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

terryw

You have to send a letter before action before a court claim. In your letter claim the actual deposit but point out that you will be claiming the3x penalty for not registering the deposit under the Localism Act. Perhaps even copy and paste the section of the act.

This will help in concentrating her mind.

Stakkertoo

terryw wrote: »

You have to send a letter before action before a court claim. In your letter claim the actual deposit but point out that you will be claiming the3x penalty for not registering the deposit under the Localism Act. Perhaps even copy and paste the section of the act.

This will help in concentrating her mind.

Really? Even if I don't want to be greedy? Just to get her to think about the consequences I guess?

Fire_Fox

Stakkertoo wrote: »

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.

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 can and should submit e-mails but formal communication is far better, you can demonstrate proof of posting/ proof of delivery to her residential address (or address for serving of notices). In extreme circumstances people can claim not to have received e-mails or that is not even their e-mail address. :eek:

If you have a solicitor friend pick their brains!!!! You can do your own letter before action with a template and your own small claims case, the system is set up for people not to have legal representation. It's one small claims case for everything to do with the deposit.

If you agree to several small deductions you risk leaving people thinking maybe you did not treat the place with respect. It's like people telling their doctor how much they drink or smoke, it's often underestimated. That is not the main issue here, she completely ignored the law, I don't think your notice to quit was even legal since your deposit was not lodged.

martinsurrey

This is a no win for her and a no lose for you.

The court will ask to see evidence of the registration of the deposit, she won’t be able to show it, she will lose before you've said a word, and then you show she has not only acted unlawfully, but also unreasonably, the judge will throw the book at her for wasting his time (the reason the registration scheme was set up in the first place!), you get your deposit + damages + costs, you get to go for a nice spot of lunch.

Fire_Fox

Stakkertoo wrote: »

Really? Even if I don't want to be greedy? Just to get her to think about the consequences I guess?

It is UP TO three times the penalty, you could get less or she may just cave before you start the small claims action. Don't underestimate the value of the time and stress this will take from you leaving the property up to the date you get your deposit back, and the costs of having to move for no good reason. You might be helping another tenant here, the law was changed to stop landlords scamming tenants but it's useless legislation if no tenants ever take advantage of it.

If you feel super guilty/ greedy you can always donate a portion of the money to a charity - you could make several blind people in the third world see, or give homeless people a hot meal in winter, or a few hours of a Macmillan Nurse for a cancer patient.

Stakkertoo

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If you agree to several small deductions you risk leaving people thinking maybe you did not treat the place with respect. It's like people telling their doctor how much they drink or smoke, it's often underestimated. That is not the main issue here, she completely ignored the law, I don't think your notice to quit was even legal since your deposit was not lodged.

In the back and forth communications where I responded to her list of complaints and refuted most of them, I did agree to a couple of them (stains on one carpet, and a dent in the plasterboard sustained during the move). I offered to pay for the carpet to be cleaned and the plasterboard to be repaired, the £200 which she has refused.

Would this work against me, or are you saying that it wouldn't even get that far?

Stakkertoo

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If you feel super guilty/ greedy you can always donate a portion of the money to a charity - you could make several blind people in the third world see, or give homeless people a hot meal in winter, or a few hours of a Macmillan Nurse for a cancer patient.

I like your thinking.

chris_m

Stakkertoo wrote: »

Really? Even if I don't want to be greedy? Just to get her to think about the consequences I guess?

The threat of court action and having to give you up to four times the deposit should get her thinking about the consequences quite nicely - unless she's a complete fool

Stakkertoo

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If you have a solicitor friend pick their brains!!!! You can do your own letter before action with a template and your own small claims case, the system is set up for people not to have legal representation. It's one small claims case for everything to do with the deposit.

Do you think the Notice Before Action would carry any more weight if it was sent from a solicitor or should I just do it myself? Bearing in mind the landlord scoffed at my threat of legal action this morning when I clearly spelled out that they were in breach of the law.

Would it be better to have the form N1 sent along with headed paper written from a solicitors point of view, "on behalf of my client etc"?

Stakkertoo

chris_m wrote: »

The threat of court action and having to give you up to four times the deposit should get her thinking about the consequences quite nicely - unless she's a complete fool

The thing is, I've already mentioned the threat of legal action and got a quite 'bring it on' reply from the landlord. :huh: