another deposit scheme post

tbs624

From Mydeposits Ts and Cs

C5 Actual End Date of the Tenancy
C5.1 At the Actual End Date of the Tenancy the Member must:

C5.1.1 Un-Protect the Deposit and provide us with an alternative address for the Tenant or Lead Tenant;

C5.1.2 Contact the Tenant(s) to negotiate the return of the Deposit;
NB: We recommend that Members keep of all attempts to contact the Tenant(s), Members should be aware that a Tenant has a statutory limitation period of six years from the Actual End Date of Tenancy to issue a claim in the Courts for the Deposit. Agent Members should inform Landlord Clients of this.

C5.1.3 Pay the Tenant any undisputed Deposit amount within 10 Calendar Days of a request being made by the Tenant for the return of the Deposit.

See also:

D1 Raising a Deposit Dispute

D1.1 A Tenant has Three Months from the Actual End Date of Tenancy to raise a Deposit Dispute. The Tenant must wait for 10 Calendar Days to elapse after formally requesting the return of the Deposit before raising a Deposit Dispute.

(my highlighting)

korky69

more advice needed please.
on my own situation, i never received a single response at all after my lease expired on 14/11 and thus put in a dispute.

my mate who has the same letting agent, well?
against my advice sought on here and the web, he still thought the agent still deserved some time?
though they never ever respond to problems.
I've since found out that he's now without a toilet and has resorted to saving any bath water to "bucket" down it and a their hot tap doesn't work, both problems reported ages ago.
they have now said they will see to his deposit, and if a plumber doesn't turn up, gave him their number for him to chase it up!

i did tell him to ignore all emails/calls from them and report them to the deposit co, but he is too scared to do this,
the agent does zero to help, apart from saying they'll sort the deposit out!
he still insists on replying via email, which I've expressed him not to do under any circumstances.
and now their washer is broke on wednesday...again! but said he'd still give them time to sort it?

he's a mate who constantly asking for advice, but takes none given!
i wont give up asking for him, but "if" they have now sorted his deposit, not yet confirmed, can he still report them either way?

i ask because he's scared of any aggro but I'm lead to believe that no court in England will issue an eviction order if the deposit wasn't protected and under dispute?
but what if it was withdrawn for 6 months without no notice and then is reprotected after no proof of asking?

as i said, he wrote 1 letter to them, but still insists on replying to any further communication via email despite me saying to ignore them.
they are a truly awful agent,
lost cause or keep plugging away?

dancingfairy

o.k you have many different issues here:
1) repairs. a landlord has to keep the property in basically a good condition in terms of sanitary ware, plumbing,electrics etc.
your mate needs to write tothe landlord at the address he has on his tenancy and explain the problems, detail the dates they were reported to the letting agents, any times, dates , names etc and find out when the landlord will get these issues sorted.
2) address for serving notices/contacting landlord etc. the letting agent has to provide a name and address for contacting the landlord i believe. i'm not 100% sure whether via the agent is considered sufficient for this but i'm sure one of the experts can assist on this (this will be relevant for item 1) ).
3). the issue of the deposit. yes, it should be registered and it appears it's not. i believe he can write asking the landlord to get it protected within x days or he can sue the landlord - again one of the experts can clarify this for you.
4) the issue of what type of contract he now has. this could be argued one of 2 ways - 1) either he has signed a new fixed contract so he is still in contract for the remainder of the 6 months (ie landlord can't just evict him) or he has rolled onto a rolling tenancy and no new tenancy has been signed so he wants his money back for signing new contract (if there isn't one). what your mate argues will depend on what he wants to achieve. he might want to argue he is on a rolling contract, give his notice to move and get the hell out of there and then sue for the deposit back. on the otherhand he may wish to argue he has a fixed term contract, chase up the repairs and talk to shelter about witholding rent to cover the repairs etc.
i think given the complete mess this situation is (due to landlord/agents incompetence) he should probably speak to shelter about his options and the way forward for him to proceed.
df

dancingfairy

oh and the landlord can't just evict your friend. it's going to depend very much on what type of contract he has- rolling or new fixed term but the landlord will have to serve the correct notice (which may well be invalid if the deposit is not protected ) and will then have to go to court to get permission to evict and will then have to appoint bailiffs etc etc so it is not a quick process by any means.
your friend is in the right here (apart from not enforcing his rights and being taken for a ride by letting agents/landlord) and should not be afraid of being thrown out.
p.s harrassing tenants is illegal.
i wish your friend the strength to stand up to these people but if he just wants to get out i think most people would understand.
df

korky69

his lease is doubtful, he paid for an extended 12 months AST, but they refused to provide him with the new paperwork, he never signed any further lease when it expired in may 12
so we don't officially know if/when it started?
he has a bank statement to prove payment.

