Nightmare Landlord - Help!!

ValHaller

bobwilson wrote: »

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.

It looks like you have mugged yourself. You should have resolved the deposit at the time you left and sorted all dilapidations to that point.

bobwilson

princeofpounds wrote: »

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.



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)

How do I find out who is the lead tenant ? (I have asked this before but no answer).

She was *added* to the tenancy agreement - we all 3 of us signed a tenancy agreement that added her as a tenant. The letting agent was very airy fairy about it at the time, and difficult to deal with. They made us all 3 of us sign the new tenancy agreement, and said verbally "any rent and deposit you receive from her is between you (me) and her" they told her verbally to pay rent and deposit to me.

How is it legally possible that they have said it was between me and her, yet now have paid the deposit all to her?

bobwilson

ValHaller wrote: »

It looks like you have mugged yourself. You should have resolved the deposit at the time you left and sorted all dilapidations to that point.

This is what I am doing at the moment, we were told we'd receive it *after* moving out. How is it too late?

Windsorcastle

bobwilson wrote: »

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.
.

You need to email her in a very calm and formal tone, explaining that she has XXX share of your deposit which you are entitled to and that you require a cheque to be sent or a BACs transfer within 5 days or you will have to write to her employer explaining that she has defrauded you, as well as contacting the police. And then you need to be prepared to follow this through. No one in their right mind wants their employer being brought into a matter like this, least of all because it will cause a lot of embarrassment. If she works for some companies/local authorities, etc, it can actually be a disciplinary matter to do anything which calls your honesty into question. Good luck.