Deposit not protected in 30 days

supersaverkerry

Hi

We moved in to our property on 28th June 2012, we paid the deposit £300 on 14th June and a further £600 on 24th June - on 25th June the landlord gave us acknowledgement she had the full deposit in her bank account.

We asked about the deposit protection on 6th July as were told it was protected via deposit protection service.

We have now found out that our deposit was not protected until 1st September and that she told them we paid on 30th June and moved in on 30th June also.

We are having trouble with this landlord and want to move - things such as promising to replace the filthy carpets after 6 months yet it still hasn't been done over a year later because she changed her mind and also having to pester for boiler servicing amongst other things.

So now we are having problems we are concerned that when we come to leave she will withold our deposit. We asked deposit protection but all they are saying is they do not hold the deposit they are just insure it and that they would suggest we seek advice on the matter.

We went to an advice place and they were a bit clueless about it, we are trying to get in touch with Shelter but the lines are very busy, so I wondered if in the meantime anyone can offer any advice please?

Many Thanks in advance.

theartfullodger

Point out to landlord that as they did not comply with the law they are liable to up to 3xdeposit paid to you & would they perhaps prefer to give you whatever it is you want. Then, some time after you leave, sure LL for up to 3xdeposit.

Cheers!

G_M

1) I assume Eng/Wales?
2) You have receipts for the 2payments, with dates?
3) you have proof from DPS of date it was registered?
4) You have proof of date you received the 'Prescribed Information'?

Assuming the above, you can

a) immediately sue the LL for 3 times the deposit
b) immediately threaten to sue the LL for 3 times the deposit
c) do nothing until, if ever, the LL causes problems over the deposit, and then do a) or b) above
d) do nothing, knowing that the LL can not serve you a valid S21 Notice

supersaverkerry

G_M wrote: »

1) I assume Eng/Wales? Yes England
2) You have receipts for the 2payments, with dates? We have confirmation from her and also it was done via bank transfer so also have statements
3) you have proof from DPS of date it was registered? We have DPS thing which says we paid on 30th June ( we didn't), moved in on 30th June ( we didn't) and it is protected from 1st September
4) You have proof of date you received the 'Prescribed Information'? No proof of when we had the information, but since she did not even put it in until September there was no way we could have it sooner than that - also, we have not signed a copy because it is untrue.

Assuming the above, you can

a) immediately sue the LL for 3 times the deposit
b) immediately threaten to sue the LL for 3 times the deposit
c) do nothing until, if ever, the LL causes problems over the deposit, and then do a) or b) above
d) do nothing, knowing that the LL can not serve you a valid S21 Notice

Sorry I do not know what S21 is ?

What is worrying us is that she has gone back on things she said she would do such as replacing the disgusting carpets, this type of dishonesty makes us concerned that when we move she will try and withold our deposit.

If she won't do the carpets we want out, its depressing sitting in a living room which feels dirty, never being comfortable inviting friends round etc... but we can't afford to have her try and take some of our deposit, the fact she has led us on makes me worry she will make something up to justify taking our deposit.

If we sue her then surely she will evict us so would like to avoid that.

If we did leave I guess she can just choose not to pay us our deposit since it is not held by the DPS? Or can they order her to pay it to us if they find we have done nothing to warrant it?

Thanks for your help.

supersaverkerry

theartfullodger wrote: »

Point out to landlord that as they did not comply with the law they are liable to up to 3xdeposit paid to you & would they perhaps prefer to give you whatever it is you want. Then, some time after you leave, sure LL for up to 3xdeposit.

Cheers!

Thanks for your reply.

So for her to be liable for upto 3x deposit is it just a case of her not complying with the law? Or would we have to prove some sort of loss to us as a result of her not doing it?

We really aren't asking anything unreasonable, just for her to do what she promised. We went to a young persons advice service and they basically said we she has no obligation to replace the carpet regardless of what she promised and how disgusting they are ( I understand now we should have had this in writing/contract) and they also told us not to worry about the deposit because although she didnt pay it in on time it will still be protected so don't worry about it and if we are unahppy there then move out.

And we would move out but the uncertainty about the deposit is what is holding us back.

ihatemyhouse

she is not complying with the law, so she can be sued, but it might cost you £1000 to sue her,

Yorkie1

supersaverkerry wrote: »

Sorry I do not know what S21 is ?


If she won't do the carpets we want out, its depressing sitting in a living room which feels dirty, never being comfortable inviting friends round etc... but we can't afford to have her try and take some of our deposit, the fact she has led us on makes me worry she will make something up to justify taking our deposit.

If we sue her then surely she will evict us so would like to avoid that.

If we did leave I guess she can just choose not to pay us our deposit since it is not held by the DPS? Or can they order her to pay it to us if they find we have done nothing to warrant it?

The deposit is now protected so if she wants to retain any of it, she has to justify doing so to the DPS people. She can't just unilaterally do so.

I can't remember whether there was an inventory at the start of your tenancy, setting out the condition of anything and everything?

Generally speaking, a LL can only evict on two grounds: s8 notice where you've broken the terms of the tenancy (usually non-payment of rent or similar); and s.21 notice where there is no fault by the tenant and it cannot take effect during the fixed period of the tenancy.

A valid s.21 notice cannot be issued by the LL if they failed to protect the deposit within the 30 days, or to issue the prescribed information to the T within the 30 days. Or, if they failed on either of these matters, they have to return the deposit in full first.

So she cannot evict you if you keep paying the rent and don't start dealing drugs from the property, unless she returns your deposit in full first.

supersaverkerry wrote: »

So for her to be liable for upto 3x deposit is it just a case of her not complying with the law? Or would we have to prove some sort of loss to us as a result of her not doing it?

We really aren't asking anything unreasonable, just for her to do what she promised. We went to a young persons advice service and they basically said we she has no obligation to replace the carpet regardless of what she promised and how disgusting they are ( I understand now we should have had this in writing/contract) and they also told us not to worry about the deposit because although she didnt pay it in on time it will still be protected so don't worry about it and if we are unahppy there then move out.

And we would move out but the uncertainty about the deposit is what is holding us back.

The penalty for failure to protect the deposit in time is 1-3 times the deposit, decided by the court. However, the court costs to claim this are relatively high because it's not just a compensation claim but a punishment and so dealt with by the court differently. You'd get the costs back if you won but you do need to find the money initially.

To be honest, I think the advice you've received about the carpet is right. Can you afford to get a carpet cleaner to at least make it better in the interim?

I can't remember when your tenancy ends - don't just leave or stop paying before the end of the fixed tenancy or any subsequent notice period. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Good luck

Zorz_2

supersaverkerry wrote: »

? We have confirmation from her and also it was done via bank transfer so also have statements
3) you have proof from DPS of date it was registered? We have DPS thing which says we paid on 30th June ( we didn't), moved in on 30th June ( we didn't) and it is protected from 1st September

The DPS certificate alone is enough to prove that she didn't protect your deposit in time. Even if you did move in and pay the deposit on 30th of June, she had to protect it no later than the 30th of July!

Now, eventually she did protect it so at the end of the tenancy you won't lose your deposit unfairly (unless you cause any damages of course) The fact though that not only she was much late in protecting the deposit but also lied (something easy to prove, since you have your bank statement and I guess your tenancy agreement mentions the real start date which is earlier than 30/6 anyway) in order to get out of trouble, won't make her look good if this comes to the court!