can a tenant demands deposit in cash

cozzyman

hi all
Sorry if this has been covered before i'm in n.ire (ie no deposit scheme) i've a tenant thats leaving the property 3 months early in his contract (happy with this) but refuses cheque or bank transfer for refund of his deposit and only wants cash in hand. I've always prefered chx or bt as better for tracing in case of disputes.

Can he demand cash refund?

He paid cash into account of agency that found me this tenant who then bank transferred it to me.
Also he seems to be refusing to leave until he gets it and is now into a period of unpaid time in the house, some damage has been done to the house which he's denying, possibly more as haven't done a full inspection as he hasn't left the property yet.

thanks for any help and advice

Fire_Fox

Not AFAIK, you need to have the opportunity to inspect the property and make any deductions. Have you sent the tenant a formal letter detailing his current arrears? Is there provision in the AST for you to charge interest on the late rent?

Is he a lodger or a tenant? You describe him as both at different times.

cozzyman

hi thanks for reply
Sorry hes a tenant and is only in a few days of unpaid stay which i'm not worried about at present tho i suspect could be longer unless he gets his full deposit despite damages.
He keeps quoting his rights which evidently include cash return of his full deposit which i'd prefer to pay in cheque hence my post.

Fire_Fox

cozzyman wrote: »

hi thanks for reply
Sorry hes a tenant and is only in a few days of unpaid stay which i'm not worried about at present tho i suspect could be longer unless he gets his full deposit despite damages.
He keeps quoting his rights which evidently include cash return of his full deposit which i'd prefer to pay in cheque hence my post.

I would be worried about the rent and the overstaying. The tenant thinks he has the upper hand and seems to be trying to blackmail you, you don't seem to have a clue about your rights and responsibilities. Be a professional, businesses don't routinely write off money for a quiet life, it sends the wrong message.

newsgroup_monkey

Are you suggesting that you are going to give him the deposit back before he leaves?

What's to stop him not leaving?

tim123456789

cozzyman wrote: »

hi thanks for reply
Sorry hes a tenant and is only in a few days of unpaid stay which i'm not worried about at present tho i suspect could be longer unless he gets his full deposit despite damages.
He keeps quoting his rights which evidently include cash return of his full deposit which i'd prefer to pay in cheque hence my post.

Can't comment about whether he can demand it in cash, but I do know that he can't demand it is paid before he actually vacates.

He's entitled to it back not more than two weeks from the date that he leaves (a date which is often broken by LLs, but we'll ignore that), so you can perfectly legally make him wait that long

All he is doing by remaining extra days in the property is racking up extra days that you are able to chrage him rent for (which you seem to be prepared to give him for free).

He's taking you for a mug. You've done the decent thing and released him from his obligations early and now he's repaying that by p1ssing on you.

Read him the riot act and call his bluff.

tim


.

theartfullodger

Agree:

I'd wait till he leaves, do inspection, deduct valid claims in accordance with NI law then present him/post him a cheque.. (take copy of cheque & covering letter..).

If he doesn't cash cheque that's his problem...

Call me cynical but persons demanding cash are I assume on the fiddle, probably tax/benefit fiddle...

Cheers!

thesaint

tim123456789 wrote: »

He's entitled to it back not more than two weeks from the date that he leaves (a date which is often broken by LLs, but we'll ignore that)

I suspect that you are making this up.

tim123456789

thesaint wrote: »

I suspect that you are making this up.

No, I quoted from memory

On checking I see that it's 10 days.

And I forgot to explain that that's the undisputed part. Obviously the LL can keep the disputed part for as long as the dispute takes to resolve

(or are you suggesting that I made up the bit about most LLs not actually achieving this "gold" standard" - My only experience of this is with what I would consider a good LL, and even he didn't manage it!)

tim

thesaint

tim123456789 wrote: »

No, I quoted from memory

On checking I see that it's 10 days.

And I forgot to explain that that's the undisputed part. Obviously the LL can keep the disputed part for as long as the dispute takes to resolve

(or are you suggesting that I made up the bit about most LLs not actually achieving this "gold" standard" - My only experience of this is with what I would consider a good LL, and even he didn't manage it!)

tim

When I say "making it up", I mean that you are not quoting any law or legislation, but just picking numbers out of thin air.

I note that you are not providing any source for this information.

tim123456789

thesaint wrote: »

When I say "making it up", I mean that you are not quoting any law or legislation, but just picking numbers out of thin air.

I note that you are not providing any source for this information.

In in the rues for deposits

you can google for it as easily as anybody else

tim