Deposit problems, please advise

Neodr31

Hey all

This is a slightly complex, but no doubt common, problem. I will keep it as concise as possible.

From 10/2011 to 10/2012 myself and three other friends rented a property, from a private landlord. During this time it became apparent the landlord wasn't fully attentive or organised, with many problems going unanswered. The main issue was that, despite numerous requests, the landlord would not provide us with a copy of our signed contract or the DPS certificate. Now, according to the Localism Act 2011 the landlord should have protected our deposit and provided us with the prescribed information within 30 days. To this day I am not sure the deposit is protected, though he swears it is. Regardless, he still broke the law by not providing us with the information. At one point we threatened to withhold rent if he didn't give us the certificate, at which point he promised it and so we paid rent. Surprise surprise no certificate turned up. By this point the tenancy was nearly over, so we didn't pursue it further.

Upon moving out , we gave him a week before requesting the deposit back in writing via email. No response to the email. Eventually I got through to him on the phone and he said he would send the full amount that same evening, after checking that all our rent was paid (which it of course was). Unsurprisingly this didn't happen. We gave it a few more days, then I tried contacting him again. Same deal, not responding to txts or picking his phone up. Eventually I get a message from him saying that he is on holiday and will sort our deposit out when he gets back. I asked him when he would get back, and eventually got a response saying it would be a further 2 weeks. Assuming he sends it as soon as he gets back it will have been over 5 weeks from the date we moved out!

We are beginning to lose confidence that he will return the deposit at all. He ignores our messages and has lied/misled us throughout the tenancy. In this modern age you can bank from wherever, using the internet or phone etc, so even abroad he could do this. It is his responsibility, and he should have done it before leaving the country. We sent a message saying that we appreciate he is on holiday, but perhaps he could use any of these mediums or even instruct a relative/associate to send the money to us. No responses to these suggestions. The lack of DPS certificate is also a source of worry for us, and another reason for our lack of confidence.

We are now wondering how we should proceed to get this deposit back quickly.We could obviously make a claim to the DPS (MyDeposits, supposedly), but after reading through all their scheme rules and guidelines, I am not sure this would get anything done quickly. According to the guidelines if we make a claim, then he can counter claim with damage claims etc. Any claim he makes would have no substance, as he hasn't been in the house since we moved out or the new tenants moved in (moved in on the same day, hours later, and I am in contact with them) but would delay everything considerably. He has broken many scheme rules, and country laws, but the scheme rules do not specify what his punishment would be. If they specified a punishment then we could have something to threaten him with, but they don't. We are all students and need this money to pay for rent on our new places, and it looks as a DPS claim will take a long time to go through.

Another option for us would of course be the courts, as according to the Localism Act 2011 he could be ordered to pay up to 3x the deposit value as a fine, and also pay the deposit back to us. However, this would of course entail court costs which we would need to pay up front, and would take a long time. I would rather not go down this route, but do you think it would be sensible to threaten this?

I guess my questions are thus:

1. Is it reasonable for us to start sending strongly worded emails, perhaps with legal threats, 4 weeks after moving out of the property? Based on the information about the landlord does anyone think a softer approach is worth it?

2. What would be the fastest way to get this deposit back, quickly? Has anyone had experience in getting deposits back from landlords who seemed to be dragging their feet and ignoring correspondence.

Any help that people could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Daniel.

G_M

Put in a claim to the scheme for the deposit to be released.

Fire_Fox

It's worth running an advanced search, these issues come up several times a week. Firstly check with the three schemes whether your deposit is lodged and printout the information. You cannot use their mediation or dispute service if your deposit is not lodged!

Next stop dealing with the landlord by text/ telephone/ e-mail, write a 'letter before action' as per the longer Shelter template, include all the recommended documents and send two copies from different Post Offices and get/ retain the proof of posting. Landlords more often respond to tenants who clearly know their legal rights and communicate formally in writing than ones who telephone or text, but obviously there are no guarantees.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/court_action_to_get_a_tenancy_deposit_returned

Neodr31

G_M wrote: »

Put in a claim to the scheme for the deposit to be released.

One problem here is that (assuming the deposit is protected at all) MyDeposits do not require the deposit to be sent to them, unless there is a claim to it. Thus the landlord is still in possession of our money. If we make a claim then he has to send it in within ten days, unless he opts to use the courts, and then we get into the situation of each having to provide evidence as to why we deserve the deposit. The timescale for how long the whole process could take could be months (They send him forms, he has ten days to return them, they send some more, he has ten more days etc)

RAS

Well if you do not even start the process, it will take even longer for you to get the money back.

G_M

Neodr31 wrote: »

One problem here is that (assuming the deposit is protected at all) MyDeposits do not require the deposit to be sent to them, unless there is a claim to it. Thus the landlord is still in possession of our money. If we make a claim then he has to send it in within ten days, unless he opts to use the courts, and then we get into the situation of each having to provide evidence as to why we deserve the deposit. The timescale for how long the whole process could take could be months (They send him forms, he has ten days to return them, they send some more, he has ten more days etc)

In that case you may as well give up. No one here can suddenly make the process change!

Either follow the process, or walk away and get on with life.

tbs624

Daniel - your first step should be to check for yourself via each of three schemes - DPS, TDS and mydeposits - whether the deposit was in fact scheme registered. This can be done online. You can't resolve a dispute via a scheme without the deposit being registered there.

Note that if you are students and on a low income it is unlikely that you will have to pay court costs, if you chose to proceed via that route Check out the Courts Service web pages - there is a specific form on Court Costs.

For those who do have to pay court costs, a refund of these can of course be applied for as part of the case against the LL.