Rental: help! - who is liable to return my deposit?

starrie13

Hi everyone, I've been following a lot of your useful advice for a while but this is my first post so please bear with me! I am having real problems getting back the deposit on the rented house I have just vacated, and would really appreciate any help or advice anyone can offer.

The background is that my partner and I rented a house in the middle of January 2006, we answered an estate agent's advert, paid one month's rent deposit and one month's rent in advance to the estate agent and signed a standard six month tenancy agreement. When we moved into the property we met the landlord who asked us to pay the rent by direct debit to him once a month, which we did.

In July at the end of the contract we were happy to remain in the house, and verbally agreed with the landlord that we would remain a minimum of another six months, although we did not sign a new contract.

Fast forward to christmas and our relationship had broken down. My partner moved out and I continued to live in the house until the end of the six months
(ie the middle of January) in order to honour the verbal agreement.

In fact I stayed two weeks longer than originally agreed because it took longer than anticipated to find somewhere new that was suitable for my daughter and I, but I paid the rent in full to that date, and the landlord was
happy with the situation.

The day I moved out the landlord came round to inspect the property and declared that he was satisfied with the condition and happy for me to have the deposit back, which he told me to contact the estate agents for, which is where the fun started. They are "unknown" at the phone number that I had for them last year and also at the phone number I obtained from directory enquiries. My ex-landlord says that he has managed to contact both the men who ran the estate agents, and both swear that they are no longer responsible for that business and that it is the responsibility of the other - they will in no way repay the deposit money. My ex-landlord says that he will not return the money to me as he is not responsible.

If you have waded thru my long story and are still here thanks very much:o My question is - who is responsible for returning the money to me? And where do I go from here in pursuing the matter?

us,thecat&thedebt

that sounds terible, im not too sure but someone with more knowledge will come along

Hugs though its not nice

prudryden

Do you still have a copy of your contract? Does it say that the deposit is to be paid to the LL? Even though you gave the money to the agents, I bet the contract says to the LL.

This could be a gray area, but if the agents were acting for the LL in receiving the deposit, I think you might be able to claim from the LL. He, in turn, would have to recover from the agents.

Definitely worth getting a general legal opinion, if it is a large sum.

roger56

Firstly, the deposit belongs to you unless there is good reason to with-hold.

To start with:
You say the Landlord was happy with the outgoing state and said you could have the deposit back. Write to him and ask him for that in writing.
If he changes his mind, ask him for that also in writing and also ask him to return any un-disputed part of your deposit - he legally must do that.
Do all this in writing so you have good evidence, even send letters signed for
so you have proof.

Now, if that gets problematic I really suggest you approach the CAB for help / advice. You know who the landlord is and he knows the names of the "agents". It is not clear who actually has the deposit money, or maybe your Landlord is stringing you along.
Take along the rental agreement and the ingoing inventory and statement of condition (I hope they exist but don't panic if they do not).

Good luck

silvercar

often the EA pays over to the landlord the deposit less their commission. This means that the landlord doesn't actually see the deposit. It still remains his responsibility to return it.

prudryden

silvercar wrote:

often the EA pays over to the landlord the deposit less their commission. This means that the landlord doesn't actually see the deposit. It still remains his responsibility to return it.

I sort of think so too. Even if the EA holds the deposit, he is holding it as safe custody for the LL. The deposit should not have been comingled with the agents own funds. Therefore, I also believe your claim should probably be against the LL. The LL will then have to claim against the EA for stealing/losing the funds. A phonecall to CAB might be worthwhile just to get a preliminary legal idea of who they think has the responsibility.

starrie13

thank you so much for your help everyone. I do still have the rental agreement and the receipt for the deposit, but there was never an inventory of the property when we moved in.

I will send a letter to my landlord tomorrow asking for signed confirmation that he was happy with the state of the property on exit, and for return of the deposit, and give the CAB a call on Monday.

Thanks again!:)