forgot to pay money into deposit scheme

badstart

yes, I know :mad:

What should I do now? What are the consequences?
tenancy started in December - would it be possible to 'change' the start date?

thanks a lot

BitterAndTwisted

Why can't you register i now?

If you don't protect the deposit it could become impossible to remove your tenants. And they can apply to the court to have a penalty of up to three times the deposit value imposed.

Falsify the start date of the tenancy? Are you mad?

FireWyrm

As I understood it, the damage is already done. Dont you have to register it within 30 days or return it to the tenant in full?

You cant execute a valid S21 until you have registered the deposit and you must register the deposit within 30 days to be within the rules.

If I was your tenant and I found out you 'changed' the tenancy start date because you forgot to protect my money, I'd nail you to the wall.

MrLlama

Only solution now would be to give back the full deposit to your tenants now.

That would allow you to serve them a S21 in the future if you need to get rid of them and it may protect you from being taken to court over not protecting the deposit.

martinsurrey

MrLlama wrote: »

Only solution now would be to give back the full deposit to your tenants now.

That would allow you to serve them a S21 in the future if you need to get rid of them and it may protect you from being taken to court over not protecting the deposit.

spot on.

Be honest with the tenants, give them the deposit in full but explain that they are still liable for any damage done to the property, but that to recover it you would need to file court proceedings if they refuse to pay.

If you are open, honest and pay the deposit back, a court will be unlikely to hammer you if the tenant does take it to court.

drussmonkey

Can't he simply lodge the deposit now and back-date it to the correct start of the tenancy? I presume you can't back-date more than 30 days? Isn't he only at risk if the tenants have demanded evidence of deposit protection?

Having said that when I stopped having my property managed by an agent, I secured the deposit with a scheme and back-dated it to the original start date just fine.

martinsurrey

drussmonkey wrote: »

Can't he simply lodge the deposit now and back-date it to the correct start of the tenancy? I presume you can't back-date more than 30 days? Isn't he only at risk if the tenants have demanded evidence of deposit protection?

Having said that when I stopped having my property managed by an agent, I secured the deposit with a scheme and back-dated it to the original start date just fine.

no, with the updated regulations schemes will not accept deposits after the 30 day window.

badstart

Many thanks everyone

I was about to pay it in the scheme, but thought I would ask for advise first - so you say that DPS will actually not accept it??

Also, tenancy is for 6 months. Could I pay the deposit in when we sign the next contract?

Not too sure how it would work if there is no deposit?


thanks again

BitterAndTwisted

You could try and get away with protecting the tenant's deposit once they sign a new AST after the six months have elapsed. Dunno what you mean by there being no deposit: you've got it in your bank account now. Unless you've already spent it on cocaine and hookers.

G_M

Some crazy suggestions here.

* No, you cannot 'back-date' it
* Yes, you can register it now, but the only benefit is access to the arbitration process if there is a deposit dispute
* If you register it now, you can still be penalised by up to 3 times the deposit for late registration
* If you register it now, you can NOT issue a valid S21 Notice
* it is not just registration you have missed - you also have to issue the 'Prescribed Information' within 30 days

Return the deposit in full, with an explanation/apology

Taking a 'new' deposit if/when you renew the tenancy after 6 months (and remembering to register it!) might work, but to be certain I would alter the tenancy slightly so that it is clearly a different tenancy. eg a new rent/new tenant name(s)

martinsurrey

G_M wrote: »

Some crazy suggestions here.


* Yes, you can register it now, but the only benefit is access to the arbitration process if there is a deposit dispute

my bad sorry,

DPS will always accept a late deposit the other 2, TDS, and Mydeposits may refuse unless you have a good reason