Deposit Protection Scheme and disputes

kazca

Hi

My tenant's deposit is held within the Deposit Protection Scheme. Has anyone had any experience of the arbitration procedure where a tenant/landlord dispute regarding deposit money occurs at the end of the rental period. I am hoping that the procedure to retain compensation from that deposit in the event of unpaid bills, damage, unfulfilled obligations, etc is a simple and straightforward one.

G_M

It is simple and strightforward provided you have the evidence to support your claim to make deductions from the deposit. Have you?

* unpaid bills - what bills? I asume these are bills owed to you, not for utilities that are in the tenants name as that would be a matter between the tenant and the utility company.

* damage - I assume you have a check-in inventory, with full description (and photos?) of the condition of the damaged items at the start of the tenancy, signed by the tenant? You will need this (or similar eg dated receipt for a brand new item) to prove the item was damaged during the tenancy.

* unfilled obligations - not sure what this might mean but again I assume you have written evidence of whatever these obligations are?

* etc - that is a bit vague. You will need to be more specific when making a cliam!

bouicca21

As a tenant who recently used a dispute resolution service to get my deposit back from a dodgy landlord, I can confirm that it is straightforward. You need to assemble all your evidence - and there is plenty of advice on the deposit schemes' websites about what evidence you need, e.g. condition report, inventory, photos.

armour

Apologies for hijacking the post slightly, I have a friend (LL) whose letting agent is chasing an ex tenant for a tenancy agreement extension which neither party wanted. The letting agent has stated that the ex tenant is ok with them taking the fee (for the agreement which was never signed) out of the deposit. Having spoken to the ex tenant (who left the property in a poor state - but that's another story), he says that's not the case. My friend wants some reparations due to damage/non cleaning etc. So will want to retain some of the deposit.
My question is:
Will my friend have to authorise the deduction re. The agent's fee or will they be able to 'slip it through' without authorisation?

G_M

I don't really understand.

1) the tenancy extension fee is being charged by the agent to the tenant? None of the LL's affair!

2) the deposit is the tenant's money, held by (or on behalf of) the LL. So is a matter between LL and tenant. If LL wishes to make deductions for damage/unpaid rent, make deductions.

These two matters are unrelated.

On the other hand if the tenancy extension fee is being charged by the agent to the LL, then taht is between the LL and agent and is none of the tenant's affair, and is also unrelated to the deposit.

armour

Thanks for the response GM. I'll try to make it clearer.
After the initial 6 mth AST, the tenancy became periodic which suited both LL & tenant. The agent however sent the tenant a new 6 mth agreement for signature plus a request for their fee. The tenant ignored this (the relationship between agent and tenant had been poor for a long time) and three months later the tenant has given notice and left and the agent still want their fee out of the deposit.
What I'm asking is is it legal for the agent to take this (questionable) fee out of the deposit and will my friend have to give authorisation?

kazca

Thanks for the replies and no problem with the thread being hijacked - hopefully you get the answer you require.

My descriptions of potential claims against the tenant deposit were vague because at the moment this is theoretical. Just getting prepared for what may lie ahead.

Is the Deposit Protection Scheme dispute arbitration free of charge?

Thanks

bmar71n

it is very straight forward, at the end of the tenancy you as the landlord state how much of the deposit is to be returned to the tenant and they either agree which is straight forward (all of which is done online), or if there is a dispute the disputed amount is held until the dispute is resolved.

I would also suggest that it would be unwise to use the deposit to pay for unpaid rent, i would suggest using the small claims court for unpaid rent as the deposit may not be big enough to pay for both unpaid rent and any damage to the property.

Yorkie1

bmar71n wrote: »

I would also suggest that it would be unwise to use the deposit to pay for unpaid rent, i would suggest using the small claims court for unpaid rent as the deposit may not be big enough to pay for both unpaid rent and any damage to the property.

The tenancy will state what the deposit can be used in relation to, and by the time the LL is deciding how much deposit to return, the amounts of unpaid rent/ damage will be known. Yes, it may be necessary to resort to court if there is a surplus or the tenancy doesn't permit use of deposit for rent arrears, but otherwise the deposit scheme is perfectly designed for both.

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

1) the tenancy extension fee is being charged by the agent to the tenant? None of the LL's affair!

I'd argue the contrary: agreement regarding costs of new tenancy agreement is purely between the landlord and the tenant.
The agent can only charge the tenant on behalf of the landlord.

BitterAndTwisted

The agent cannot take monies from the tenant's deposit without the landlord's agreement. If the landlord disagrees that this tenancy-renewal fee is payable then they should have nothing to do with it. Let the agent collect their fee from the tenant by some other method. In this particular instance the tenant did not sign a new tenancy agreement so I can't see how the agent can insist that it is due and payable. If I were the tenant I'd decline to agree to that particular deduction and I don't see how the deposit protection scheme's arbitrators would agree to it either. No signature equals no contractual obligation.