Deposit not protected

tinatwonky

Hi all,

I'm fairly confident my deposit was not protected when I was renting in London from September 2010 - September 2011. It took quite a while to get it back and it was quite a stressful time as none of the deposit schemes could find a record of my deposit and I was really worried I would be left without any money.

Although I've finally got my deposit back, can I sue him for not protecting it in the first place? And when I say "can I?" I mean is there any point.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Tina x

BitterAndTwisted

If you got your deposit back what loss have you suffered that you could sue for? Courts aren't interested in hypothetical losses, just actual ones.

dkmax_2

tinatwonky wrote: »

Although I've finally got my deposit back, can I sue him for not protecting it in the first place? And when I say "can I?" I mean is there any point.

It is attitudes like that that motivated the courts to sink the legislation, depriving tenants of vital legal leverage. You will thankfully not get anywhere.

tinatwonky

I was only asking the question. Seems a shame that he can carry on renting out properties without protecting tenants' deposits, despite it being a legal requirement.

Werdnal

tinatwonky wrote: »

I was only asking the question. Seems a shame that he can carry on renting out properties without protecting tenants' deposits, despite it being a legal requirement.

If you had challenged the non-protection whilst you were still in the property, you would have had a case.

If LL had not returned the deposit after you left, you would have had a case.

However, you have left, you have your deposit back, what are you hoping to gain by taking it further?

dkmax_2

tinatwonky wrote: »

I was only asking the question. Seems a shame that he can carry on renting out properties without protecting tenants' deposits, despite it being a legal requirement.

The relevant law is almost toothless at the moment although amending legislation is in the pipeline. What tenants need to do is make sure the deposit is protected and to do so very early in the tenancy - not at the end or afterwards.

If you are concerned, you could write to the new tenants and remind them to check - but beyond that there isn't much you can do about future compliance with legislation. While you may be publicly minded, it really isn't your concern anymore.

G_M

tinatwonky wrote: »

I was only asking the question. Seems a shame that he can carry on renting out properties without protecting tenants' deposits, despite it being a legal requirement.

This attitude does you credit and any difference you can make will help future tenants.

So why on earth did you not enforce your rights at some point during your year-long tenancy?

You now have no opportunity to teach this landlord what he should be doing with tenants' deposits.

poppy10_2

G_M wrote: »

So why on earth did you not enforce your rights at some point during your year-long tenancy?

Fear of retaliation? There could have been any number of reasons.

In any case, even if he had attempted to assert his rights, the landlord would still not have faced any penalty as the deposit legislation has been rendered completely toothless by recent court decisions. As long as the landlord had protected the deposit before the court date arrived, he would face no financial penalty and would be free to do the same with the next tenant.

Wee_Willy_Harris

poppy10 wrote: »

Fear of retaliation? There could have been any number of reasons.

In any case, even if he had attempted to assert his rights, the landlord would still not have faced any penalty as the deposit legislation has been rendered completely toothless by recent court decisions. As long as the landlord had protected the deposit before the court date arrived, he would face no financial penalty and would be free to do the same with the next tenant.

If the deposit isn't protected, the tenant has much more security as S21 cannot be relied upon. If court action regarding the deposit is commenced as soon as the tenant intends to serve notice, there is still an element of protection available.