Security deposit issue

sinbad0910

Slightly complicated story so please bear with me, My partner of 11 months began renting a property at the beginning of last April. Because of her single status at the time she applied to the council for help with the £675 security deposit. She had to pay £675 + £575 a months rent in advance on the 1st of April 2011. The council were unable to provide £500 towards the security deposit until about a week later, because of this my partner borrowed £500 from her father to take possession of the keys on the 1st of April. She was given only cash or building society cheque as a method of payment on the 1st of April and paid £1250 in cash. She also handed over the cheque from the council for £500 a week later. As far she knew she now had £1175 in a deposit scheme £500 of which would go back to the council. My partner ended the tenancy at the end of March. The landlord was in agreement that none of the security deposit would need to be kept back and we should get the full deposit refunded. The problem has started with the letting agent, they have only placed £175 of the initial £675 in a deposit scheme and say that the £500 from the council is in the scheme too but we have seen no proof of this. They are also trying to make out there is no record of payment for the other £500 whiuch she had to borrow yet a member of staff admitted remembering taking the payment be cause of the belated cheque from the council. What would be our legal standpoint on this, my partner recieved the keys on the 1st of April surely this proves the full deposit was paid then and the £500 cheque was added at a later date. She does not have a receipt for when she handed over the money but does have documentation stating £1250 was payable on the 1st of April. We have been into their offices and the file on us was missing (presumably to be doctored), we are now at the point of involving solicitors. Advice please...

Hump

She can't get the council's £500. As it's not her money why is she concerned? surely the only people here who should be bothered are the council?

Has she checked whether the council have any record of having received the £500 back (in fact you could ask them whether the original £500 cheque was even cashed).

The simple approach here is to say to the lettings agent that they should send the council's £500 back to the council. AND tell the council that they can expect to get their £500 from the lettings agent. Never know, it might work......

BitterAndTwisted

If a deposit was paid together with a month's rent in advance why do you think that that month's rent should have been included in the deposit amount and therefore repayable after the end of the tenancy? Deposit is deposit and rent in advance is rent.

sinbad0910

No you misunderstand, i said it was complicated. On April 1st 2011 she was due to pay £1250, £575 rent plus £675 security deposit. £500 was supposed to be the cheque from the council. The cheque from the council was delayed a week so she had to raise the £1250 her self. The Letting agent recieved £1750 within the first week. Of which now £1175 instead of £675 had been recieved for the security deposit. The letting agency are trying to make out they only recieved £675 but they recieved £675 off my partner £500 off the council (effectively bond was paid twice) plus the first months rent of £575. And they are trying to make out they only recived the £500 part of bond from council even though a member of staff remembers taking the full amount.

sinbad0910

Out of the £1175 they recieved on top of the first months rent they are only willing to pay £175 back to my partner and £500 to the council. Which would mean she paid £1075 rather than £575 for the first months rent.

sinbad0910

What mny partner should have done is simply given the cheque back to the council (i was not on scene at the time) then it would have been simple. But as cheque was payable to letting agent she paid that to them assuming that would be now £1175 security deposit which technically it should have been. They have simply tried to pocket it.