Damage Deposit 'lost' in the ether

RyDG

Hello everyone,

It seems I have a bit of a hopeless case, so wondered if the collective here can bring anything new to light.

In brief, I was a tenant at a property for 4 years. Upon leaving I was told my damage deposit was lost. It wasn't lost by the landlord, but instead the tinpot of an agency the landlord went through. As I understand it, the agency paid our deposits in to the DPS, but then a few years later withdrew them all, returned them to the landlord and dissolved the company.

Now it has come to returning mine, being the last tenant to leave, it transpires the agency returned all but one deposit to the landlord. I've tried bringing a claim against the woman who (I've been told ran the agency) but she denies having any affiliation with it. I suspect, she kept it off the books. So, I have no company to claim from, no responsible director etc and the only option is the landlord.

Under other circumstances this wouldn't be a problem, but she is the mother of one of my best friends and business partner. She has supplied sufficient evidence that shows she never received my deposit back, so her only fault is not resubmitting our deposits to a new protection scheme.

I'm loathe to give up on this, but it's now been 7 months and all 'official' bodies seem to tear at their hair claiming I should have been protected under the deposit scheme and can't understand how this situation arose.

If anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful to hear them.

Kind regards,

Ryan

dancingfairy

From what I understood your contract was with the landlady,and as such it was her responsibility to register the deposit (or insure it was registered) and her resonsibility. The agents were just that, her agents. Surely you have to chase her and any problems regarding the deposit are between her and the agency?
It is part and parcel of being a landlord and just one of the potential complications/expenses as far as I can see. I don't see how it's your fault and therefore would expect her to return your deposit (out of her own pocket if neccesary).
I guess you need to decide whether to risk your friendship and push the whole deposit isssue
Anyway hopefully one of the experts can clarify for you.
Best of Luck
df

Kynthia

The landlord is responsible for your deposit as they are who you have a contract with. The LL has to repay you and then can chose to sue the agent to recover their loss if they wish.

Lovelyjoolz

Agree with what Kynthia says. Your LL has a much better chance of recovering the deposit from the agent because she will have had a contract with them, and there should be documentary evidence to show that they took a desposit from you. Couple that with any proof she has that she didn't recieve the desposit back and she should have a pretty good chance in the small claims court.

I can't see how your friendship could be jeopodised by this. She is a LL and therefore a businesswoman. She should be fully prepared for events such as these.

Good luck.

rentergirl

It's the business of your money, and you have to pursue this. I suspect a letter, calmly and politely expressing with regret that you have been advised there is no option other than the small claims court, and that she knows you don't to make her pay up and cover both your costs, might persuade her to stump. It is her responsibility.

RyDG

Thank you all, it seems the solution is unanimous! I'll give it a go and hope she does understand, thank you all for your time

RobertoMoir

dancingfairy wrote: »

I guess you need to decide whether to risk your friendship and push the whole deposit isssue

That kinda cuts both ways though doesn't it? Apparently the LL is prepared to risk the friendship by not returning the deposit already, despite their legal obligation to do so.

RyDG

Hello all,

I'm returning to this post because I have progressed and asked the landlord to repay my deposit. It's now about 3 weeks later and it appears I'm being ignored in the hope I'll go away.

So. I've lost all patience. I'll be taking it to the small claims court. However I have a couple of questions regarding the following from DirectGov:

If your tenant believes their deposit is not being protected in a scheme, they can apply to the county court. If the court is satisfied that the landlord has not used a scheme to protect the deposit or has not done all the things he is required to under the legislation and scheme rules, it must do one of the following:
order the person holding the deposit to repay it to the tenant
order the person holding the deposit to pay it into a custodial scheme’s bank account within 14 days
In addition, the court must also order the landlord to pay the tenant between one and three times the deposit within 14 days of making the order.

So the County court must order extra repayment of between 1-3 times the amount. Can anyone tell me if the County court is what deals with small claims? When making my small claims, do I have include a 1 - 3 times amount? Surely not? If anyone can give me an idea how it works I'd be grateful.

Thank you,

Ryan

Kynthia

I think county court isn't small claims court and it costs you a lot more to use them, but I'm not definite on this. Also I think you can only claim x3 of the deposit if it's not protected while you are still a tenant. As the tenancy is now over I don't think this applies to you.