Please help Tenancy deposit scheme

Dianew2k3

Can anyone help what can i do next?? The following email was sent to the TDS with my details


I am emailing regarding the following dispute

I email you with great concerns regarding a dispute from the above account my concerns detail the following:

1) I reveived no letter to confirm that there was a dispute regarding the tenancy from the landlord and on your automated service it states 'you cannot commence a dispute unless the dispute has been raised with your lanlord' (double standars), the last letter i received confirmed that the agents had deducted a large quantity of my bond and were willing to return £185, with which i sent a letter confirming my acceptance of the deducations
2) I then reieved 4 letters in total containing 67 pages of information (jargon) to advise that i can contest the claim
3) I contacted the phone number for TDS to get support with this matter and attempted to complete the dispute forms

Firstly i am completely overwhelmed that such an amount of jargon can be classed as necessary i am a manager within the NHS and deal with paperwork on a daily basis but i am highly frustrated that i am expected to understand how to follow the 'instrusctions'. However after spending around 7 munites on the phone i managed to log in to the claim (which i was talked through step by step as it was certainly not straight forward) i was advised to click on the details of the dispute in the 'evidence portal section' , so i could then submit my evidence against the dispute, great, it brought up a lot of barcodes and numbers so again after spending 7 minutes on the phone and 10 minutes on the computer i am still no wiser.
So i attempt to fill in section 1 absent of the evidence, i complete all the details and it advises me i can save these details HOW?? i have no clue how to save the 15 minutes worth of details i have just filled in, so now that is lost.
I then attempt to sit down and fill it in paper form, WOW 67 pages were do i start???
I have degrees and qualifications that give me the ability to work in a highly technical role and i cannot begin to start to fill in these forms either paper based or electronically, i am aware the landlords complete these regurlarly however i am extremely concerned that tenants do not get the support to do so, and the the way to do this is so complicated and off putting i am considering completely abondoning the dispute.
I think your systems and process's are completely unfriendly, i have recently moved house and have again signed up to the TDS not really knowing how they support tenants however i would like to opt out of this Tenancy deposit scheme if at all possible as to me it feels like a way of bullying tenants by overwhelming them with paperwork out of their deposit.

I would be greatful to hear a response to the above and how i am expected to move forward.

Thanks Diane

If anyone could give me advice i would be greatful :j

casperlarue

Hello Diane, having read through your thread I'm afraid I can't make head nor tail of it.....what do you want help with?

Have you complained to TDS regarding a deduction from a deposit? Not really sure whats going on here, the email and your comments all seem to be muddled up!

G_M

I too am bemiused. For a graduate, and NHS manager, I'd have expected a more coherant post.

Please re-post, using paragraphs to seperate issues, questions, facts.

Please provide background (just the facts not a ramble) of the tenancy, the dates and events.

And clarify what question you are asking us.

theartfullodger

dianew2k3 wrote: »

.......

...... ,,, I am a manager within the NHS and deal with paperwork on a daily basis but ...

Is unlikely to get you sympathy or help with very many people. I am of course not in any way criticizing you or the NHS...

Could you let us know which trust so we may select it, or not, should we require treatment??

Cheers!

Dianew2k3

Sorry , its the frustration
Yeah the tds are now telling me I need to dispute the claim but I have no clue how on earth I am able to do this without spending hours (I have all ready spent 2) sorting through the now 81 pieces of paper :-/ I feel as though they are just bullying me out of disputing the claims by overwhelming me with paperwork and jargon :-/

Thanks D

G_M

http://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/raise-a-dispute.html

Really should not be beyond the competancy of anyone who's achieved a basic literacy education.

If it IS beyond you, the local CAB will help, though their resources are in huge demand and frankly better used helping those with less education than you claim.

Dianew2k3

As part of the original tenancy I was asked to sign up to the tds which I did I've left the property after 5 years and was offered £185 of my bond which I accepted (knowing there are problems) such as carpets needing replacing and I have wallpapered the property (which hadn't been agreed), however I then got letters from the tds stating the landlord had disputed the agents quote and I'm now expected to provide lots of evidence of how I dispute this.
The website is so confusing and the letters contain 25+ pages each :-/ with a lot of jargon.
Without spending £185 worth of phone credit being talked through the process I don't know what else to do

Thanks and sorry for the confusion people

Dianew2k3

Have you attempted to fill it on??

G_M

I was asked to sign up to the tds which I did

No you weren't and no you didn't. The landlord signed up to tds.

What exactly are you disputing?
* How much was your deposit?
* was the original agreement that £185 of this would be returned or that £185 would be taken off the total? (your post not clear)
* how much is the LL now proposing to deduct?
* what are the deductions for? (ie £X for new carpets in living room/bedromm1 etc)
*How old are the carpets?
* what condition were the carpets in 5 years ago? Did you sign a check-in inventory?
* ditto the wallpaper
* what evidence if any has the LL provided to justify the deduction?

Dianew2k3

The original deposit was £425 the agents proposed to give me £185 back deducting £240
I wasn't happy with this really but accepted
The carpets weren't the best when I moved in however with young children running about they got worse so I accept liability for that they incorporated this into £240 deduction
I had regular property visits(3 monthly) and there were no more issues raised by the agent with the upkeep so I didn't alter anything
The tds advised the list of problems are on there website but when I click the link for "evidence portal" it only shows barcodes and serial numbers
The agents accepted to manage the property and at no point did they highlight faults (which I they had) I could have dealt with (I'm not sure what these faults even are)
The tds have replied to my email saying they will put the dispute on hold and contact the landlord/ agent.
Surely the agent haven't 'managed' the property to the landlords standards or the landlord is aware of how complicated it is to dispute the claim!
Whilst in the property I informed the agents that we were having problems with the drains they came and said it was "a big job" and would return I rang again but got nothing (one of the reasons I moved) I have since been advised the waste pipe from the house isn't connected to the main drains and has been draining under the garden for 10 years so I feel quite angry that this wasn't addressed too
I am considering just leaving it all together because or the sake of £185 it's really not worth the hassle
I'm disputing nothing other than the carpets were highlighted on all of the property inspections but on moving out the landlord believes there to be £425 worth of damage

Thanks for your reply

Fire_Fox

Dianew2k3 I don't mean to be rude but do you have dyslexia or similar? If so IMO you would be best getting the support of the CAB or even someone at work to help you complete the forms. I can't understand your posts and none of us here can see the documents you have received.