Nightmare Landlord - Help!!

bobwilson

thanks so much everyone for your help. I'm interested, what determines who the ''lead'' tenant is? Is it the surname listed under MyDeposits or can it be anyone who chooses to denote themselves the lead tenant?

Would the other tenants not have to provide their authorization for their deposit to be transferred to their flatmate?

I've texted and emailed my ex flatmates but not heard anything in weeks, and have no other way to contact them. I'll try calling MyDeposits now.

In a way, I'd just be glad to be rid of the situation as you get the impression everyone just wants to care for themselves at the expense of others.. no one apart from myself seems to want things done fairly or ''properly'' so it leaves a rather sour taste when dealing with people like that.

Thanks!

EDIT: I've just spoken to MyDeposits. They said they're insurance based, so the estate agent holds our deposit. MyDeposits said I can fill out their online form to raise a disupute, but there's nothing they can do about the fact the estate agent has given the deposit to the wrong person. They said I have to seek legal advice!

[Deleted User]

bobwilson wrote: »

thanks so much everyone for your help. I'm interested, what determines who the ''lead'' tenant is? Is it the surname listed under MyDeposits or can it be anyone who chooses to denote themselves the lead tenant?

Would the other tenants not have to provide their authorization for their deposit to be transferred to their flatmate?

The lead tenant is the individual tenant that acts on behalf of all the other tenants and any third party when dealing with The DPS. They can make enquiries and initiate disputes.

The lead tenant can dispute without the other tenants authorization however you should have been sent notice if this had happened.

The DPS sends all transactional notifications to the agent/landlord, sole/lead tenant and additional tenants. Information will be sent by post or email, depending on whether The DPS holds a valid email address for the individual parties concerned.

If you're concerned just give them a call, I phoned a few minutes ago and got through within a minute and they resolved my issue in minutes. They seemed to be helpful, just had to provide them with an address.

bobwilson

citricsquid wrote: »

The lead tenant can dispute without the other tenants authorization however you should have been sent notice if this had happened.

If you're concerned just give them a call, I phoned a few minutes ago and got through within a minute and they resolved my issue in minutes. They seemed to be helpful, just had to provide them with an address.

But who is the ''lead tenant''?! What makes that decision? The person who moved in only a couple of months ago seems to have taken it upon herself and received all of our deposit, but hasn't contacted me at all.

I did call MyDeposits, they said there's nothing they can do about the letting agent having paid my money into my ex flatmate's account.

I do not know my ex flat mate, and I did not give my permission at any time for my deposit to go into her account. I have no way of knowing where she is.

embob74

I'm so confused!!
Did MyDeposits ever hold your deposit or has it always been with the LA?
What does it say on your contract about who the lead tenant is or about what happens with your deposit?

There's lots of knowledgeable bods on here ..... I just hope they can make more sense of the situation.

PaulLuke

It's really not clear from all your postings what has happened so here's some additional questions.

(a) How many of you leased the flat?
(b) Did you all move in at the same time?
(c) Did you all sign one joint tenancy agreement or indivivual agreements?

From your notes it looks like the deposit was protected, ao have you read the guide on the mydeposits site (http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/sites/default/files/mydep%20Joint%20%20Sev%20Tenancies%20Guide_tenantsV1_3073.pdf)
as this implies that the landlord should have agreed a 'lead' tenant with all the tenants involved in the tenancy. I think you need to contact them again and ask what happens where there was not agreement to the 'lead' tenant?

bobwilson

PaulLuke wrote: »

It's really not clear from all your postings what has happened so here's some additional questions.

(a) How many of you leased the flat?
(b) Did you all move in at the same time?
(c) Did you all sign one joint tenancy agreement or indivivual agreements?

From your notes it looks like the deposit was protected, ao have you read the guide on the mydeposits site (http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/sites/default/files/mydep%20Joint%20%20Sev%20Tenancies%20Guide_tenantsV1_3073.pdf)
as this implies that the landlord should have agreed a 'lead' tenant with all the tenants involved in the tenancy. I think you need to contact them again and ask what happens where there was not agreement to the 'lead' tenant?

