Letting agent counterclaim

becca5391

I've posted on here before about my old student letting agency which called the deposit a "reward", seemingly to get out of having to put it into a protection scheme.

They didn't give us the reward back at the end of the tenancy because of a broken bed that they said was our fault. The whole property was in a terrible state from the start of the tenancy (which we have photos of and put in writing to them).

I filed a claim through the small claims court against them to get this "reward" of £100 back and they have now filed a counter claim against me for a broken bed which they said costs £300 to replace.

Would it be possible that I would have to pay the £300 back when it was a joint tenancy?

theartfullodger

'phone Shelter on 0808 800 4444 & get their advice..

The agent can call it what they like but it sounds like a deposit to me... see....

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/34/section/213

Housing Act 2004 Section 213 para 8..

(8)In subsection (7) “deposit” means a transfer of property intended to be held (by the landlord or otherwise) as security for—
(a)the performance of any obligations of the tenant, or
(b)the discharge of any liability of his,
arising under or in connection with the tenancy.

i.e. it doesn't matter what it is called, it is a deposit...

In this context "property" means anything of value transferred which can include ££££££

Given they are clearly cheats you need to treat them as such

Cheers!

FireWyrm

Bwah ha ha ha ha...

Take the greedy shiftless s0ds to court...let them explain their definition of a 'reward' to a judge.

Just go to the small claims court, do not pass go and you might even collect £200 for your trouble.

Fire_Fox

Why are you taking the letting agency to court? You should be filing against the landlord.

rpc

Take em to court. Greedy so and sos.

If it sounds like a deposit and quacks like a deposit... The law will ignore such obfuscations as calling it something different.

princeofpounds

What firefox said. Normally it is the landlord you should be pursuing.

tbs624

Hi becca - it would perhaps have been best to keep to just the one thread rather than having three separate related ones on the go - easier for respond posters to see what has gone before.

For reference:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4022129
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/55656283#Comment_55656283

Other posters may like to read the LAs webpages
http://www.samarahomes.co.uk/tenants
http://www.samarahomes.co.uk/reward

Within the FAQs there is also this:

"Don't forget there is no deposit to pay, and it gets better, xxxxx will reward all Tenants with £100 at the end of the Tenancy, provided they are good Tenants i.e adhering to the terms of the contract* (My bolding.)

There is just one recent review over at http://www.allagents.co.uk/review/34738/, which also mentions a "reward" being withheld

OP- are this lot signed up to Unipol's Code ? Are they on the Uni's approved accoms list?

Leeds Council seem have a good record for dealing with errant LLs so you may want to take your paperwork to the Tenancy Relations Officer (private sector housing) for them to look through

Fire_Fox

So the OP was referring to and told to write to the landlord is an earlier thread, no idea why they have started legal action against the agent.

tbs624

Strange that in the LA's list of links from its website it offers up Housing Advice NI , as in Northern Ireland: the LA is based in Leeds and seems to only deal with rental properties in Leeds.

Are they hoping to confuse Ts or are they confused themselves?

tbs624

OP also refers to "As well as this, I just discovered they've charged me 13 months rent when the tenancy lasted for 12." back in June in one of the other related threads.

OP - if you paid your rent by Standing Order then *you* should have instructed your bank to cease payment on the appropriate date. Have you now sorted this part out?