, looking at Shelters website, I saw this:

What can I do if my landlord or agent doesn't provide the required information or hasn't protected my deposit?

You can apply to the county court for an order that the landlord or agent should pay the deposit back to you, or protect it in one of the tenancy deposit protection schemes.
The court can also order the landlord or agent to pay you compensation equivalent to three times the value of the deposit you paid. However, the law on this issue is unclear and the court can only order your landlord to pay if your deposit is still unprotected by the date of the court hearing, and you are still a tenant of the landlord.

I just want to be sure of where we stand - should we bring up the fact that we believe the deposit hasn't been protected - or wait and see if we get the full deposit back anyway? (We have no real reason to believe we won't get the full amount back).

Any advice you can give would be appreciated!!

Thanks,

Jen

ic

The deposit protection schemes are fairly recent and apply to tenancies that started April 2007 onwards. Prior to that the agent or landlord would hold the deposit. Is this the case with you?

Do you have reason to believe they won't release the deposit to you? Ask the agent or landlord where the deposit is secured and when you'll get it back - its perfectly reasonable to want to know when you'll be getting that lump sum back.

Scho

Personally, I wouldn't say a thing unless you feel that you need to come time to get your deposit back. If things go smoothly and your landlord returns 100% then maybe it's worth mentioning then that you 'only just heard' that it needed to be in a scheme and thought you'd let him know for future. They could be a good landlord but just are way out of date with the law about it.
If things go a bit more bumpy (i.e. they're unfairly taking money for no reason or an extortionate sum say) then asking for this proof it's in the scheme (which you know it isn't) and highlighting the penalty may help you convince them early that you're not worth trying to mess with as you know more than them on tenency law.

If things go nasty though make sure you send everything in writing but I'm sure you'll be fine.

The_Pixi

Scho wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't say a thing unless you feel that you need to come time to get your deposit back. If things go smoothly and your landlord returns 100% then maybe it's worth mentioning then that you 'only just heard' that it needed to be in a scheme and thought you'd let him know for future. They could be a good landlord but just are way out of date with the law about it.
If things go a bit more bumpy (i.e. they're unfairly taking money for no reason or an extortionate sum say) then asking for this proof it's in the scheme (which you know it isn't) and highlighting the penalty may help you convince them early that you're not worth trying to mess with as you know more than them on tenency law.

If things go nasty though make sure you send everything in writing but I'm sure you'll be fine.

Enough said :cool:

JenniferF

Thanks for the responses - moved in January 2010 - so the law should apply to this tenancy.

No - we have no reason to think we won't get the whole deposit back - but you never know what people will try!!

The landlord is a she not a he btw!!

I just wanted to make sure that I would still be able to use the fact that it hadn't been placed in a scheme as leverage even after we've moved out.

Thanks!

Scho

The_Pixi wrote: »

Enough said :cool:

meh, you get the idea! I'll try and be more cynical next time!

Good luck Jen.

Marvel1

I wouldn't say anything until AFTER you have moved out, that way if they try and be funny and claim damages you have something to fall back on.

may_fair

JenniferF wrote: »

I just wanted to make sure that I would still be able to use the fact that it hadn't been placed in a scheme as leverage even after we've moved out.

Following the Court of Appeal judgment in Gladehurst v Hashemi in May 2011, the tenant cannot claim the 3x penalty after the tenancy has ended, so you'd have no 'leverage'.

DVardysShadow

Scho wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't say a thing unless you feel that you need to come time to get your deposit back. If things go smoothly and your landlord returns 100% then maybe it's worth mentioning then that you 'only just heard' that it needed to be in a scheme and thought you'd let him know for future. They could be a good landlord but just are way out of date with the law about it.
If things go a bit more bumpy (i.e. they're unfairly taking money for no reason or an extortionate sum say) then asking for this proof it's in the scheme (which you know it isn't) and highlighting the penalty may help you convince them early that you're not worth trying to mess with as you know more than them on tenency law.

If things go nasty though make sure you send everything in writing but I'm sure you'll be fine.

I think this advice is so complacent it is falling over backwards. If you follow it, and there is an issue with the deposit, you will only find out when it is too late.

tronator

may_fair wrote: »

Following the Court of Appeal judgment in Gladehurst v Hashemi in May 2011, the tenant cannot claim the 3x penalty after the tenancy has ended, so you'd have no 'leverage'.

But will you get the whole deposit back at least? I tried to understand the judgement, but the "laywer english" is quite hard to understand for me as a non-native english speaker.

I'm in a dispute with my former LL and want to go to the CAB tomorrow. He didn't put the money in one of the schemes and tries to get money from us for things like missing light bulbs etc. and things we would consider normal wear and tear. There are also a few things where he's right (carpet stains for instance), but overall we left the flat and the garden in a very clean and good condition.

So do we have a chance to get our whole deposit back? Would be nice to get more, since he is breaking the law and pulling this stunt now, but we would be happy to get the deposited amount back.