Reclaiming my Deposit

wilsoniho1

Im really hoping that someone could give me some advice as im not sure where to go to get help regarding my issue. I recently rented a property from letting agent in Warrington. Start date was 7th September 2012 but after contact with the actual landlord of the property we found out that the letting agents were taking money out of the rent saying I have been having call outs for things broken in the property which wasnt the case. The Letting agents then obviously said it was admin errors and it wont happen again. Subsequently the issues got worse between the landlord and the letting agents and I got caught in the middle. In the end I spoke to the letting agents to say I want to move out as my wife is 7 months pregnant and were facing too many issues because of what was heppening between the landlord and agent. They said if the landlord agrees to release me from the 12 month tenancy then I can. The landlord understood the situation and released me right away. Since then the letting agents have not released my deposit and owe me a weeks rent. They said that the landlord still owes them money so they wont release my deposit. The thing is thats nothing to do with me its between the letting agent and the landlord so why am i getting penailsed. They even sent an email to the landlord saying that if he wants they will take it from my deposit and then I have to chase the landlord for the money. Is that even legal?

I could really do with your advice on this and what I need to do?

Thanks
Chris

[Deleted User]

Has your deposit been protected?

If it has you should have been provided the information on your tenancy agreement, more information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview. The advice, information and your potential recourse depends on if the deposit has been protected, although either way they cannot withhold the deposit for that reason.

wilsoniho1

I have called the DPS who actually have the deposit. Because it has been over 14 calendar days without reply to them from the letting agency they have instructed me to start a dispute where it will go to an independent body for review. This will then be settled within 28 days and hopefully I will get my money back. Do you think its worth contacting the Citizens Advice i n the meantime see what they can do as well?

Thanks

G_M

No need.

1) theletting agent do not owe you the deposit, the landlord does.

2) Any dispute between the LL and the agent are a matter between them. Nothing to do with you... or your deposit.

3) you say the agent says the landlord owes them money hence the depsoit deducion - do you have this in writing? If so, submit it to the scheme arbitrator as it is clearly NOT a reason to withold deposit.

4) You say the LL agreed to your Early Surrender of the tenancy 6 months early - do you have this is in writing? From the LL? or the agent? Submit to the arbitrator to avoid doubt.

wilsoniho1

Hi,

The actual letting agent have to contact the DPS to authorise release of the deposit and until they have DPS dont have it. Can my landlord get them to release it for me instead of the letting agents? With regards to the release from my tenancy I have emails from both the landlord and the letting agent releasing me. I also have an email sent from the letting agent to the landlord saying that they will take the money he owes from my deposit and then I can chase the landlord for it (it was actually very nice of the landlord to send me that). The debt has nothing to do with me so is that legal? The email also states that it is the landlord who owes the money. This is because the landlord has cancelled his agreement with them to rent out his property (2 months early) so thats what the money is for. Thats not my problem but they are been stubborn.

tbs624

wilsoniho1 wrote: »

Hi,

The actual letting agent have to contact the DPS to authorise release of the deposit and until they have DPS dont have it. Can my landlord get them to release it for me instead of the letting agents?

DPS's original scheme is a custodial one ( they now also offer an insurance backed one)

Note that an LA cannot simply make a unilateral decision on what he would like to deduct from that deposit: more specifically there is absolutely no chance that an LA can retain a T's deposit monies because of a dispute about monies allegedly owed by the LL to the LA. That comes under an entirely separate contractual relationship between LL and LA.

Your LL can get in touch with DPS and provide specific evidence that he is the LL and state that the LA is no longer acting on his behalf. The deposit registration should be transferred so that the LL and you are the two relevant parties.

Fire_Fox

wilsoniho1 wrote: »

The landlord understood the situation and released me right away. Since then the letting agents have not released my deposit and owe me a weeks rent. They said that the landlord still owes them money so they wont release my deposit. The thing is thats nothing to do with me its between the letting agent and the landlord so why am i getting penailsed. They even sent an email to the landlord saying that if he wants they will take it from my deposit and then I have to chase the landlord for the money. Is that even legal?

I could really do with your advice on this and what I need to do?

Thanks
Chris

The letting agent owes you nothing, you are contracted to the landlord, any money you paid via the agent you effectively paid to the landlord. The landlord owes you any returned rent and is responsible for returning your damage deposit (which should be lodged with one of the three schemes). You need to chase the landlord, they need to pay you then chase the letting agent.

Write to your landlord requesting the missing rent and damage deposit. If that fails send the landlord a letter before action.

Stujclark

Why don't you start a claim on that deposit with the DPS?

The agent can't deduct anything without you agreeing to it. Go to the DPS website and start a claim.

If the and landlord owes you a weeks rent, write to them, giving them 14 days to refund you, if they don't, start a money claim online, it's really easy.