Landlord refusing to repay deposit, no Inventory, no deposit scheme.

Stakkertoo

I recently moved out of a property after a five year tenancy. When moving in, August 2007, we paid the deposit of £1600 to the landlord, who failed to lodge it with a government approved tenancy deposit scheme despite the first page of the (Assured Shorthold) tenancy agreement stating that this would be done.

The tenancy ended recently and landlord has been withholding my deposit for over 3 weeks due to claims for repairs and cleaning. I offered to pay £200 for some repairs/cleaining that I agree do not constitute fair wear and tear of a five year tenancy however she has not accepted this.
Please note, there is no inventory as the landlord neglected to ensure that one was taken at the commencement of the let.

I have copies of all our emails over the last few days, and whilst I have tried to remain professional and business-like she has repeatedly made comments that betray that she has some personal issue with me. (When I warned her about possible legal action, she told me to watch my tone.) I've not pulled her up on it as I figured it would only help in the event this went to court.

Without going into deeper details can anyone tell me if I have a case for a small claims action against her, to recover my deposit, minus the repairs that I AM prepared to subsidise?

Fire_Fox

There are many threads on this, it is worth running an advanced search.

Deal with this in writing from now on, send two copies of every letter from different Post Offices, getting a proof of posting. Send her a simple 'letter before action'. There are templates on reputable sites like Shelter, if you run an advanced search they are linked to here or you could just Google.

It is worth being clear on what actually constitutes wear and tear, many tenants have the wrong idea about this. For example scuffs on the walls and darker patches on the carpets in doorways are dirt not wear and tear. TBH tho you are muddying the waters by agreeing to any deductions, you should get your deposit returned in full plus a penalty of up to three times the deposit.

You are right to ignore all personal or inflammatory remarks, stick to the facts, use the 'broken record tecchnique' - the issues are threefold
- deposit not lodged
- no inventory
- place left in as good or better state of repair and cleanliness than started.

Stakkertoo

Thanks for your reply.

I understand that everything should be in writing from now on, but are you saying that I my emails might not be admissable? Should I not use them when entering a Small Claims court action in the section where it asks for 'letters to and from your landlord'?

I think I read somewhere that it might be looked upon favourably if I appear to be willing to pay for some cleaning/repair. So you think this isn't worthwhile? Once it goes to court, forget the offer and just go for the deposit?

Thanks again.

Werdnal

I believe, and others may be along to confirm or otherwise, that the deposit penalties tightened up in the Localism Act in May, state that a LL who fails to protect, forfeits the right to claim anything from the deposit. Furthermore, even if LL returns the whole deposit amount unquestioned, the tenant can go to court and fine them for 1-3x the deposit.

I would write to the LL, pointing out their failure to protect will incurr the above penalties if they force you into court action. Use the title "Letter before Action" on your letter and keep free proof of posting (the trouble with emails is you have no proof they have bee received - whilst 1st class proof of posting is deemed delivered 2 working day later). Tell the LL that if they do not return the whole amount, you will be taking court action to recover the deposit in full, and seek the 1-3x penalty on top.

Incidentally, did you leave through choice or were you given notice? LL cannot issue section 21 notice seeking possession if the deposit was not protected at the time.

rpc

Use your emails, but letters are better. Emails are not inadmissable, but they don't always have the same weight as a piece of paper does.

edit: I mean use the emails you have already sent as evidence. From now on, letters only.

Stakkertoo

Werdnal wrote: »

Incidentally, did you leave through choice or were you given notice? LL cannot issue section 21 notice seeking possession if the deposit was not protected at the time.

She gave me notice in March, saying she wanted to move her son in, but it appears it was just so she could raise the rent, as the property was listed in a local agents a few days after I left.

Would it be worth asking a solicitor friend to send my "letter of action" from his firm on headed paper? Would it carry more weight or is it supposed to be a personal thing from me to the landlord?

Stakkertoo

Werdnal wrote: »

a LL who fails to protect, forfeits the right to claim anything from the deposit. Furthermore, even if LL returns the whole deposit amount unquestioned, the tenant can go to court and fine them for 1-3x the deposit.

Do I need to do two small claims actions, one asking for my deposit back as well, or is it sufficient to just concentrate on the deposit not being places in a scheme?

Werdnal

Stakkertoo wrote: »

She gave me notice in March, saying she wanted to move her son in, but it appears it was just so she could raise the rent, as the property was listed in a local agents a few days after I left.

Would it be worth asking a solicitor friend to send my "letter of action" from his firm on headed paper? Would it carry more weight or is it supposed to be a personal thing from me to the landlord?

You are probably well rid of a landlord who cuts corners on the letting legislation, but as the deposit was not protected, the notice she gave you then was invalid and you could have ignored it!

Stakkertoo

Crazy. We had a decent enough relationship until about 6 months ago, when she started being rather petty about things.


Anyway, back on track,

I don't need to claim the deposit minus the repairs. She's forfeited this, so I should be clear and just claim the whole deposit back?

How does one temper the desire to go for the penalties as well? She's shown she's quite prepared to damage me financially so I'm almost inclined to go for the 3x penalty, but in truth just want my deposit back.

How does that work? How do you come to a figure or is it entirely arbitrary? Indeed, do I need to make the claim or does the court award it?

RAS

Stakkertoo wrote: »

She's shown she's quite prepared to damage me financially

What one earth do you mean?

Stakkertoo

RAS wrote: »

What one earth do you mean?

Perhaps that sounded dramatic, but it's the impression I get as the situation has become quite unprofessional from the landlord's point of view. The landlord has stated their intent to take a fair chunk of my deposit for an unfair amount of repairs and cleaning, when the property is due a renovation if it is to be re-let.

As it is, I think I'm just going to go down the route of recovering 100% of my deposit.