The deposit is held by the estate agent, and insured by MyDeposits.

2 of us rented the 3 bedroom flat, we signed a tenancy agreement contract and paid the year's rent in advance (I can forward this contract to anyone via PM). Our deposit was £1600 each.

I moved out after 7 months. A new tenant moved in 2 months before the end of the tenancy, and obviously paid rent to me with the ll's agreement. She was ''added'' to the tenancy agreement'' and reimbursed £1200 of my deposit to me with the understanding that the remaining £400 would be reimbursed to me by the estate agent at the end of the tenancy.

At the end of the tenancy agreement, the estate agent went behind my back and reimbursed the FULL amount to her bank account, without my knowledge or permission.

The estate agent argues that they only ever refund the deposit to one account and they had the permission of the other flatmate to pay it into the new tenant's account. They seem to be arguing the fact that all 3 of us are on the tenancy agreement is irrelevent and that they didn't need my permission to pay my deposit to someone else's account. No ''lead tenant'' was ever agreed, but it seems odd to pick a tenant who was only there for 2 months at the end of the tenancy.

The tenant who has my money, has now obviously disappeared.

MyDeposits are saying they can't get involved.

In the meantime, there is an entirely separate issue that the landlord is keeping £500 for damage to the flat that was there before we moved in. This, MyDeposits can help with.

19lottie82

Do you not have any info that could help track your ex FM down? Can you search for her on FB and maybe use that to try and find out where she works?

If she has a large amount of your money that you want back, I'd maybe consider going to the police.

bobwilson

19lottie82 wrote: »

Do you not have any info that could help track your ex FM down? Can you search for her on FB and maybe use that to try and find out where she works?

If she has a large amount of your money that you want back, I'd maybe consider going to the police.

I have her telephone number, email address, and her work address in central London. I have tried emailing her, and contacting her by phone but she just ignores me.

She has kept just under £400 of my deposit.

Does anyone know what is the next step I should take?

The whole situation is confusing because both the landlord and ex housemate have kept some of my money, so I'm fighting 2 battles. I suspect the ex housemate might have kept my share to save her hassle having to claim from the landlord, and is expecting me to claim her and my money back from the landlord to reimburse myself. Is this really allowed?! Either way she is not responding to email or phone.

bobwilson

It's a confusing situation - should I claim the full £3300 deposit from MyDeposits (as no one on the MyDeposit protection scheme received anything and I have not seen any money), or should I be claiming £2800 (as apparently the landlord kept £500 - but I have seen no evidence of the remaining amount being returned), or should I be claiming my own personal allotment of the deposit which was £461..

I called MyDeposits but they seem to be operated by minions who don't seem to know the answers..

I basically have seen no money and have no way of knowing what my ex housemates received as they are ignoring me..

princeofpounds

Hi bob, as I mentioned on your splinter thread, the thing you have to work out is who is responsible for returning the rest of your deposit.

I moved out after 7 months. A new tenant moved in 2 months before the end of the tenancy, and obviously paid rent to me with the ll's agreement. She was ''added'' to the tenancy agreement'' and reimbursed £1200 of my deposit to me with the understanding that the remaining £400 would be reimbursed to me by the estate agent at the end of the tenancy.

At the end of the tenancy agreement, the estate agent went behind my back and reimbursed the FULL amount to her bank account, without my knowledge or permission.

THIS is the structure you need to untangle. Using phrases like "added" is not detailed enough because the situation depends on precisely what happened.

Did she actually get added to the tenancy agreement? Did you sign or verbally anything to permit her to become your co-tenant? Or was it a case of sub-letting? What paperwork or other written communication do you have around this?

Being precise around the role of mydeposits is also important. Can you confirm that the deposit was originally protected by them? And you were given the prescribed information about it?

Who was the original lead tenant? (it cannot have been this new tenant originally)