Deposit not secured in DPS - no response from LL

nadirnwo

Kazzaroo wrote: »

Proberly but he would be laughed at in court and no they cant

do you know if he had tenants before you ? what happened to their deposit etc ?

I believe that this is their first experience as a LL, which is why I asked if ignorance can be an excuse. Though they kept on saying how they had done their homework and would be able to manage the property themselves.

Kazzaroo

nadirnwo wrote: »

I believe that this is their first experience as a LL.

even less reason to plead ignorance if he is new to the LL game,any court would expect a new LL to register for a LL association and to fully research what their responsibilities are.

nadirnwo

Thats true. I will give this a few days and then decide what to do.

nadirnwo

So I have finally had a satisfactory reply from an LL (of sorts). He says that even though I paid the Letting Agent the deposit on the 18th of September, he only received it on the 21st of September. The LL has placed the money in DPS on the 21st of October and is saying that they have done so within 30 days. So I guess the money is in DPS and thats the important thing.

RAS

Has he sent you the prescribed information?

You have to receive that as well as the location of the deposit.

nadirnwo

Well I havnt received any other information apart from the Deposit ID which I think used to check whether the deposit was protected on the DPS website.

RAS

Kazzaroo wrote: »

Q.18 How long will the landlord have to take action?

A landlord will have 30 days to safeguard a deposit from the day he receives it. The landlord will have to provide the tenant prescribed information about the scheme safeguarding the deposit within these 30 days along with the Scheme's tenants leaflet.

Q.20 What information does the landlord have to give the tenant?

Within 30 days of receiving a deposit, landlords will have to provide tenants will details of which scheme is protecting the deposit. This is the prescribed information. It must be accompanied by a copy of the relevant Scheme leaflet. Separately, the Scheme will give you an official receipt but this is not the same as the prescribed information. For My Deposits much (but not all) of the prescribed information forms part of their official receipt.

If you have not been sent the prescribed information (check it is not part of your official receipt) then the LL is still in breach of the rules.

The good news is that the deposit is protected.

Kazzaroo

nadirnwo wrote: »

the money is in DPS and thats the important thing.

Ultimately yes but so far you have no paperwork to back up the reference number you have been given,have you gone to the deposit website to check it has been deposited ?

You also need to balance being a "clued" up tenant but also a reasonable one,Check the websites and if its deposited dont push too much as at least you know it is safe.....if when it comes to end of tenancy and you still dont have "paperwork" and you end up in court (highly unlikely and that is/should be a last resort) you can bring it up then.

rpc

I think you are now in the best of both worlds.

The deposit is protected, so it is held by an independent party and ADR is available to you.

It was protected late and no prescribed information was served therefore you cannot be evicted by S21 and can still hang the threat of "up to 3x penalty" over the LL at a later date (I doubt you'd get the full amount as the deposit was protected, but it might come in useful later).

nadirnwo

So what if the proscribed information comes in the next few days? It would be after the 30 day deadline. I still dont have a written contract for which I was charged by the letting agent. It doesnt seem to be getting any easier, in which case perhaps I should save this for later?