dancingfairy

What does your friend want to achieve? to stay and fight on and get the applicances repaired or to leave quietly, without fuss and get his money back so he can move on?
Regarding the new lease does he have any evidence of what the money was for? Any emails? voice messages he has copies of, any letters of anything?
As far as I can see from a complete laymans point of view he has a contract as the intention was there but that he hasn't received a paper copy yet but you should check with Shelter/housing solicitor at local law centre for proper advice.
If lease ran out in 2012 then he is on rolling contract right now. If he signed a new 12 month contract in May then he is locked in until end of April next year (was a bit confused regarding dates) unless there are any break clauses. Does he have an original lease at all to get dates of the original so he can argue that the next one was due to follow on?
He might also want to get help adn advice from the tenancy relations officer at the council regarding the repairs if he does not feel able to put pressue on the landlord. IF he is in a fixed term contract and he follows the correct procedures (as detailed on the shelter website) then he may be able to withold rent to get the repairs done (but this process has to be followed closely). Obviusly the landlords repair obligations are the same if he is in a rolling contract but the landlord could just refuse/dodge and mess about and serve the 2 months notice so he wouldn't have as much time to try and get the repairs done (if that makes sense).
Can you friend start to save up and plan his onward move as to be honest the landlord will probably want to serve notice atthe earliest opportunity and it will be a lot less stressful for your friend if he has managed to save a bit for his onward move.
Yes he should get his deposit money back etc but it sadly could prove to be a long drawn out fight
df

korky69

an update on my friends situation, he wouldn't put in a dispute for fear of eviction, but did get in touch with our local council and all his outstanding jobs have just been completed,
he still has no certificate for his deposit other than the 1st one, we assumed that with them charging for a new AST that he must be issued with a new 1, but they still won't issue him a new contract, what i can gather is it was withdrawn from my deposits in april and only just been put back in after been told to, but still no new AST so still unsure if he's now on a periodic lease, either way, he hasn't signed a new one!

i have a Q on my situation,
a dispute was put in after 10 days of my lease ending,
i am now awaiting to see if my LL/LA will agree to use the ADR service, which they have 20 working days to respond.
given their form on correspondence (not 1 reply to my requests about check out/return of keys and deposit) I'm not holding my breathe that they will!
it states that if they refuse or fail to reply then the onus is put on the LL/LA to take me to the small claims court.
does this mean that i will automatically get my deposit back or will it be held by the deposits scheme?
given that its been withheld for a month already, and now the next month at least, hardly seems fair for me to be stopped from getting it if the LL/LA refuses to sort out the matter!
I'm guessing that the LL/LA won't have it if its up to them to try and claim it back?

also if they do agree, they then have to submit their evidence to explain why they are keeping my deposit (something they have so far refused to say)
will i be given chance to argue any of their claims before a final decision is made?

korky69

korky69 wrote: »

an update on my friends situation, he wouldn't put in a dispute for fear of eviction, but did get in touch with our local council and all his outstanding jobs have just been completed,
he still has no certificate for his deposit other than the 1st one, we assumed that with them charging for a new AST that he must be issued with a new 1, but they still won't issue him a new contract, what i can gather is it was withdrawn from my deposits in april and only just been put back in after been told to, but still no new AST so still unsure if he's now on a periodic lease, either way, he hasn't signed a new one!

i have a Q on my situation,
a dispute was put in after 10 days of my lease ending,
i am now awaiting to see if my LL/LA will agree to use the ADR service, which they have 20 working days to respond.
given their form on correspondence (not 1 reply to my requests about check out/return of keys and deposit) I'm not holding my breathe that they will!
it states that if they refuse or fail to reply then the onus is put on the LL/LA to take me to the small claims court.
does this mean that i will automatically get my deposit back or will it be held by the deposits scheme?
given that its been withheld for a month already, and now the next month at least, hardly seems fair for me to be stopped from getting it if the LL/LA refuses to sort out the matter!
I'm guessing that the LL/LA won't have it if its up to them to try and claim it back?

also if they do agree, they then have to submit their evidence to explain why they are keeping my deposit (something they have so far refused to say)
will i be given chance to argue any of their claims before a final decision is made?

any advice anyone?