Renter's Deposit overpaid. Pay back?

kayj_prod

Hi,
We have just had a deposit returned to us for a house we rented for 6 months. No problems there, except the agents paid us £100 too much.

Being sensible, I have whacked the whole deposit sum straight into our mortgage account as it didn't form part of our budget.

The agents have now realised their mistake and are asking for it back. Yes, morally, I should give the £100 back, but do I have to? Doing so <I>will</I> affect our budget.

So, legally, do I have to give it back?

prudryden

kayj_prod wrote: »

Hi,
We have just had a deposit returned to us for a house we rented for 6 months. No problems there, except the agents paid us £100 too much.

Being sensible, I have whacked the whole deposit sum straight into our mortgage account as it didn't form part of our budget.

The agents have now realised their mistake and are asking for it back. Yes, morally, I should give the £100 back, but do I have to? Doing so <I>will</I> affect our budget.

So, legally, do I have to give it back?

Unfortunately, yes is the answer. However, I doubt they will chase you for it, but they could put a derogatory record on your financial record.

[Deleted User]

where has honesty gone these days?

snowmaid

kayj_prod wrote: »

Hi,
We have just had a deposit returned to us for a house we rented for 6 months. No problems there, except the agents paid us £100 too much.

Being sensible, I have whacked the whole deposit sum straight into our mortgage account as it didn't form part of our budget.

The agents have now realised their mistake and are asking for it back. Yes, morally, I should give the £100 back, but do I have to? Doing so <I>will</I> affect our budget.

So, legally, do I have to give it back?

I am embarrassed for you that you have even dared ask such a question on here....:o In effect what you are actually asking is whether you have a right to keep what doesn't belong to you...isn't that stealing?

I firmly believe that what you do to others will come back on you 10 fold....and I try live my life by this rule....perhaps you should try remember it too.....

real1314

You should give it back morally and legally.

Also, it can't affect your budget at all as you surely would not have budgeted for £100 extra that you were not due.

If you don't give it back they can take you to court. Just because they made a genuine mistake does not mean the money becomes yours.

Ivrytwr3

Being sensible, I have whacked the whole deposit sum straight into our mortgage account as it didn't form part of our budget.

I thought the sentence here would end that they had put the extra funds into a high interest account ie keep the interest when they returned the £100. I did not for one minute think someone could be so niaive to put in into their mortgage account believing they had got theirselves a free £100!!!!

Meatballs

I think the OP is saying that they made the money unavailable to themselves by paying their mortgage against it. It is not clear if the OP realised they had been overpaid.

Now they are being called to pay it back, but they may be on a very tight budget, paying it ALL back from their current budget may seriously disadvantage them - and could lose them money (through fines/interest charges etc) if they are unable to pay other debts because of it.

I think it would be correct to question if you are going to lose money due to anothers mistake or seriously disadvantage you? People shouldn't be so quick to judge and perhaps if they offered the correct advice it'd be nice?

The answer is they do have to pay it back, but they should be able to pay back what they can when they can and should set up a payment plan in writing with the LA to something suitable. £10 a month? £5? £1? Whatever you can afford...

nobblyned

wecanhelpu wrote: »

I bet the Op brags about owning a BtL property and how it is going to be their pension / road to riches.

Then in the next breath are trying to make ends meet by scratching around for a poxy £100 (which is not even theirs).

F*cking chancers

I think the OP was the tenant not the BTL landlord.

I would guess the mortgage is on the property they bought after renting previously.

I suppose tenuously the could be a BTL landlord whilst renting, what's that called - rent to let????

real1314

wecanhelpu wrote: »

May I refer you what I said in my earlier post......



F*cking chancers

1. Forum rules are to be polite to other money savers.
2. You seem to have assumed the OP is a BTL landlord, damned them with this assumption and then heaped school playground insults on top. But you have no idea who they are, or what they are like, apart from this one item.

I think you've jumped to the wrong conclusion, but in doing so you have shown a clear element of your own character, bias and approach.

advent1122

It is not yours - give it back.
End of Story.

shelly

Meatballs wrote: »

It is not clear if the OP realised they had been overpaid.

Did you not read the second sentence then, as quoted below......

kayj_prod wrote: »

Hi,
We have just had a deposit returned to us for a house we rented for 6 months. No problems there, except the agents paid us £100 too much.

Being sensible, I have whacked the whole deposit sum straight into our mortgage account as it didn't form part of our budget.

The sensible thing would have been to make the agents aware of the overpayment. If they had underpaid you by £100 you would have been on the phone immediately no doubt.