Advice on rental deposit please.

Guest101

lotty41 wrote: »

Ok here goes......just spoke to letting agent, I'm guessing they worked out that they are not allowed to take more than 2 months deposit from us. She said they are willing to compromise so here is what we have to pay.. 1 months rent in advance + 2 months deposit. But 1 months deposit is held in the letting agents account.
She said if we are good tenants then maybe after a year they will return it to us!!
I asked if it is held with the DPS and she said no, I asked if it was protected and she said no!! She rambled on about 'you dont know us and we dont know you, its a trust thing, when we see all is ok we give it back'.
I have asked for all this in writing, which she agreed to.

So do we move in and then ask for our unprotected money back?

HAHAHA ye go on agree, then sue them after 31 days since you move in, easy money.

I cant believe they'll put that in writing! Please please let them and upload it on here, i'd love to read that. Hell I'll front the court money!

lotty41

Ha ha Guest101, I laughed at your reply, I could hear the excitement! And yes I will do just that, see how long it takes for them to send me confirmation though!:rotfl:

lotty41

Well I asked for confirmation in writing but they have just sent it via email.
This is exactly what it says:-

'£695 1 months rent in advance

£895 1 months deposit (which is sent to the DPS)

As discussed an additional £695 will be held in our account and will be refunded to you after 6 months tenancy period providing that all rent payments have been made on time. The deposit of £895 will be held with the DPS.

I will draft up the tenancy agreement and sent it to you in the next few days.

We hope you enjoy your new home'

Do I still need that in writing or shall I wait until I have read the tenancy agreement?

Guest101

lotty41 wrote: »

Ha ha Guest101, I laughed at your reply, I could hear the excitement! And yes I will do just that, see how long it takes for them to send me confirmation though!:rotfl:

Letting agents are the new greek gods in their own eyes.

Ok just to clarify everything:

1: In general it is the LL's obligation to secure the deposit in a scheme. So your first deposit, which goes to him, will probably have just that. You need to receive this confirmed, with the prescribed information (IE Terms and conditions, reference numebrs etc) with-in 30 days of you paying the deposit, not even when the tenancy starts.

2: the second deposit, which is their own terminology, and the courts have always said it's either advanced rent or deposit. This is staying in their account and this case:
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2010/217.html. Explains how the agent can be sued directly for failing to comply with the regulations.

3: Make sure you get receipts for everything, and that all these amounts are in the tenancy agreement. If they are sending you written proof, that will also help alot.

4: Wait until 30 days have passed, and once you are certian that the second deposit is not protected, you need to ideally come back here, and the whole process will be explained.

But be warned, to sue for this, if it actually goes to court, can cost £1000 - which you get back from them once you win. So you need to have that money available.

They are liable to return the deposit, unless they protect it before the court date, but after the 30 days are up. They are also liable for your costs. and they are also liable for between 1 & 3 times the value of the deposit. With the proof that you have, that they have willfully disregarded the obligations, you will win. The judge can decide how much you get. They take a hard line on agents/LL who avoid this obligation on purpose.

Make sure you get everything in writing.

Guest101

lotty41 wrote: »

Well I asked for confirmation in writing but they have just sent it via email.
This is exactly what it says:-

'£695 1 months rent in advance

£895 1 months deposit (which is sent to the DPS)

As discussed an additional £695 will be held in our account and will be refunded to you after 6 months tenancy period providing that all rent payments have been made on time. The deposit of £895 will be held with the DPS.

I will draft up the tenancy agreement and sent it to you in the next few days.

We hope you enjoy your new home'

Do I still need that in writing or shall I wait until I have read the tenancy agreement?

Email them back, saying thank you for clarifying this, however i require this in writing, on headed paper, for my own records. Also come in with your own 2 copies, clearly stating that £695 is being paid as a deposit to the agents, asking them to sign both copies, and you will do the same. Attach the receipt you get to this.

lotty41

Thank you, so now I will wait and check that the tenancy agreement has everthing on it that is should have.

The only thing that bothers me is that they will not want us as tenants if we pursue matters and not renew our contract if we want to stay in this house for longer.

lotty41

I have requested written confirmation.

RAS

lotty

If they are that good, I suggest you consider waiting 6 months and seeing if you can get the second month's rent back and a renewed contract.

Then hit the LL with a 3X claim.

You have 6 years to make the claim so the wait my be worth it.

lotty41

RAS yes it will be interesting to see if they give it back after 6 months without me asking for it, at least I know what sort of letting agents they are now. I will be more careful in the future that's for sure. I just cant believe that they willingly break the law and take the risk of being sued. Once I have all this in writing I guess the ball's in my court!

Will certainly keep you all updated.

Thanks for all the advice peps :beer:

Guest101

They think only the LL can be sued, they're wrong