Landlord has not returned deposit and is not communicating at all

BigZig

Angelicdevil wrote: »

It wouldn't stand up because as you said in a previous post, there was no check in inventory. If he can't prove the state of the place when you moved in, then his chances are very, very slim.

That is very useful to know, thanks. As I said, I have never taken anyone to court before, and this was my first ever rented property, so it's all very new to me. I didn't want to turn up to court and he produce a raft of reasons as to why he didn't return my deposit, unbeknownst to me, and they be accepted outright. It would be very annoying to lose my deposit and then have added court fees on top!

RAS

What was the exact date of the end of the fixed term?

Mr_Pitiful

zaax wrote: »

Start court action, it can be done on-line at https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Also don't forget you need to claim for 3 times your deposit

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_schemes

A S214 claim for non-protection can't go through MCOL, as it's a multi-track claim. The court has discretion as to which track it goes down, and many will allow it to go through small claims, though it is up to them. If they insist on it being multi-track then there are high upfront fees of over £1000, though these can be claimed back if successful.

The return of the deposit can be claimed online.

Physics

BigZig wrote: »

I have never been to court before, so I am a bit anxious as to what will happen...

The deposit will likely be small enough to be handled by a small-claims-court.

Forget everything about 'courts' you have seen on TV, it is nothing like that and is designed for regular, normal people to handle cases exactly like this.

There will be a room with a table, and you, the judge, and your landlord (if he bothers showing up) will sit down and discuss your claim for your deposit back. That's about it. It's supposed to be accessible to every-day people, now lawyers. That's the whole point of the law.

BigZig

DRP wrote: »

what did the letter say? why was the letter sent?

DRP

As I said, it was a few months back (March/April) and I wasn't sure what it meant at the time. I was pretty ignorant to this legal requirement. But, as I recall, it said something along the lines of 'your deposit may not (or may no longer) be protected by a government-backed deposit scheme'. It then mentioned about contacting the landlord to ensure that it would be put into another scheme or to see what he was doing with my deposit.

As to why it was sent, I have no idea. It just arrived randomly one day. This is another reason why I thought nothing of it. I knew nothing about deposit protection schemes. I had not received information that it was protected in the first place, so just assumed it was a bit of junk mail. With hindsight, I would have made a lot more of a deal of it had I understood it.

BigZig

RAS wrote: »

What was the exact date of the end of the fixed term?

The copy of my ASTA is at home at the moment, so I cannot confidently give you the exact date of the end of the fixed term until this evening. All I can tell you for definite now is that it was 6 months fixed term and started on 12 November 2011.

RAS

In which case you also need to read your tenancy agreement properly and report back.

The legal requirement in England and Wales is a minimum of one calendar month timed to end on the last day of the rental period.

BigZig

Physics wrote: »

The deposit will likely be small enough to be handled by a small-claims-court.

Forget everything about 'courts' you have seen on TV, it is nothing like that and is designed for regular, normal people to handle cases exactly like this.

There will be a room with a table, and you, the judge, and your landlord (if he bothers showing up) will sit down and discuss your claim for your deposit back. That's about it. It's supposed to be accessible to every-day people, now lawyers. That's the whole point of the law.

Thanks, Physics. I am pretty sure that it will be a small claims court. So I'd pretty much 'represent' myself? Or would you suggest legal representation?

This particular landlord owns hundreds of properties and, judging by the area of his contact address, is pretty well off! So I imagine he'd probably be able to afford pretty decent representation.

RAS

He may own a lot of properties but he palinly does not have a basic understanding of rental law.

Are you aware that you can sue him for up to 3 times the value of the deposit, as punishment for failing to secure it in a scheme?

BigZig

RAS wrote: »

Are you aware that you can sue him for up to 3 times the value of the deposit, as punishment for failing to secure it in a scheme?

Yes, Shelter informed me about this when I called them. I included this in my letter before action to him, including screenshots from all 4 government backed schemes' websites which showed that they had no record of my deposit being protected.