Landlord refusing to pay back deposit

may_fair

poppy10 wrote: »

There's no incentive now for landlords to protect the deposit, nor any real penalty for not doing so. For a landlord renting out a property now, there's no reason to protect the deposit unless and until the tenant serves notice of court action, at which point you could lodge the deposit and avoid any penalty. If (as in most cases) the tenant doesn't bother to pursue court action, the landlord can just keep hold of the deposit and do with it what he pleases.

No. The T may bring a county court claim against LL for return of the deposit only. This would be allocated to the small claims track where court fees are low (and are added to the claim), T doesn't need a lawyer, and there is no exposure to the LL's legal costs (if any).

There continues to be an incentive for LLs to protect the deposit in terms of the fact that they cannot serve a valid s.21 notice before the deposit is protected and the prescribed information given to the T.

hayleyrafelt

My point is really that she agreed allow us to move out early and is now penalising us for it. She seemed very understanding and I borrowed the money from my mother to pay the arreas to give her the reasurance that we were not wanting to rip her off. My room mate suggested just leaving and not paying her the arreas and telling her to take it from the deposit but I didn't think it right to do that. She had lied to us since we moved in about securing our deposit and was quite aggressive when we asked for it back (as I was legally alowed to do since she did not secure it). I know it is my own fault for not getting anything in writing, and I understand that we should not have fallen behind with the rent. It was a genuine reason for the arreas, I didn't just buy too many shoes one month, and I also understand that this is non of her concern.
I just feel that she has lied and minipulated me.
If it says in my contract that she has 14 days to pay my deposit to the DPS then surely that stands as her breaking the contract in not doing so. I don't want compensation, I just want my deposit back since she AGREED to let us move out.

IronWolf

I would do what your roomate suggests. Whilst a verbal agreement doesn't count for much, she's broken that agreement so all's fair from now on. Don't pay rent and let her take it from the deposit. You will avoid the hassle of pursuing her legally for it afterwards.

BitterAndTwisted

Iron Wolf the OP has already moved out of the property. The OP has been out-smarted by their landlord and that's unfortunate but there's nothing the OP can do about it now. They got nothing in writing from the landlord about being able to surrender the property early. That deposit has been lost for good and no amount of advice or handwringing is going to magic it back.

jhxmt

hayleyrafelt wrote: »

I just feel that she has lied and minipulated me.
If it says in my contract that she has 14 days to pay my deposit to the DPS then surely that stands as her breaking the contract in not doing so. I don't want compensation, I just want my deposit back since she AGREED to let us move out.

You're right, she may well have lied and manipulated you. Unfortunately, as you've nothing in writing, she has done it very well. Sadly, you'll likely just have to chalk this one up to experience as you've nothing to support the verbal agreement you came to with her.

PPPingu

I dont understand why you didn't just tell the LL to keep the deposit as payment for the rent in arrears and walk away - it sounds like this was what the LL was agreeing to anyway?

The_Palmist

hayleyrafelt wrote: »

My point is really that she agreed allow us to move out early and is now penalising us for it. She seemed very understanding and I borrowed the money from my mother to pay the arreas to give her the reasurance that we were not wanting to rip her off. My room mate suggested just leaving and not paying her the arreas and telling her to take it from the deposit but I didn't think it right to do that. She had lied to us since we moved in about securing our deposit and was quite aggressive when we asked for it back (as I was legally alowed to do since she did not secure it). I know it is my own fault for not getting anything in writing, and I understand that we should not have fallen behind with the rent. It was a genuine reason for the arreas, I didn't just buy too many shoes one month, and I also understand that this is non of her concern.
I just feel that she has lied and minipulated me.
If it says in my contract that she has 14 days to pay my deposit to the DPS then surely that stands as her breaking the contract in not doing so. I don't want compensation, I just want my deposit back since she AGREED to let us move out.

Looks like your LL anticipated you will be trying to use deposit for arrears. I had similar experiences during my Uni days. Far too many tenants try to break the contract by missing payments, messing about with the property and by not paying bills. Like every where else in life, its the decent folk who end up making up for all this.

may_fair

hayleyrafelt wrote: »

I just feel that she has lied and minipulated me.

You haven't answered the questions I asked in post #7 so I don't know how much rent it was that the LL agreed to let you off.

However, the agreement was verbal and you don't appear to have any evidence of what was agreed. Her apparently 'manipulative' behaviour may well have been due to the fact that you owed her rent and she was trying her best to get you to pay it. I'm not really sure why you would feel aggrieved if it turns out that you end up paying the rent you actually owe.

But, you always have the option of raising a dispute with the deposit scheme, so why not do so if you feel you're in the right?

If it says in my contract that she has 14 days to pay my deposit to the DPS then surely that stands as her breaking the contract in not doing so. I don't want compensation, I just want my deposit back since she AGREED to let us move out.

As I explained in a previous post, the LL may protect the deposit 'late' without sanction. This is due to binding Court of Appeal rulings in the past 12 months. In short, the LL does NOT have to protect the deposit within 14 days.

may_fair

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

That deposit has been lost for good and no amount of advice or handwringing is going to magic it back.

Not so. The deposit is protected by the DPS. If the LL is foolish enough to agree to DPS adjudication, then OP could well retrieve the deposit, given ADR's bias against LLs.