Landlord didnt protect deposit and we were evicted via section 21

Guest101

Perhaps it would be best to get a solicitor to write a letter, threatening such court action, the cost is only £100 or so, and you could actually demand that also in the letter.

I'm sure if he got a letter saying you will be liable for between 900-2700 award + 1000 costs, or give us £1400 to go away?

starbarboy

Apologies - its obviously not my intention to mislead however it is a complex area and there is a lot of conflicting information on the Internet - probably because of people like me

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe if it is only the original sum of deposit that you are looking to claim then it can be done via the small claims route - it is only if you are looking to add a fine to that sum that you require to use more expensive routes.

Any way, humble pie eaten

Stephen

Werdnal

starbarboy wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe if it is only the original sum of deposit that you are looking to claim then it can be done via the small claims route - it is only if you are looking to add a fine to that sum that you require to use more expensive routes.

Yes you are correct - claiming money which is genuinely owed to you (ie return of the original deposit amount) or any other "debt", can be done through small claims or even Moneyclaim online - I am currently handling a claim for a local community group I work with via MCOL and its a very simple process.

However, if OP or any other tenant wants to launch the full claim for lack of deposit protection, then the only option is the route I quoted above, as this is invoking a legal penalty or fine, not an actual "debt" owed. Hence the reason why I and others have suggested OP write to their LL requesting deposit back, or else I will go for the penalty claim, to prompt the LL to return the deposit in full. Whilst OP would have a valid non-protection claim here, it is sometimes better to cut losses, get back what you are owed and move on ... I don't think the government thought this through, as tenants without deposit protection have the right to reclaim their full deposit, but why they are also entitled to up to 3x the amount when no actual "harm" has been caused by lack of protection is beyond me.