Protected Deposits

prudryden

peter999 wrote: »

Things HAVE changed big time.

The 3rd party adjudication will not tolerate false & concotted deductions by landlords, they haven't got the time.

The landlord will now have to prove what deductions are for & amounts, which many tried to avoid before.

peter999

Are you then saying that the county courts, as opposed to "the 3rd party adjudication" tolerate false & "concotted" deductions by landlords or tenants?

peter999

prudryden wrote: »

Are you then saying that the county courts, as opposed to "the 3rd party adjudication" tolerate false & "concotted" deductions by landlords or tenants?

You should not have to go to court to recover your deposit.

Landlords were routinely abusing & misusing deposits.

They would concoct & exagerrate deductions and most times it's easier for tenants to agree/compromise than take them to court.

The tenant then has unfairly lost their deposit or part of it.

peter999

Generali

peter999 wrote: »

You should not have to go to court to recover your deposit.

Landlords were routinely abusing & misusing deposits.

They would concoct & exagerrate deductions and most times it's easier for tenants to agree/compromise than take them to court.

The tenant then has unfairly lost their deposit or part of it.

Correct. It has taken me a year to get my deposit back so far from my ex LL and I still don't have it. She is trying to get me to pay over £1k for one small bag of garden rubbish from the balcony of the flat being left in th sitting room by mistake. I work a 50 hour week (plus commute) and could do without the hassle.

She must know she isn't entitled to the cash but hangs on anyway, in the hope that I'll give up. It isn't really worth my time and energy to do this but I want my money and have had enough of theiving LLs quite frankly.

If Labour get a 4th term, there'll be plenty more pro-tenant legislation coming through I predict. That or more social housing being built.

litaus

olibearhorse wrote: »

We're landlords of privately owned estate properties and it makes no odds to us as we are honest and upfront about our expectations and never have a problem if we do have to make a deduction from a deposit.

I think it is a good think for the tenant.

It's a good thing for LLs too - they have all been tarred with the same brush and now the good ones will hopefully outweigh the rotten ones, certainly the reputation should improve. It's the same in the childcare industry - nannies have been crying out for years for a professional registration - they are fed up being lopped in with foreign girls under 23 who have little language skills and few qualifications. As the childcare industry is tightened up (with way too much beaurocracy but that's another thread..), nanny wages have soared and their professional status in the last ten years has gone up the social scale.

I don't understand why good LLs would have a problem at all, if they normally return deposits then this will continue, if they have a house left in a terrible state, they should behave professionally (like in any other job), and turn up for the checking in and checking out, take photos and get inspection reports signed by both parties. I think this will decrease the number of bad tenants as well as the number of bad LLs, how long before Labour backbenchers start clamouring for a central list of bad tenants. I'd vote for it, as long as I could also have a list of bad LLs - just like the credit report, or a 3 strikes and your name goes on the list. Magic.

Gorgeous_George

I think only time will tell.

Having recently just found a new tenant, I was going to not bother with a deposit in line with recommendations from the landlords association. However, I decided to take the deposit and stick it in the scheme. Worst case would be the same as if I hadn't taken a deposit so nothing to lose and I have nothing to hide from HMRC.

I also took the opportunity to increase the rent by 14% to meet market-value. In return, my new tenant's needs and wishes will be delivered by way of GCH and other home comforts.



GG

scrummy_mummy_2

Generali wrote: »

Perfectly true.

Mrs G and I just got judgement against our old LL BTW*. It's taken a year so far and I still don't have my money. She hasn't a leg to stand on (no inventory and trying to charge £1k for leaving a bag of garden rubbish in the sitting room by mistake) but I'm still out of pocket.

Hopefully with this new scheme I'd have my cash in a fortnight.



*I think so anyway, I've not done this before.

I'm such a capitalist pig LL (I think Peter999 has issues...find a happy place Peter999 :rotfl: that I guided my tenants through the legal and court process to take their old LL to court for much the same.....2 years on and they still have jack.
I've posted this point before...if a landlord refuses to protect a deposit, a tenant can take them to court and get a judgement for 3 times the deposit but...actually getting the money from these people is a whole other story....regulating deposits (in my opinion) will do little to stop these B******ds who will continue to operate outside the rules of the law, no matter what the penalty is because it is a civil matter and 'optional'!
It seems like the new regs are actually a win/win situation in the making to me...tenant gets their deposit back, crooked landlord gets to keep the witheld deposit....BUT the 'Scheme' is down....we'll see how long that pans out!

I'm sorry you have been tucked up Generali ...likewise, my tenants' ex LL has duplicitous addresses, sudonyms, stories, businesses and apparenty collects CCjs like sweeties! He views the World in a different way to 'normal' people and it's crooked. They have won a pyhrric victory and will never see their money, as I fear, neither will you.
I honestly don't believe deposit regulation is going to stop this kind of practice from the 'hard core' rotten landlord.

Generali

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

I'm sorry you have been tucked up Generali ...likewise, my tenants' ex LL has duplicitous addresses, sudonyms, stories, businesses and apparenty collects CCjs like sweeties! He views the World in a different way to 'normal' people and it's crooked. They have won a pyhrric victory and will never see their money, as I fear, neither will you.

I should get the money - I know exactly who my ex-LL is, where she and I should get my money.

Oh, and it turns out that I misunderstood. I've not won a judgement or anything else quite yet. Oh well. I will.

Generali

PS If you're a LL not paying tax then you'd better not take a deposit either:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/property/buyingtolet/story/0,,2072612,00.html

Melissa177

There are plenty of good landlords out there, but of the four private landlords that I've had (two as a student, two in London), three were dodgy rip of merchants.

I eventually got my deposit back from two, but the third one eluded me (he sent us a cheque for half our deposit - the other four people I rented with gave up and cashed the cheque he sent.)

Still, I see from his blog (he's a government advisor, and used to work for Tony Blair!) that he's back in the UK now, so I might pop around to my ex rental property where he is back living and have a word

peter999

Generali wrote: »

PS If you're a LL not paying tax then you'd better not take a deposit either:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/property/buyingtolet/story/0,,2072612,00.html

Many will be disappearinng off the radar, not collecting deposits.

peter999