Unable to get deposit back from landlord

POBAWF

Hi,

I moved out of my flat on April 28th 2013 after living there for 4 1/2 years. On leaving, the landlady said she would sort me my deposit shortly but that she couldn't remember how much it was as she no longer had a copy of my contract - I told her the amount and I do have copies of all paperwork between us.
Since then I have sent her 4 text messages - 1 per week asking did she sort it out yet. I have had no response. I wanted to keep it fairly amicable initially hence the text messages (and also, I wasn't sure if to expect it within a month I was being unreasonable as I am fairly anal about these things but I appreciate that not everybody is) but now, almost 5 weeks later and no response I wondered what the next step should be as I obviously want to do things properly should it end up going to court.

Can anybody help me please?

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

First step is to check with all of the deposit-protection schemes to see if she formally protected your deposit. In England & Wales this has been a requirement since April 2007. If she hasn't you could take her to court and ask for three times the deposit value as a penalty. This information could prove quite compelling once shared with your ex-landlady.

Where is the property?
Was there a dual-signed inventory at the start of your tenancy?

POBAWF

Thanks for advice. I had every intention of writing as I know this is the best way to go about it however at first I decided to txt as I didn't want to go in guns blazing without giving her a reasonable amount of time to sort it out, particularly if there was a reasonable explanation for the delay.

The flat is in Liverpool. It definitely wasn't in a protected scheme. I had enough trouble getting her to return contracts at the start of each tenancy period and regularly got CCJs through the post when she "forgot" to pay her ground rent and service charge etc

theartfullodger

Arrrggghhhhh .. so even if you take LL to court you might never collect the £££.

However, in your shoes I'd sue the b***ard however long it took & whatever it cost..

DRP

POBAWF wrote: »

Thanks for advice. I had every intention of writing as I know this is the best way to go about it however at first I decided to txt as I didn't want to go in guns blazing without giving her a reasonable amount of time to sort it out, particularly if there was a reasonable explanation for the delay.

The flat is in Liverpool. It definitely wasn't in a protected scheme. I had enough trouble getting her to return contracts at the start of each tenancy period and regularly got CCJs through the post when she "forgot" to pay her ground rent and service charge etc

Too late now, but given the unprotected deposit and the evidence that the LL can't pay her bills, it might have been a good idea to have withheld the last months rent and done a runner...

POBAWF

Haha well I'm an accountant so probably best I stuck to non shady methods. Plus the fact I was selling her some furniture I was leaving behind so that wouldn't have worked (she has paid me cash for that). Anyway, an eye for an eye would make us all blind!

olly300

POBAWF wrote: »

Haha well I'm an accountant so probably best I stuck to non shady methods. Plus the fact I was selling her some furniture I was leaving behind so that wouldn't have worked (she has paid me cash for that). Anyway, an eye for an eye would make us all blind!

Withholding your last month's rent isn't actually dodgy as long as the landlord doesn't mind. Some landlords can't be bothered to find the deposit especially with tenants who haven't caused any damage so find it easier for you not to pay your last month's rent.