Landlord problems - will we get our deposit back?

lowely

Thanks again for all of the comprehensive info - it really is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, when I search mydeposits the box says "is this your address" but the box is blank. I guess it's not working at the moment.

I really don't remember receiving any documentation (although I might be wrong). Why is is a bad idea to phone Foxtons? (I don't really understand). What exactly would be the "full prescribed information" and would Foxtons or the landlady provide this?

Thanks again,

Adam.

lowely

Checking the contract with Foxtons again it says the following:

the deposit "is held by Foxtons as a Stakeholder for the duration of the tenancy in accordance with the terms of the tenancy agreements and where applicable, Foxtons will register the deposit monies with a deposit protection scheme on landlord's behalf.

.....The tenancy agreement id between the landlord and the tenant and, therefore, the tenant cannot hold Foxtons liable for any deductions made which may fall into dispute".

Does this affect anything?

Thanks again,

L

Naf

lowely wrote: »

Thanks again for all of the comprehensive info - it really is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, when I search mydeposits the box says "is this your address" but the box is blank. I guess it's not working at the moment.

I really don't remember receiving any documentation (although I might be wrong). Why is is a bad idea to phone Foxtons? (I don't really understand). What exactly would be the "full prescribed information" and would Foxtons or the landlady provide this?

Thanks again,

Adam.

At the commencement of your tenancy (or very quickly thereafter) Foxtons should have given/sent you the details of which deposit scheme they registered your deposit with (along with the rest of the Prescribed Information GM linked to previously). If they have not sent you this, or worse not even registered it, you are in a strong position. Don't call them because you could alert them to this and weaken your position.

Werdnal

The MyDeposits PI is here:

http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/node/202

Did you receive this early in your tenancy (must be provided within 30 days of deposit payment to comply with the regs).

As I said earlier, it is ALWAYS the LL who is liable if the deposit has not been protected. If they have an agent to protect it, you still sue the LL for its return and any penalty for non-protection is also against the LL. LL can then sue the agent if they have failed to protect it.

Foxtons may have protected it, or they may have given it to the LL to protect - depends on the contract the LL and Foxtons signed and what level of service they provide.

You can phone Foxtons if you like, but I doubt you will get any info from them, or they may try to bluff through it. Much better to check with deposit schemes first to vertify your information, than go to them and ask, giving them the chance to waffle themselves out of it!

The sentence about the tenancy being bewteen you and LL is nothing to worry about, this is always the case and agent is just the "middle man" and legally tenancy is always between LL and T. They are merely stating that they do not get involved in any arguments about the deposit!

Just out of interest, have you checked the other scheme's websites too? Just because the tenancy agreement says they will use MyDeposits, there is a chance it is with one of the others. MyD charge a fee to protect, whereas if there is a chance the LL should have protected it themselves, they may have used DPS, who are free. This does not remove the requirement to still have provided you with the PI from whichever scheme though.

lowely

Thanks Naf - that's really helpful. I haven't received anything from them but the contract we signed says that "the monies shall be registered within 14 days with the Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited in accordance with the housing Act 2004. Certification confirming the registered deposit shall be provided to the Tenant".

I have never received this!!

Thanks,

L

lowely

Werdnal - thanks so much for the information. It really is much appreciated. I have checked the My deposits page but still get a blank box when I put in the postcode so will try again tomorrow to see if it is a problem with my home computer. However, I certainly never received a certificate so this could be interesting!!

Thanks,

L

G_M

lowely wrote: »

I really don't remember receiving any documentation (although I might be wrong). Why is is a bad idea to phone Foxtons? (I don't really understand). What exactly would be the "full prescribed information" and would Foxtons or the landlady provide this?


Adam.

As per my post above... the Prescribed Information -

Does not matter who. Whichever registers it usually. But the responsibility legally is the landlord's.

Guest101

lowely wrote: »

Thanks again!

To be honest, I have received no information from Foxtons......however, the contract that we signed says that the deposit is held by Foxtons as a stakeholder.

I'm now beginning to worry that they haven't registered it with a scheme and that maybe the Landlady has it......I'll phone Foxtons tomorrow to find out what is going on.

I have kept the invoice from the cleaners (thankfully!) and we don't mind the landlady showing people round as she does give us 24 hours notice.

The contract from Foxtons says that both the landlady and the tenant need to agree in writing about deductions before the deposit is released.....

Cheers,

L

If she's not registered it, don't be worried. Go and buy a nice bottle of wine. You're quids in

Money_Saving_Monkey_2

lowely wrote: »

We are renting through Foxtons so the deposit held independently. However, the Landlady didn't provide a check in, she did not do an inventory and when we moved in, the house was so dirty that we had to have it professionally cleaned. I emailed this at the time (and have kept the correspondence) to both Foxtons and the landlady saying that we would leave the property in the condition that we found it with 2 years additional wear and tear when we move out. However, I am now really concerned that she is going to try and take our deposit. Any help or advice would really be appreciated!

The fact that no check in report was made is a good thing. If the landlady does try and make deductions (and assuming that your deposit has been registered with a deposit protection service) then you can raise a dispute with them.

My brother recently went through similar, where his landlord attempted to make a number of spurious deductions from the deposit when no check in report had been completed. My brother raised a dispute which ended up going to adjudication. I've just been looking through the adjudicator's report which contained the following:

I have not been provided with a check in report. This document is vital in allowing me to identify any deterioration in the condition during the tenancy. Whilst the check out report refers to issues at the end of the tenancy without the check in report I am unable to ascertain that the property deteriorated during the tenancy. In the absence of that evidence I can make no award to the landlord.

It may take a few weeks if you have to go through the dispute process, but you should get your deposit back