Struggling to get our bond back.

ikkle87

Hi Guys,

Just wondered if anybody could offer some advice and guidance.

On the 10th October me and my partner signed an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for 6 months. We paid a deposit of £600. On the 10th April me and my partner moved out. The landlords agent came to do a final check on the property and said everything was satisfactory and we were infact leaving the property in a better state than when we had moved in. There would be no problems and our bond would be returned.

The tenancy agreement states:
If a tenancy deposit is payable it must be dealt with under one of the Government-approved schemes.
The Tenant pays the Deposit as security for the performance of the Tenant's obligations and to pay and compensate the Landlord for the reasonable costs of any breach of those obligations. It is agreed that this sum shall not be transferable by the Tenant in any way and at any time against payment of the Rent and that no interest shall be payable on this Deposit.


We were also sent a Tenant Checklist by the Landlord's Agent about two weeks before vacating the property. The Checklist states this:

Return of Deposit
Please note that your deposit will not be returned at the checkout. It will be refunded by company cheque sent by 1st class mail to your forwarding address normally within 24 hours. Where it is necessary for us to obtain estimates for replacements or remedial works, there may be a further delay, but we will endeavour to keep this to a minimum.


However we've still not received the bond back and on speaking to the Landlord's Agent he has told me the landlord has the money and it's his responsibility to send the deposit back and that he will try and chase him up about it but they don't have the deposit themselves.


We've only ever dealt with the Landlord's Agent and never even met the Landlord.

What is our next step to try and get the bond back.

Thanks in advance. x

dancingfairy

Firstly the ultimate responsibility for the deposit does indeed rest with the landlord.
Acouple of questions:
1) Was there an inventory taken and at the start of the tenancy and one at the end or was it all just a verbal agreement?
2) Have you ever receieved notification of what scheme your deposit was held in?

If youhave not received notification of what scheme your deposit is in then you need to check with the 3 agencies if they have indeed got your deposit registered or not. One of themis called MyDeposits Ithink - I'm sure a quick google will return details of the other 2.
If you find it has been registered then you can get in touch with the deposit scheme and say you want your money back. If it hasn't been registered thenyour only recourse will be to threaten the landlord with court action (and then possibly have to follow it up).
Check the schemes and then post further if necessary andI'm sure someonewill help with the next steps.
Best of Luck
df

BitterAndTwisted

Only one of the three schemes: DPS is where the tenant's money is actually transferred adn held by the scheme. The other two: TDS and MyDeposits are insurance-based schemes where the landlord physically retains the cash. From the sound of your TA It appears that the landlord may be using either TDS or MyDepsits.

You can interrogate both of those sites by searching for the property address to check whether your deposit has been registered with them even if you have not been furnished with the information by the agent or landlord. Please do that now.

Meanwhile start composing a letter to the landlord, requesting return of your deposit in full as the agent has carried out the check-out and confirmed that the property was in an appropriate condition at the end of your tenancy. Ask that the landlord responds within ten days.

ikkle87

Hi guys,

Thanks for your help so far, on the 26th I actually spoke to the Landlord who said he thought he had already sent our cheque but would check his desk when he got back to the office. This has made me think he doesn't know what he's doing or is trying to bide for time as surely you would know if you had sent a cheque for £600.

I searched both the above sites and neither show our deposit.

My OH works near our old home and drove past the other night and said it's still empty. Part of me thinks the landlord is waiting for the property to be rented out to new tenants and will then send us our bond back.

The letting agent won't give me a contact address for the landlord so I don't know how to go about contacting him direct, and I don't have a contact number for them either, they rang me on a withheld number after the agent told them to.

We did have a written inventory when we moved in, but the checkout was all done verbally but the agent has confirmed in email that the property was fine when we moved out and had they held the deposit we would have had it back straight away.

Added to the fact I'm 18 weeks pregnant and the fact I feel like we've lost £600 is starting to make me feel ill, it might not be masses of money but it would certainly help with my maternity leave and buying baby bits.

I'm just not sure what else I can do? I'm starting to feel like a bit of a nag to the agent but we stuck to all the terms and conditions stipulated in the agreement I just feel like the landlord should too.

BitterAndTwisted

You haven't lost your £600. Not yet. What address was there for the landlord on your tenancy agreement? Is there a different address for the landlord on the Land Registry site?

If you draw a blank on both of those just write a "Letter Before Action" addressed to the landlord c/o the agent, and also send a copy direct to the agent. Send two copies of each of your letters from two different post offices on the same day by first-class post (not recorded or signed-for) and retain proof-of-postage. Also keep a copy of this letter for future reference in case you need it.

In your letter in addition to confirming that the agent was happy with the condition of the property at check-out I would also mention that you are aware that for all tenancies which started after April 2007 tenant's deposits by law should have been registered with one of the three deposit-protection schemes and that penalties for non-protection have been levied against landlords by the courts. And that should your deposit not be returned in full within 14 days you will seek return of same through the court without further communication with them.

Check with all three schemes NOW and have them confirm that yours isn't protected in writing if you can persuade them to. DPS, TDS and MyDeposits

DO NOT speak to anyone on the phone again: EVERYTHING needs to be in writing from now on.

tbs624

As B&T says.

OP - check on your gas safety cert, if there are gas appliances at the property. LL's name and address may appear on there.

If you check and find that your deposit absolutely is not registered with any of the 3 schemes, the LA continues to be obstructive and you are still not getting an appropriate response from the LL himself then *write* to the LA telling them you are requesting the LL's name and address for the purpose of initiating legal proceedings for the return of your tenancy deposit. Keep a copy of the letter. If they start bleating about data protection refer them to S35(2)(a) of the DPA 1998

See also under the heading Tenancy deposits paid between 6 April 2007 and 5 April 2012 on the Shelter page linked to here

ikkle87

Thank you for your responses, I have heard back from the 3rd scheme today and they also confirmed they do not and have never held a deposit in our names at that address so I have started to write the letter.

Is this ok:
On the 10th October 2011 We paid you a tenancy deposit of £600 in respect of the above property.

The Housing Act 2004 (as amended by the 2011 Localism Act) introduced the concept of “Tenancy Deposit Protection” with regard to AST tenancies and obliges landlords to protect/register all tenancy deposits with one of 3 approved schemes.

We have verified with all three schemes that the deposit you hold was not protected by any scheme. This is unlawful.

You must provide proof of valid protection OR refund the outstanding balance of our deposit IN FULL within 14 days. If you fail to do so, We shall sue you for the balance PLUS the statutory penalty for non-protection of deposits, which is between one and three times the value of the deposit.

Your sincerely.


Or should I reword it? Sorry I just don't really know how/what to write it as I've never had to do this before.

Thanks.